GMC MEMBERS ONLY EVENT

GMC members are warmly invited to join our bi-monthly GMC Connect meeting on Tuesday 1st October. The October afternoon is a Members only event with presentations from special guests speakers.

Date: Tuesday 1st October 2024 │ 3:00pm – 5:00pm

Contact: [email protected]

 

EVENT SPEAKERS

 

Kate Whitehead

Managing Director, Avant Group 

Kate is the founder and Managing Director of Avant Group, a leading business strategy and government grant consulting firm. The business provides services including project management, grant identification and application management and reporting, business restructuring and advice, finance equity sourcing, contract negotiation and business marketing strategy planning.

 

Bill Patterson

General Manager, Viva Energy
Bill Patterson is a chemical engineer with more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry. He started his career at Geelong Refinery and has worked for Shell and later Viva Energy in various roles that have taken him from Australia to Oman and Singapore.

 

Laura Bishop

Sustainability Project Manager, Viva Energy

As the Sustainability Project Manager at Viva Energy, Laura oversees the project management and regulatory approvals for the Gas Terminal proposal at Geelong and evaluates investment opportunities in carbon projects.
Before her current position, Laura held several key roles at Viva Energy Australia, including Approvals Lead and Infrastructure Manager.
Laura’s career began at Shell, where she held various engineering positions, including LNG Network Project Manager and Integrity Engineer. Laura’s work at Shell involved overseeing LNG transport initiatives, establishing efficiency protocols, and contributing to Australian Standards committees.

 

Nick Foa

CEO, Industry Capability Network (Victoria) Limited

Nick Foa has been the CEO of Industry Capability Network (Victoria) since February 2024.

Prior to ICN Victoria, Nick held many Chief Executive level positions within the public sector (Local and State Government) over the past two decades including Head Transport Services at the Department of Transport, Deputy Secretary Housing, Infrastructure, Sport & Recreation at the Department of Health & Human Services and Chief Executive Officer of Suburban Rail Loop Authority.

 

Stuart Smyth

Industry Adviser, ICN Victoria
Based in Melbourne. Stuart joined ICN Victoria in late August 2023 after a career spanning over two decades in commercial leadership & stakeholder engagement roles across industry, higher education, government, and NFP sectors. Initially responsible for supporting civil & healthcare infrastructure, along with transport assets projects in Melbourne, more recently Stuart has narrowed his focus into Defence and Transport Assets with particular attention to advanced manufacturing and the opportunities for new, innovative, and nimble SMEs looking to penetrate these markets.