Opening address by Cr Michelle Kleinert, Mayor of Manningham

Opens the Seminar, welcomes delegates to the event and briefly talks about Councils sustainability policies, advocacy for emissions reduction and electric vehicle promotion. Duration – 10 minutes

Cr Michelle Kleinert is a long-term resident of Manningham and has been a Councillor of Manningham since 2012, serving as Mayor in 2016-17 and again in 2021-22.

Passionate about Manningham’s open space and our vibrant and connected community, Cr Kleinert believes in supporting local business in addition to community clubs and our youth. With a focus on bringing the community together with a positive message all can relate to, Cr Kleinert is committed to shine a light on the ‘be kind’ message as we reconnect with one another post the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In her first term as Mayor, Cr Kleinert led the charge to establish a youth mental health outreach service for Manningham with headspace Hawthorn. She is currently the multicultural ambassador for Mental Health Foundation Australia and holds a mental health first aid certificate. Cr Kleinert has a long-standing relationship with Bully Zero and is currently involved in a project to air on TV in late 2022.

Introduction and Background to the Seminar Series by Brian Negus

Brian is passionate about the use of smart technology to improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of all modes of transport. He is a Director of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Chairman of the CICA (Collaborative ITS Consulting) Group, Director, and Ambassador of Intelligent Transport Systems Australia. Brian was awarded the ITS Australia Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and inducted into the ITS World Congress Hall of Fame in 2019.
Brian has been a member of the ITS Australia Board, since 2007, and was President for six years, from 2011 to 2017. He represents Australia on the ITS World Congress Board of Directors and was the Chair of the Organising Committee for the ITS World Congress held in Melbourne in 2016. He has been a member of the Rotary Club of Templestowe since 1985 and served in several Board roles, and as Club President in 1992-3 and 2020-21.

Seminar Session 1 - 11.15am - Electric Vehicle Technology and Charging, Chair Brian Negus

Talk Topic: Electric cars-moving to a Euro model in a wide brown land

Presenter: Geoff Gwilym, CEO Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce

The automotive industry is at the frontier of its biggest change in 100 years. Whilst electric vehicles bravely entered the automotive stage at the turn of the century, a cheap and readily available source of oil meant the internal combustion engine took the lead role. Today the environment and government policies are the makers of the new global movement to electric vehicle fleets.

How does Australia align its policies to a global shift in mobility platforms, do we have the infrastructure to enable a fully electric fleet and how will the current automotive skills base adapt to meet the requirements of new mobility platforms. What are the dangers in trailing many countries in their adoption of EVs and will Australian become a dumping ground for high Co2 emitting vehicles? Geoff Gwilym will raise these, and many other questions facing Australia’s automotive industry and offers reflections on what is currently happening with EV fleets in international markets.

Talk topic: Guide to Understanding and Buying Electric Vehicles in Australia

Presenter: Bryce Gaton, EV Choice Consulting and RENEW

Bryce Gaton will explain the basics of EVs and their charging technology along with the advantages, disadvantages and use cases for each EV type - and why it matters that the Australian general public is ill-informed about the coming EV Transition.

The talk then moves to detailing the current (and coming) Australian options for buying new and second-hand battery electric vehicles.

Talk Topic: Electric Vehicle Charging at Home and on the Road

Presenter: Ishan Jagaty, Technical Trainer, JET Charge

JET Charge designs, distributes, installs, and manages EV charging solutions nationwide. Ishan is an electrical engineer with past experience in electrical equipment manufacturing and distribution and is the Technical Trainer at JET Charge. His passion for motorsport and vehicles propelled his career into technical training for EV charging infrastructure at JET Charge. Prior to joining JET Charge, Ishan worked at NHP Electrical Engineering Products in a variety of roles supporting electric vehicle infrastructure and electrical products.

Book now: https://www.trybooking.com/BTGXS

Seminar Session 3 - 3pm

Automated and Driverless Vehicles and Trials, Are we there yet? Chair Brian Negus

Topic - Connected and automated vehicle trials

Speaker - Jeremy Nassau, Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives, Transurban

Transurban has conducted a range of trials of different types of connected and automated vehicles over the last few years. This presentation outlines these trials, learnings about the interaction between these vehicles and road infrastructure, including design, width, and line marking, and the implications for future transport.

Topic – Automated Bus Shuttles, will they be the first driverless vehicles to be deployed and operated in Australia?

Speaker - Dean Zabrieszach, Chief Executive Officer, HMI Technologies Pty Ltd/Ohmio Automotion Ltd

HMI/Ohmio, an Australian/New Zealand designer and manufacturer of intelligent transport infrastructure, has conducted a number of AV shuttle trials in Australia and New Zealand since 2016 and is now on the verge of deploying in South Korea. This presentation will focus on the likelihood that lower-speed, people-friendly AV shuttles might be the first to reach mass deployment.

Topic - Insights from the Bosch/VicRoads/TAC Connected and Automated Vehicle Highway Pilot Trial on Victorian rural roads

Speaker - Xavier Vagedes, Engineering Manager Automated Driving and Connectivity, Robert Bosch (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

Connected and Automated Vehicle technologies have the potential to substantially reduce deaths and serious crashes. Bosch started pre-development studies in the area of Automated Driving in 2013 and has been conducting public road testing in various countries ever since.

In 2018, Bosch was the first company in Victoria to receive a permit for public road testing under Victoria’s Automated Driving System (ADS) Permit Scheme, and a two year trial was conducted as part of the Victorian Government’s Connected and Automated Vehicle Trial Grants Program. During this trial, the research and development work undertaken enabled an understanding of the challenges with operating a prototype SAE Level 3 Automated Driving System on Victorian rural roads, where nearly half of all the state’s road fatalities occur.

In this presentation, we will show how the results and insights from such real world trials, combined with close collaboration between industry and government agencies, assist in preparing the regulatory framework, infrastructure, and services for a successful introduction of automated driving technologies.

Book now: https://www.trybooking.com/BTGXS