Alex Zelinsky
Alexander ‘Alex’ Zelinsky, (born 5 March 1960) is an Australian computer scientist, systems engineer and roboticist. His career spans innovation, science and technology, research and development, commercial start-ups and education. Zelinsky is Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Newcastle joining the university in November 2018. He was the Chief Defence Scientist of Australia from March 2012 until November 2018. As Chief Defence Scientist he led Defence Science and Technology for Australia's Department of Defence. Career. 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). Zelinsky was Chief Defence Scientist and head of the Defence Science and Technology Group from March 2012 until November 2018. On 20 June 2018, Zelinsky was announced as the next Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Newcastle following the retirement of Caroline McMillen. He assumed the role 19 November 2018. Qualifications and awards. Zelinsky has a Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences (Honours), a Doctor of Philosophy, and in 2010 was awarded an  honorary Doctor of Science, all from the University of Wollongong. He also served as a member of the University of Wollongong Council (2012–2015). Zelinsky is a Fellow of: Zelinsky’s awards and appointments include: