Featured Speakers

The Hon. David Michael MLA

David Michael grew up in Tuart Hill and is dedicated to serving the community. He has lived locally his entire life and went to Tuart Hill Primary School and Servite College. He is a life member of the Tuart Hill Cricket Club, a board member of Tuart Hill Primary School, and a patron of the Osborne Park Bowling Club. David studied Economics at the University of Western Australia and while at University he joined both the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Republican Movement. At 25 years old, David was voted in as the youngest Councillor the City of Stirling has ever had. He held that role for 12 years, including two years as Deputy Mayor, before being elected to State Parliament as the Member for Balcatta in March 2017. In 2021 David was appointed as the Cabinet Secretary and Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier after previously serving as the Government Whip in the Legislative Assembly for his first term of Parliament. In 2023, David was appointed as Minister for Ports; Local Government; Road Safety; and Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport. David enjoys playing cricket for his local club, where he has played over 250 senior games when he can, and enjoys watching the Fremantle Dockers, Perth Wildcats and the Claremont Tigers.

Nicole Lockwood

Nicole was appointed as Chairperson of Infrastructure WA in October 2021.With a background in law and regional economic development, she works with government and the private sector to develop long-term infrastructure plans to secure the future prosperity and liveability of our cities and regions.  

Nicole is the Strategic Advisor to the Future of Fremantle Planning Committee. She is the chair of Airbridge and the Malka Foundation and the Deputy Chair of the Green Building Council of Australia. She also holds Board roles with NBN Co, the Child and Adolescent Health Service and is a member of the Net Zero Economy Agency advisory Board. 

Dean Mudford

Dean Mudford is the Acting Chief Executive Officer for DevelopmentWA. He is an accomplished leader with more than 28 years of experience in the property and construction industry.

Dean has worked across all sectors of the property market in Australia and the UK including Residential, Industrial, Commercial and Hospitality. His experience is diverse and includes senior roles within Mirvac WA prior to joining DevelopmentWA in 2015 as Chief Operations Officer. He was appointed to his current position in October 2022.

He is a former Vice President of the Property Council of Australia (WA Division) and
a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  

At DevelopmentWA, Dean is responsible for a large team of people to drive commercial, sustainable and social outcomes across a significant state-wide portfolio of projects.  He is passionate about delivering projects that demonstrate innovation and industry best practice that will shape the future of Western Australia.

Sharni Foulkes

Sharni Foulkes is a dynamic and passionate advocate for the stunning Kimberley region. With over $1B worth of upcoming projects, her energy and enthusiasm know no bounds, and she's dedicated to showcasing the immense potential and opportunities that this extraordinary corner of the world offers.   As the CEO of the Broome Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sharni is not just a leader but also a driving force behind the development and growth of the Kimberley. Her approach is characterised by boundless enthusiasm and a deep commitment to collaboration. She thrives on creating opportunities, both for the local community and the broader region, making her a catalyst for positive change. Sharni will be sharing all of the opportunities Broome and the Kimberley have on offer. 

Pratik Shrestha

Pratik Shrestha is an award-winning engineer, researcher, thought leader, and active industry contributor. Pratik has been instrumental in bringing to life key built environment projects in Australia, and internationally, through his innovative mindset, passion for knowledge-sharing and outstanding technical skills and project leadership. Pratik has recently completed the design of Western Australia’s largest Mass Engineered Timber building, ever to be built in WA – Murdoch University’s Boola Katitjin. To help build this, Pratik also led the design and development of a fully autonomous construction robot – a world first feat where the robot has the capability to autonomously navigate and install fixings into the timber structure. In his free time, if you don’t find Pratik at his local Muay Thai Gym, you will find him at the play gym with his 2 young children.

Sam Lee Mohan

Mr Lee Mohan is an accomplished energy executive with over 20 years’ experiencein the energy and utilities industry. Mr Lee Mohans’ experience spans many facets of the industry, from design and construction through to strategic asset
management, regulation, policy, commercial and innovation. His previous senior management position includes Global Head of Hydrogen of Xodus Group, a Subsea7 subsidiary, where he developed and led the Company’s overall hydrogen strategy. In this role, he also conceptualised the company’s largest hydrogen project, Project MercurHy.
Prior to Xodus Group, Mr Lee Mohan spent six years at ATCO, where he was instrumental in developing the company’s hydrogen strategy, including the design and construction of Australia’s first, Green Hydrogen Microgrid, the Clean Energy Innovation Hub. Mr Lee Mohan earned his MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Portsmouth and an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business.

