Alex Zelinsky Biography

Dr Alex Zelinsky CSIRO ICT Centre
+61 2 9372 4200
alex.zelinsky@csiro.au

Group Executive, Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies, and Director, CSIRO ICT Centre

Dr Alex Zelinsky is a leader in the Australian ICT industry who is recognised as an outstanding scientist and an innovator. Dr Zelinsky has successfully delivered R&D results of significant commercial value and global impact.

Current activities

Dr Zelinsky is Group Executive, Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies, and Director, CSIRO Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Centre. He is a member of the CSIRO Executive Team.

Under Dr Zelinsky’s leadership CSIRO is developing world class technology platforms for sensor & sensor networks and computational & simulation science. These platforms are being applied to underpin cross-disciplinary research across the CSIRO – particularly in energy, health, agriculture, manufacturing and environment applications. The platforms have a strong engagement with the CSIRO National Research Flagships.

Dr Zelinsky also:

serves as a Director on the Board of Funnelback Pty Limited – a CSIRO spinoff
serves as a Director of Epicorp Limited – a leading incubator of ICT technology, and
is a contributor to Australian ICT industry and government advisory boards.

Background

Before joining CSIRO in July 2004 Dr Zelinsky was CEO and co-founder of Seeing Machines, a high-technology company dedicated to developing state of the art computer vision systems.

Prior to founding Seeing Machines Dr Zelinsky was Professor of Systems Engineering at the Australian National University (1996-2001). He has worked as a Research Scientist in the AIST Electrotechnical Laboratory, Japan (1992-1995) conducting research in robotics and computer vision. He worked as an academic – teaching and researching in computer science at the University of Wollongong (1984-1991). Dr Zelinsky started his career as a Systems Engineer with BHP Steel International (1978-1984).

Since joining CSIRO has Dr Zelinsky has focused on building the research capabilities of the ICT Centre to address Australian national challenges, and the commercialisation of CSIRO technology through SME engagement (including start-ups), technology licensing and global partnering.

Academic qualifications

Dr Zelinsky has been awarded

Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences (Honours) from the University of Wollongong, 1983.
Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Wollongong in 1991.
Completed Advanced Management Program (AMP-172) Harvard University, 2007

Achievements

Dr Zelinsky is internationally recognised for his research in robotics and computer vision, particularly in real-time computer vision systems for human-machine interfaces. He has published over 120 refereed papers and supervised 10 PhD students. He has served on the editorial boards of the leading journals and magazines in his field, including the program committees of international conferences.

Dr Zelinsky's contributions to science have been recognised by numerous awards in Australia and internationally:

Australian Engineering Excellence Awards, 1999 and 2001
Business-Higher Education Round Table Award, 2001
Discover Magazine, Top 100 Innovations of 2001 Award
Australian Eureka Science Prize, 2002
Australian Information Industries Award (iAward), 2002 and 2006
US R&D magazine Top 100 Award, 2002
ATSE Clunies-Ross National Science & Technology Award, 2005
Bulletin magazine annual Smart 100 list of influential Australians, 2003 and 2007
World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, 2003, 2004, 2005

Dr Zelinsky has been elected:

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)
Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (FIEEE)
Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia (FIEAust)
Fellow of Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD)
Vice President of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society - Industrial Activities (RAS-IAB)

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