The Expert Panel to oversee and assess the PSF applications is composed of distinguished individuals who collectively have skills, experience and expertise in science and engineering, devices and systems commercialisation, venture capital, financial management and consumer advocacy. The Panel composition reflects a strong focus on end-user needs.
The following people were approved by the then Minister for Trade & Industry to be members of the PSF Expert Panel in 2018. In 2022, Professor Renate Egan replaced Professor Rose Amal, after the latter had served for three years:
Professor Annabelle Duncan PSM, Chair. Current Chair of the Sydney School of Entrepreneurship’s Board of Directors, Annabelle was the Vice-Chancellor and CEO of the University of New England (UNE) from 2014 until 2019. Prior to joining UNE Annabelle spent 16 years at CSIRO, including six as Chief of the Division of Molecular Science.
She has acted as an advisor to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on biological weapons control, representing Australia at international arms control meetings and acting as a biological weapons inspector with the United Nations in Iraq.
Mr Martin Duursma is a Partner at Main Sequence. He has a passion for Deep Tech investing and bringing the best of research to full commercialisation, with a focus on space and renewable energy.
He has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, technologist and business leader. His experience as a founder of Datapac and then as head of the CTO Office and Labs at Citrix has given him a unique insight into how companies need to navigate the technology to successful product journey.
Professor Renate Egan leads the UNSW activity in the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics. In 2022, she was recognised in the Australian Solar Hall of Fame for extraordinary contribution to solar research, industry development advocacy and communications, and was earlier named as one of Eight Great Women in the Business of Science and Solar by Renewable Energy World.
Renate has led manufacturing and industrial technology development of energy technologies in Australia, Germany and China, and is Co-Founder of Solar Analytics. Renate now participates on several national and international panels, boards and review committees across the energy sector and represents Australia on the Executive Committee of the IEA PV Power Systems program.
Dr Simon Poole AO is an engineer with 40 years’ experience in photonics in research, academia and industry, and Director and VP Business Development at Cylite Pty Ltd.
A leading technologist and entrepreneur in optical communications, he is highly experienced in startups and is renowned for both his contribution to the technology of photonics and the companies he founded (Indx, Engana, Cylite), which have generated over $2 billion in revenues to date.
Professor Tony Weiss AM is a McCaughey Chair in Biochemistry, Professor and NHMRC Leadership Fellow at The University of Sydney. Tony’s research is on tropoelastin and elastin, the biological ingredients that give human tissue its elasticity. He is an inventor on 169 granted patents in 22 families and is commercialising treatments that decrease scarring and accelerate the repair of wounds.
Tony was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize, NSW Premier’s Prize, Eureka Prize and Australian Academy of Technology & Engineering’s Clunies Ross Medal among his many other awards in recognition of his translational science. This includes the founding of Elastagen, which four years ago was acquired for the sum of $340 million by Allergan, with the products rapidly moving to market. Elastagen was one of the first recipients of a grant through the NSW Medical Devices Fund.