Tania Stevens

Tania Stevens is the Managing Director of Eastern Guruma PTY LTD and is an Eastern Guruma Traditional Custodian from the Muntalgura, Guruma in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Since 2004 Tania has been owner and director of Eastern Guruma, a mining civil and facility services business servicing major clients like Rio Tinto, FMG and BHP. Tania has also worked in the health department and education departments for Indigenous people. ania has been actively involved in the operations of Eastern Guruma and one of the man focuses for Tania is to actively employ Indigenous peoples and create pathways, training & education in employment. Tania is an advocate for preserving the culture & tradition with Land, family, lore, ceremony and language and believes that they are five key interconnected elements of Indigenous culture.

David Axworthy

Mr Axworthy has a background in psychology and started working at the Department of Health in 1999. He joined the Office of Mental Health within the Department in 2004. He has filled a variety of roles, but primarily as a “purchaser” of mental health services from both government and non-government providers, before moving to a more policy-orientated role as Assistant Commissioner within the Mental Health Commission. He returned to the Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on supporting the rapid establishment of additional infrastructure. He has been in his current role since October 2022 and provides oversight and assurance to key Major Health Projects, as well as managing the Department’s broader Asset Investment Program and other related statewide programs

Rob Thomson

Rob has acquired over twenty years of infrastructure planning and development experience, with a proven track record in shaping government policies, delivering large-scale projects and driving commercial outcomes. Providing oversight of strategy, operations, financial, policy, project, compliance, contract management functions.

Megan McCracken

Following a 30-year career across Australia in the mining, energy, and transport sectors across Australia, with a decade as an executive in the transport and energy industries, Megan is now pursuing a portfolio career which includes directorships, leadership coaching and consulting, and facilitating conversations with thought leaders and authors.

Megan is a Non-Executive Director with Pacific Energy and the Chair of the Freight and Logistics Council of WA.

A long-time advocate for gender balance in historically male-dominated industries, Megan is the immediate past Chair of the National Association of Women in Operations (NAWO), delivers the induction for Women in Mining WA’s mentoring program, is a mentor with WIMWA, NAWO and Mentor Walks, and in April 2022 won the Industry Advocate category of the National Women in Industry Awards in Melbourne.

David Trotter

David is a metallurgist who has over 35 years of experience in the iron ore and steel industry in a variety of technology, logistical, and technical roles.

Before joining MRIWA, David was providing advice on green steelmaking technologies including the use of hydrogen in steelmaking, Transport, and Handling of HBI and DRI. His previous roles include Regional Manager Iron Ore for Rio Tinto Commercial Singapore and Head of Global Sales and Trading, Anglo American Singapore.

Robert McCullagh

Robert McCullagh is a seasoned procurement professional, with extensive experience in both public and private sectors across industry verticals including, but not limited to defence, resources, clean technology, financial services and manufacturing.
No stranger to ICN, Rob previously worked for the ICN out of Canberra in a national capacity as its National Sector Manager for Clean Technology, working with Australian and New Zealand businesses to promote their innovative solutions both locally and abroad.
Rob is passionate about what ICN brings to the table, as a genuinely honest broker between buyer and supplier, to enable fruitful commercial outcomes for local industry.

Karla Fox-Reynolds

Karla is Hassell's Sustainable Design Leader in Perth and is part of the design practice's global sustainability team. She participates in national industry working groups as well as the GBCA Sustainable Precincts Expert Reference Panel and co-chairs the MECLA working group 6 (Residential).

Prior to joining Hassell she was a Principal Innovation Projects at Climate-KIC Australia where she led the Retrofit Australia portfolio of work. Karla has a broad knowledge and industry experience having also worked for Curtin University, Lendlease and Cundall.

Shelley Shepherd

Shelley is a Director of Urbaqua, a not-for-profit environmental organisation that works to support and deliver water and environmentally sensitive outcomes in Western Australia. She is also the Program Manager of New WAter Ways, the Western Australian capacity building program for water sensitive urban design.

Giles Pickard

Giles Pickard is the Principal Landscape Architect at the City of Canning and WA State President of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects. He is passionate about the role that Landscape Architecture can play in the design of our cities and communities. He is particularly keen on the positive role that we can all take to collaborate across disciplines to protect and enhance our environment, and in particular within infrastructure projects, from the small scale to the large.

