NSW Minister for Fair Trading and Better Regulation, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Innovation Science and Technology, Minister for Building, and Minister for Corrections

Pippa Smith is the Founder of Social Startup Labs, a specialist agency that helps launch new brands, products, and investment campaigns across Australia, and the UK.

Mac is an experienced tech entrepreneur having founded, built and sold multiple high tech businesses. He was the co-founder of the giant 17GW Sun Cable project delivering dispatchable power via HVDC submarine cable to Singapore.

Ben Lindsay is an Investment Principal at Investible, one of APAC's most active early-stage venture capital firms, investing in tech companies from the very start of their journey.

James MacDonald is the founder of NewyTechPeople, a community-driven recruitment agency expanding across the East Coast of Australia.

Claire is the Founder of Launchpad9, a boutique consultancy that exists to inspire and empower innovation that matters in established organisations that want to find more effective and efficient ways of achieving results and staying relevant.

Brandon is the Founder and Chair of Good Design Australia, Chair of the Australian Good Design Awards, and Executive Director of the Australian Design Council. He has spent the past 25 years passionately advocating for the value of good design to improve our social, economic, cultural and environmental quality of life.

Justin Bain is the CEO of 3ME Technology. 3ME Technology’s vision is to be Australia’s leading off-highway electrification company and to make a substantive impact in Australia’s energy transition and national security.

Brett Thomas is a Director and COO at The Melt. The Melt provides a trusted and experienced hand for hardware startups to prove, prototype, pilot and produce. In addition to offering access to the prototyping facilities and technical specialists, they deploy capital through the early stage VC fund, Melt Ventures.

Clare Larkin-Sykes is Co-Lead of New.E – the Hunter New Energy Cluster and Managing Director of Forelight Advisory. She is a strong collaborator and advocate of future resource and energy industries including the symbiosis of clean technology solutions to traditional processes and value chains.

Frere Byrne is the CEO and Co-Founder of PlasmaLeap Technologies. PlasmaLeap Technologies designs, manufactures and distributes the world's most advanced zero-emissions chemical reactors for hard to abate industries.

Linc Horton is the CEO of Newcastle Airport, leading the organisation through a critical growth phase with the launch of the new international terminal and the development of the Astra Aerolab precinct.

Mai Le is the Acting Director Industry Development at Investment NSW, the NSW Government’s agency responsible for driving economic growth and prosperity for the people of NSW

Chris Shaw is the CEO and co-founder of Advanced Navigation, a navigation and autonomous systems technology company.

Jeff is General Manager for New Markets at Acciona Energia, a renewable energy developer that had been operating in Australia for more than 20 years.  Jeff has more than 30 years of energy markets experience both in the UK and Australia and is currently assessing the potential for a Pumped Hydro Energy Storage project in the Hunter Valley.

Em. Prof. Roy Green AM is leading a major R&D review for the Australian Govt & Tech Council. He chairs the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub, serves on the CSIRO board and recently completed his 5-year term as Chair of Port of Newcastle.

A purpose-driven founder, Vu Tran co-founded edtech unicorn Go1. Now with Black Sky Industries, he's building Australia's sovereign defence capability, driven by a mission to create things that matter.

Adam Gilmour is the CEO and Co-founder of Gilmour Space Technologies, an Australian-owned company that is leading the development of sovereign space capabilities in launch vehicles, satellites, and access to space.

John Fry is the Managing Director of Kongsberg Defence Australia, based in Canberra. Since taking on the role in 2019, he has led the establishment and growth of Kongsberg’s operations in Australia, overseeing the local manufacture and integration of key defence capabilities including NASAMS Ground Based Air Defence, Protected Mobile Fires, and the Naval Strike Missile.

Alex is the Hardware Engineering & Manufacturing Manager at Pitcrew AI, where he leads the design and industrialisation of cutting-edge inspection systems for the mining sector. At Pitcrew AI, he is driving the company’s expansion into global markets and building a scalable, locally-led manufacturing strategy that brings advanced technology from prototype to production.

Resourceful Living’s Jess Hodge is a leader in the recycling and remanufacture of plastic. Through tireless innovation and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of material science, Jess and the Resourceful Living team developed a superior, sustainable material that empowers architects and designers to create projects without compromise.

Sam Mella is a Senior Project Manager for Beyond Zero Emissions and a well-known commentator on the subject of cleantech, innovation and zero emissions in the Hunter Valley.

MGA Thermal’s Erich Kisi co-invented the patented Miscibility Gap Alloy (MGA) thermal energy storage materials with 10 years of development experience in the field. This breakthrough tech is key to decarbonising hard to abate sectors such as industrial heating.

MC James O'Loghlin—comedian & New Inventors host—is making innovation fun. He'll wrangle the geniuses and serve up big ideas with a healthy dose of laughter. It's innovation, but funnier.

How can nanotechnology find disease early? NanoBiotech leader Dr. Renee Goreham unveils her revolutionary nanosensors. See how this pioneering work is shaping the future of non-invasive diagnostics.

Allegro Energy's Prof. Thomas Nann pioneers the new microemulsion flow battery for long-duration storage. This breakthrough tech is key to advancing renewables and combating climate change.