Who We Are

With over 25 years of commercial experience, Matthew’s role focuses on building meaningful connections across industry, academia, and government to strengthen Australia’s semiconductor ecosystem. Having worked in both technical and business roles, he brings a unique ability to understand complex technical challenges, mobilise the right resources and stakeholders, and collaborate to solve complex real-world challenges. Matthew is experienced in semiconductor device design, development and commercialisation. His areas of technical expertise include micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) with CMOS integration, lab-on-a-chip, microfluidics, chemical synthesis miniaturization, high volume microfabrication process design - and high volume in the field is very different to the one device in the lab, though equally important.

AO FTSE FIEEE HonFIEAust BSc. 1972, BE 1974, PhD 1985

Dr David Skellern worked in radio astronomy for 10 years and taught electronics at the University of Sydney and Macquarie Universities for 16 years before coming to prominence in the IT sector through Radiata, which he co-founded in 1997. Building on joint research at Macquarie University and CSIRO, Radiata demonstrated the world’s first chip-set implementation of the 54Mbit/s lEEE 802.11a high speed WLAN standard. Radiata was sold in 2001 to Cisco Systems Inc, where Dr Skellern was Director, Technology of the Wireless Networking Business Unit until 2004.

He was appointed to the Board of National ICT Australia in 2003 and was Chief Executive Officer 2005-2010. He was a Non-executive Director (NED) of the Board of the Capital Markets CRC (CMCRC) 2004-2019 and Board Chair 2013-2019, then Chair of RoZetta Institute Ltd (formerly CMCRC) 2019-2022. He was also a NED of the Boards of eight RoZetta Group companies. Dr Skellern is a NED and Board Chair of Quasar Satellite Technologies Pty Ltd, the Semiconductor Sector Service Bureau (S3B), and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), and a NED of Trovio Group Ltd and Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility Pty Ltd (AMRF). He advises several early-stage technology companies. He is a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and an Adjunct Professor at Macquarie University.

Dr Jane Fitzpatrick is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian National Fabrication Facility Ltd (ANFF) and is based in Brisbane, Australia.

As the CEO of this NCRIS-funded facility, Jane supports and fosters world-class research in Australia and the development of the industries, such as Defence, MedTech, Energy and Space. ANFF provides world class tools and expertise in the area of micro and nanofabrication on an open access framework to all of Australia for the research, development and commercialisation of technology. ANFF is made up of 21 institutions organised into eight nodes of expertise, coordinating open access to over 500 tools. The National office is tasked with maintaining the health and high levels of success across this distributed network.

Before her various roles within ANFF at the Node level and now with the National office, Jane previously held positions within academia, the MedTech start-up space and industry focused research entities, as well as Board positions for Women in Technology.

Jane holds a PhD in Applied Immunology and a degree in Biotechnology, and she has added technical expertise in many areas, including micro and nanofabrication, throughout her career.

Scott Martin is the leader for CSIRO’s Electromagnetic Systems and Devices Group encompassing optical systems, superconducting devices, graphene, and instrument development. The group has a strong track record of deploying S&T innovations into aerospace, space, mining, astronomy, health, telecoms, defence and manufacturing.

Since 2012, Scott has served as a non-executive director of the Laboratories Credit Union (LCU) and in 2016 served 3 years as chairman of the board of directors.

Philip Ryan is the Managing Director of the Australian subsidiary of Broadcom Inc – a leading USA developer and provider of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. He leads a multi-disciplinary team as the Director of Engineering Broadcom Sydney, developing highly integrated WLAN (802.11) / Bluetooth combo chips in conjunction with teams in the USA, India, and Israel. The group has shipped over a billion Wi-Fi 6/6E and Wi-Fi 7 ASICs.

Prior to Broadcom, Philip was VP of Engineering at G2 Microsystems, a Sydney based semiconductor startup developing ultra low power WiFi based CMOS devices for logistics tracking. He has also worked at Cisco Systems, Radiata Communications, and CSIRO, developing WiFi CMOS devices. Philip has a BSc (Physics) and BE (ElecEng) from The University of Sydney.

Dr Sarah Sharp is the Chief Executive Officer of Frontier Sensing Pty Ltd based in Sydney, Australia.

Sarah has held senior leadership roles in R&D, engineering and manufacturing operations for advanced technology companies like Safran Electronics and Defense, Thales, Advanced Navigation, Silanna and Oxford Instruments.

Sarah is experienced in the development and commercialisation of highly disruptive products utilising semiconductor, quantum, AI and other next gen tech solutions. This includes the qualification of new device designs, semiconductor processing and advanced packaging solutions with tier #1 semiconductor suppliers in Asia, Europe and USA, with integration into platforms for a range of industries including medical, space, defence and consumer applications.

Sarah has also initiated innovation and development programs with world leading university research groups and R&D institutions eg CSIRO, ANSTO (Australia), IMEC (Belgium), Palo Alto Research Centre (USA), Max Plank (Germany) and Rutherford Appleton Lab (UK) and their spin out companies.

Sarah holds a Master of Science in Semiconductor Science and Technology and a PhD in Condensed Matter Physics from the University of London as well as a Master of Business Administration from Manchester Business School in the United Kingdom.

Tara Julia Hamilton is an Associate Professor at UNSW, a Principal Hardware Engineer at Emergence Quantum, and is the former interim Director of the Semiconductor Sector Services Bureau (S3B). She received her Ph.D. in Neuromorphic Engineering from the University of Sydney in 2009 and has a career of over 30 years in both academia and industry. Her research interests include Edge AI, embedded systems, neuromorphic sensors, biomedical devices, and mixed-signal IC design. Tara is a technical advisor at several companies including the edge AI chip company, Brainchip, the advertising LLM start-up, 55mV, the neuromorphic sensing start-up, Cuvos, and the legal AI start-up, JurisTechne. Tara is a founder of the start-up companies, RF Perception, a personal radar design company, and Advanced PS Clocking, a high-precision clock design company.

