Keynotes

Topic

TBA

Biography

David Skellern is an Australian electronic engineer and computer scientist credited, along with colleagues, for the first chip-set implementation of the IEEE 802.11a wireless networking standard.

He is credited with a number of important technology innovations developed with colleagues which include John O’Sullivan, Terence Percival and Neil Weste, and in particular the first chip-set implementation of the IEEE 802.11a wireless networking standard. This innovation has been described as a revolution in world communications, allowing high speed wireless communications.

Skellern was appointed to the Order of Australia in 2012.

He received a B.Sc. University of Sydney (1972) [Pure Mathematics, Computer Science & Physics], a B.E. (Hons), Electrical Engineering, University of Sydney (1974), and a PhD, University of Sydney (1985) for a thesis on A Mapping System for Rotational Synthesis Data.

From 1974 to 1983 he worked in radio astronomy and taught electronics at Sydney University and Macquarie University. From 1983 to 1989 he held research and academic positions at that university’s department of Electrical engineering. In 1989, he became Professor and chair of the Department of Electronics at Macquarie University.

In 1997 he co-founded Radiata, a company engaged in the commercial development of WLAN communications. The company demonstrated the world’s first chip-set implementation of the 54 Mbit/s IEEE 802.11a High-Speed WLAN standard, based on the research Skellern conducted with Neil Weste in the 1990s at Macquarie University in collaboration with CSIRO. Radiata was sold to Cisco Systems in 2001 for $565 million.

When Radiata was acquired by Cisco in 2001. he became the Technology Director of their Wireless Networking Business Unit, until 2005, when he joined NICTA (National Information and Communications Technology Australia Ltd), where he was first chief executive officer (2005–2010) and finally, in 2011, Chairman.

Skellern was involved in debate on sharing of the spectrum which resulted in the allocation of additional 5 GHz spectrum for Wireless Access Systems at the World Radio Conference in 2003 (WRC2003).

He has held visiting faculty and researcher appointments at Imperial College London, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto, CA, Digital Equipment Corporation Paris Research Labs, France, and British Telecom Research Labs, Martlesham Heath, UK, Visiting Researcher.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and an honorary fellow of the Engineers Australia (Institute of Engineers Australia).

He received the Clunies Ross Award, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2010 the MA Sargent Medal, Engineers Australia, the CSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT and the CSIRO Medal, and the Norman W V Hayes Medal, Institute of Radio and Electronic Engineers, 1980.

In 2012, he received the Order of Australia. In 2012, he received an honorary doctorate from Macquarie University.

David Skellern was awarded the 2017 IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award (with John O’Sullivan) “for pioneering contributions to high-speed wireless LAN technology.”

He won the 2010 M A Sargent Medal.

Topic

Nokia’s 2030 Vision

Biography

Robert is the Nokia CTO for the Oceania Region. Accountable for promoting Nokia’s technology leadership and supporting all of Nokia’s customers and stakeholders in the region. His role also includes overseeing the Nokia’s 5G Futures Lab at UTS Tech Lab, Sydney where Nokia regularly demonstrates world firsts in Mobile, IP, Optical and SW technology to our customers and the media.
Before joining Nokia, Robert was the Head of Radio Access Technologies for Ooredoo Group based in Qatar, overseeing the 2G to 5G evolution strategy for all ten of Ooredoo’s mobile networks across the group. He has over 25 years of industry experience in Mobile Telecommunications and has worked for a number of operators and vendors around the globe.
During his career, he has been responsible for some key industry firsts including:
• Network preparation and vendor selection for the 5G FIFA World Cup – Qatar 2022.
• The World’s First 5G Commercial Network at Ooredoo Qatar, launched in May 2018.
• The first 4G network trial in the UK with Telefonica UK, 2009.
• The first HSPA trial network in the USA with T-Mobile USA, 2006.
• The first UK 3G trial network with Orange UK, 1999.
He has published numerous academic papers on mobile communications and holds a PhD in “Self Organising Heterogeneous Mobile Networks” from the University of Leeds, UK.

Topic

Innovative and highly efficient antenna solutions for next generation communication systems

Biography

Astrid Algaba Brazález received the Telecommunication Engineering degree from Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Alicante, Spain, in 2009; and the Licentiate of Engineering and Ph.D. degrees from Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2013 and 2015, respectively. She joined Ericsson Research, Gothenburg, Sweden, in November 2014, where she currently works as a Senior Researcher within the Antenna and Microwave Hardware Sector where her work is focused on 5G/6G Advanced Antenna System (AAS) projects. She has been the research leader of all projects related to metasurfaces and lens antenna solutions within Ericsson Research since 2015. Her research interests include millimeter and submillimeter-wave antenna array technologies for 5G/6G radio access applications, lens antennas and radomes, design of microwave passive components such as filters, metasurfaces (based on glide symmetry and gap waveguide technology), system integration of active components and antennas at millimeter-wave frequencies, and design of interconnects, routing methods and transitions to achieve such integration. Her research career can be summarized in more than 50 contributions including top IEEE journal publications, peer-reviewed conferences and patents filed by Ericsson. Astrid Algaba is currently serving as one of the two Swedish delegates and management committee member of the European COST Action SYMAT- CA18223- Future communications with higher-symmetric engineered artificial materials (https://symat-cost.eu/). She has also been a lecturer and organizer of several European School of Antennas (ESoA) courses like “Antenna Systems for 5G Communication, “Exploiting Symmetries in Artificial Materials for Antenna Applications” and “Metalenses for Antenna Applications”. Dr. Algaba is currently acting as Associate Editor of IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters (AWPL), has been Guest Editor of a special issue on Future 5G millimeter-wave systems and terminals for IEEE Communications Magazine, and is regular reviewer of prestigious journals of high impact in the fields of antennas, microwave components and metasurfaces. She has been a recipient of the Second Best Paper Award at ISAP held in 2017 and the Best Paper Award in Antennas at EuCAP held in 2020. She is also co-recipient of the Best Student Paper Award and co-recipient of the Student Honorable Mention at ISAP held in 2022.

Topic

On the Journey 5G to 6G – New behaviours, new technology, in a sustainable world

Biography

As Advanced Technology Director for Asia-Pacific, together with his team, Bo Hagerman is driving technology alignment as well as long term technology strategies for Ericsson in Asia-Pacific. Bo has more than 30 years of experience in radio network system research and development. Since Bo joined Ericsson Research in 1987, he has held various senior leading technical positions in research and development working on pre-2G cellular systems and onward. Dr. Hagerman is named inventor on more than 450 granted patents globally, and he is a Senior Member of IEEE. Bo received the M.Sc. EE, Lic. Tech. EE and Ph.D. degrees, in Radio Communication Systems, from Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden in 1987, 1993 and 1995, respectively.
Bo is based in Singapore.