National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
While studying at the University of Wollongong (UoW), Zelinsky started his career in 1978 as a cadet systems engineer at The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP). In 1984 he joined UoW's academic staff where he taught computer science while completing a PhD in robotics. He worked as a Research Scientist at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan, developing computer vision and robotics technologies (1991–1994). He was appointed Professor of Systems Engineering at the Australian National University in 1996, holding that position until 2004. In 2000 as chief executive officer (CEO), he co-founded, and was a non-executive director of, Seeing Machines Limited, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange (2000–2014). He has also been a Senior Executive at CSIRO (2004–2012), where he served as Director of the ICT Centre (2004–2009), and Group Executive of Information Sciences (2007–2012).