Mike holds a PhD from Macquarie University and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Sydney. He has led chip design teams at Broadcom and Movandi. His work spans WiFi, cellular, and satellite technologies. He is co-founder and CTO at Atto Devices and an Industry Professor at Macquarie University and is passionate about growing the semiconductor sector in Australia.

Torsten Lehmann holds a PhD from The Technical University of Denmark and is Associate Professor in electronics with UNSW Sydney. He is an expert in CMOS Integrated Circuit design having designed dozens of chips for a large variety of applications spanning technologies from 2um to 22nm and have more than 150 peer reviewed publications and patents. He teaches 3 courses in electronics and integrated circuit design.

Omid Kavehei is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at The University of Sydney, where he is Deputy Head of the School of Biomedical Engineering. Before this position, he was a Research Fellow in Microelectronics at the Centre for Neural Engineering with The University of Melbourne and a continuing academic at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne. His research interests include biomedical microsystems, biomedical signal processing, and innovative computational and security approaches based on nanotechnology, micro-/nano-electronics, and data analytics. He was a Visiting Project Scientist in Microelectronics at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014. He was an Australian Government’s Endeavor Research Fellow, a SOAR Fellow at the University of Sydney in 2019 and an awardee of the 2021 Ramaciotti Awards for Biomedical Research. In 2021 and 2022, he was awarded the Dean of Engineering and Vice-Chancellor Excellence Awards in Research and Teaching at the University of Sydney, respectively. He is the Founder and Managing Director of a neurotechnology startup, BrainConnect Pty Ltd, and a quantum sensing startup, deteQt Pty Ltd.

Jafar Shojaii holds a PhD in Microelectronics from the University of Milan through a joint program with CERN. He has held research positions at CERN, the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the University of Melbourne, and Swinburne University of Technology. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Semiconductor Technology at Macquarie University, and an honorary fellow at both the University of Melbourne and INFN-Italy.

Dr. Shojaii specializes in CMOS-based integrated circuits, radiation-hardened IC design, and radiation testing using particle accelerators. He provided significant contributions to the upgrade of the ATLAS detector at CERN for more than 10 years and leads a major defence/space project developing radiation-hardened IC chips.

Anna Gurevich has spent her career connecting individuals with meaningful job opportunities and experiential learning experiences that align with their values and goals. With a specialisation in scalable talent programs and sector specific recruitment and development initiatives, she has collaborated with stakeholders from diverse industries and disciplines. She has managed large-scale programs and establishing valuable domestic and international relationships to support established and emerging programs, courses and events.

Olivia Morberger comes from a diverse background where she has developed a unique skill set in stakeholder engagement and creating opportunities for organisations and talent. She has collaborated with stakeholders across various industries, aligning values and goals to enhance public-facing events and sponsorship activations. Olivia has managed talent in education programs and facilitated professional development opportunities that support long-term career growth. Her experience has also honed her expertise in project management and administrative processes.

Mia Blyth brings a diverse background in science communication and marketing, with a unique skill set spanning content creation, strategic communications, and stakeholder engagement. Shaped by experience at New Zealand's top science institute, she has brought compelling stories to life through multimedia storytelling, long-form writing, and event coordination. Her experience partnering with internal and external stakeholders across diverse science sectors has strengthened her ability to support collaboration, drive program delivery, and connect meaningfully with audiences through digital marketing and social media.

Naresh Chandrasekaran brings global R&D expertise across Asia, Australia, and Europe. He holds a joint PhD from IIT Bombay and Monash University, with over five years of experience spanning advanced research and industry innovation—including three years at IMEC, Belgium. With deep insight into both academic and commercial ecosystems, Naresh plays a key role at S3B in translating technical understanding into strategic action—addressing supply chain bottlenecks and strengthening Australia's semiconductor capability.

Nina Siljanovic brings a wealth of professional experience to the S3B team. With a robust background in food systems and production, small business ownership, business development, marketing, communications, and data management, Nina excels in supporting and enhancing team operations at S3B.

Nina's diverse career has equipped her with a unique skill set which she leverages to contribute to the dynamic environment at S3B. Her experience in managing small businesses and overseeing marketing initiatives provides her with the strategic insight and practical knowledge essential for her role.

Passionate about innovation and efficiency, Nina is dedicated to ensuring that the S3B team operates smoothly and effectively. Her ability to adapt and thrive in diverse professional settings makes her a valuable asset to the team.

Tanya is a seasoned leader with extensive experience across government, university, and corporate sectors. With expertise in strategic communications, government and ministerial relations, stakeholder engagement, and complex policy and program delivery, she has built a strong track record bridging industry, academia, research, and government. Her career spans over two decades in senior roles across NSW and ACT departments and agencies, the Australian Government and the University of Sydney. Tanya brings this breadth of strategic and cross-sector experience directly to her work supporting Australia's semiconductor ecosystem at S3B.

Alison has significant operations and project management experience across research, medical and financial institutions. She has a proven track record transforming work models to enhance efficiency and organisational performance. She brings expertise in delivering complex programs, supporting multidisciplinary teams, and coordinating across diverse stakeholders to drive strategic outcomes. Alison is focused on enabling collaboration in dynamic environments. She looks forward to applying her experience to support S3B’s initiatives and contribute to the growth of Australia’s semiconductor ecosystem.