Driving the global net-zero agenda through technological innovation
From left to right: Professor Julien Epps, Mr Nicholas Haskins, Professor Benjamin Eggleton, Dr Nathan Cooper, Professor Peter Ralph, Professor Corinne Caillaud, Dr Tomonori Hu, Professor Michelle Leishman, Associate Professor Marta Yebra, Professor Paul Dastoor, Professor Subhas Mukhopadyay, Professor Paul Hurley, A/Professor Brendan Choat, Dr Noushin Nasiri, Professor Sarath Kodagoda, Professor John Close, and Professor Salah Sukkarieh.
The NSW Smart Sensing Network Sensing and Climate Change Roundtable took place on 28 October 2021. The online event explored the role of smart sensing in responding to the global net zero agenda, and more locally, the NSW Net Zero Plan.
Hosted by the NSSN in the lead up to the UN COP26 Glasgow summit, the event brought together NSSN Ambassadors with leading climate change researchers from across the Network's universities to discuss the opportunities at the nexus of smart sensing and climate change.
NSSN Co-Directors Professor Julien Epps and Benjamin Eggleton and NSSN AgTech Lead, Dr Tomonori Hu.
NSSN Co-Director Professor Benjamin Eggleton opened the event and said technological innovation is recognised as being critical to achieving the global net-zero agenda.
"NSSN Ambassadors are leading academics at NSSN universities working at the leading-edge of smart sensing science."
Professor Eggleton's address was followed by a welcome note by NSSN Co-Director, Professor Julien Epps, who chaired the event.
"Today, we're very fortunate to have fourteen experts from both smart sensing and climate change here from across our member universities," said Professor Epps. "There's a huge potential and need for collaboration across these disciplines."
As a consortium of leading research universities, the NSSN is uniquely positioned to lend its voice to a global discourse on innovative technological solutions to monitoring and mitigating climate change.
The event was designed with a focus on the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
The researchers spoke for five minutes each, on how their research contributes to smart sensing and climate change. The presentations were followed by a panel discussion.
A wide range of topics was discussed, including sustainable agriculture, monitoring plant performance using plant-based sensors, mapping of groundwater with ANU's unique quantum sensors, air quality sensing, renewable energy manufacturing, robotic solutions contributing to sustainable cities, and remote sensing of bushfires from space.
The roundtable's theme overlapped significantly with four of NSSN Grand Challenges, including bushfires, smart places and buildings, mining and water. Smart places and buildings, and mining were announced as new additions to the NSSN Grand Challenge program on 01 November 2021.
Speakers
Professor Corrine Caillaud, Professor of Digital Health and NSSN Ambassador, The University of Sydney
A/Professor Brendan Choat, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University
Professor John Close, Professor of Physics and NSSN Ambassador, The Australian National University (ANU)
Dr Nathan Cooper, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
Professor Paul Dastoor, Professor of Physics and NSSN Ambassador, The University of Newcastle
Dr Tomonori Hu, Environment & AgTech Theme Leader, NSSN
Professor Paul Hurley, Professor of Data Science and NSSN Ambassador, Western Sydney University
Professor Sarath Kodagoda, Director, UTS Robotics Institute and NSSN Ambassador, University of Technology Sydney
Professor Michelle Leishman, Distinguished Professor in Climate Change Impacts, Macquarie University
Dr Noushin Nasiri, Senior Lecturer in Nanomaterials and NSSN Ambassador, Macquarie University
Professor Peter Ralph, Executive Director, Climate Change Cluster (C3), University of Technology Sydney
Associate Professor Marta Yebra, Director, ANU National Bushfire Initiative, The Australian National University (ANU).
Media contact: Shahrzad (Zad) Abbasi - 0466 548 145