NSSN celebrates six years of activating R&D for impact
Image: Ms Jo White, NSSN Board Chair; Dr Susan Pond AM, NSSN Foundation Chair; Prof. Julien Epps, NSSN Co-Director; Prof. Ben Eggleton, NSSN Co-Director.
The NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN) celebrated its sixth birthday with a dazzling reception at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney on 21 June 2022.
The event was attended by more than 100 guests from across the NSW & ACT smart sensing ecosystem, including NSSN member universities and partners from industry and government.
NSSN Foundation Chair Dr Susan Pond AM opened the event by acknowledging the contributions and support of all who were involved in founding the NSSN, including the former NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer, Prof. Mary O’Kane and the two founding Co-Director, Professors Ben Eggleton and Justin Gooding.
“We started with the bold ambition to transform NSW into a global leader in smart sensing. To do this, we needed an innovation network that would couple the R&D expertise in smart sensing NSW with the needs of end-users for practical solutions,” said Dr Pond.
“Fast forward to today, and we find a network that has built a strong horizontal platform of all manner of smart sensing technologies deployed across a range of areas, including the built environment, data analytics, environment and AgTech, manufacturing, MedTech, resources and energy, space and aviation.”
Dr Pond’s welcome address was followed by a recorded video message by Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Hon. Alister Henskens MP.
NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer Prof. Hugh Durrant-Whyte spoke of the NSW Government’s strong ongoing support of the NSSN and of the key role that the Network has played as an activator of innovation.
“The NSSN was the first of what is a growing number of NSW Innovation Networks and it proved a successful model of collaboration between universities, government and industry to develop impactful and innovative solutions for NSW,” Prof. Durrant-Whyte said.
The event also marked the handover of the Chair role from Dr Pond to incoming Chair Ms Jo White, Director of Science, Education and Conservation at the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust.
“It is my great privilege to be the incoming Chair of the NSSN Board. I have been a Board Member with the NSSN for the last four years and seen strong growth and successes in that short time,” said NSSN Board Chair Jo White. “The outlook for the future of the Network is very positive.”
NSSN co-Directors Prof. Ben Eggleton and Prof. Julien Epps acknowledged the contributions of all who have supported NSSN’s establishment and success since 2016, especially the Network’s Foundation Chair Dr Susan Pond AM and Founding Co-Director Prof. Justin Gooding.
“We couldn’t have imagined that smart sensing would play such an important role in our world; at a time of global uncertainty, through the COVID-19 pandemic, with climate change, the energy crisis, geopolitical instability, national security and increasing burden of health care, it is clear that the NSSN’s work is vital to addressing challenges of state, national and global significance and growing our ecosystem,” said the Co-Directors in a joint statement.
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Media: Zad Abbasi | NSSN | 0466 548 145 | shahrzad.abbasi@nssn.org.au
The NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN), a consortium of eight leading universities across NSW and the ACT, is a not-for-profit innovation network funded by the NSW Government through the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer. The NSSN brings together universities, industry and government to translate world-class research into innovative smart sensing solutions that create value for the economy, environment and society of NSW and beyond.
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