Helen Todd

Wayne Bradshaw

Wayne is the CEO of WestCycle, the peak body for cycling in Western Australia. WestCycle is responsible for the development of all facets of bike riding in Western Australia. Wayne has had extensive experience in community focused not for profit organisations. As CEO of The Fathering Project, he led the organisation from a start up to a national organisation that delivers child development outcomes. Prior to this role he was the CEO of The West Australian Football Commission.

Eva Ricci

Eva Ricci has been TGAWA’s Executive Officer since 2007. As the Turf industry representative for government, Eva manages the relationship with allied industries and has coordinated the initiation and administers the Green Space Alliance WA (GSAWA). The GSAWA is an alliance of organisations that have joined forces to advocate for natural green spaces for all, forever.

Previously Eva was an electorate officer for an MLA and Minister in the State government and also worked at Bankwest for 16 years. However, Eva has found her lifelong passion in the natural turf and green spaces industries. Eva passionately advocates for adequate quality natural green spaces, in particular parks, gardens and other recreational areas, for our children and their children’s children.

Fiona Blackham

Fiona Blackham is an experienced Permaculture designer, consultant and educator, and has been hands-on in her successful Permaculture landscape company. She has now hung up the tools focussing on providing long term design solutions to a wide variety of clients that move beyond sustainability and into regenerative models based on Permaculture systems thinking design. Fiona works proactively with schools and community gardens in addition to promoting and delivering nationally recognised Permaculture qualifications in high schools and to adult students alike. She is a Sustainability Officer at City of Stirling delivering projects that support and educate both community groups and residents, to continue reaching their personal objectives towards a more regenerative and sustainable future.

Guy McHugh

Guy is a Senior Project Manager at Synergy and has over six years experience in renewable energy projects and 10 years in the mining industry. His work on renewable projects began on the Kalbarri Reliability Project as a Project Manager for Lendlease Services delivering the Kalbarri microgrid for Western Power.  He started his career working for Rio Tinto Iron Ore mainly delivering sustaining capital projects for various sites throughout the Pilbara. 

During his time at Synergy, Guy has project managed innovative projects including Stage 1 of Virtual Power Plants (VPP) for schools and the WA EV Network. As the driving force behind the WA EV Network, Guy has collaboratively engaged with a diverse range of stakeholders and spearheaded the Synergy team's efforts to provide a seamless and electrifying charging experience for the users of the WA EV Network.

But Guy's passion for electrification goes beyond his work. He's not just a Project Manager; he's also an enthusiastic EV owner, demonstrating his commitment to sustainable living. And when he's not busy building EV chargers, you'll find him building Lego with his kids!

Craig Shepherd

Craig is the National Infrastructure and Property Markets Lead at Scyne Advisory (formerly part of PwC), based in Perth. Craig has extensive experience in infrastructure and urban development in Western Australia and provides advisory, strategy and delivery leadership for a mix of clients with a focus on infrastructure, property and capital project sectors.  

He is passionate about facilitating high quality projects and innovations in the built environment across the commercial, industrial, residential, social and infrastructure sectors.   

Previously Craig held senior roles across local and state Government in Western Australia where he delivered major reform agendas, strategic planning outcomes and contributed to some of WA’s iconic projects.  

Craig has a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning and a Masters of Science (Project Management) and is a Board Member of the Urban Development Institute of Western Australia (WA Division). Craig is also a member of the Town of Cottesloe’s Design Advisory Committee. 

Associate Professor Laurie Hughes

Associate Professor Laurie Hughes is an academic within the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University. He was previously within the Strategic Operations and Digital Futures groups at the School of Management, Swansea University, UK. Laurie has extensive senior management and consultancy experience in numerous client-facing mixed agile and traditional methods project management roles working within: Financial Services, Government agencies, telecommunications, finance, UK defence, and EU consortium projects. Laurie is a Certified Agile and PRINCE2 Project Manager and Prosci Change Manager. Within academia he has published over 30 ABS research papers receiving a Google citation count of over 8000 across a range of technology focused research topics within leading academic journals in subjects such as: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Project Management, the Metaverse, Blockchain, Industry 4.0 and Disaster Supply Chain Management. Laurie's research has received policy citations from the European Commission, United Nations, World Bank and Joint Research Centre.

Sarah Lambert

Sarah Lambert is the WA Section Executive for Water at WSP, and a member of the WA Branch Committee for the Australian Water Association. A civil engineer by background, Sarah has a passion for water resource management and the development of resilient communities. She has international experience in nature-based solutions and flood risk mitigation, as well as management and governance of major civil infrastructure projects in WA.