Bob Clifford, the organiser from Basingstoke Cafe Scientifique, is the host for this evening's Webinar from New Scientist with members of Cafe Sci, Basingstoke Makerspace and Basingstoke Friends.

This is part of an occasional evening talk series on subjects of general interest to the community. There will be a door donation of £3 for a New Scientist book raffle to contribute towards the cost of the room plus the provision of tea, coffee and biscuits.

The webinar broadcast starts at 7.00pm ... so please arrive around 6.45pm to get yourself some tea or coffee and biscuits.

What topics are being discussed?

Humanity’s future is being shaped by the technologies emerging today. These technologies include artificial intelligence and robotics, future transport and renewable power, data mining and data privacy. They are set to have a huge impact on the way we live, work and play.

But these technologies also raise important questions: do we clearly understand the potential of artificial intelligence, how will robots change the nature of work and society more broadly, can we exploit personal information and keep it private at the same time, and are we doing enough to make energy renewable?

An expert panel of engineers and scientists will be challenged to discuss these questions and the technologies behind them to better understand how they will change our lives by 2030.

Who is on the panel?

Alice Klein (Chair)
New Scientist’s Australasian reporter

Alice Klein is the Australasia Reporter for New Scientist. She has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Sydney and is passionate about boosting the public profile of science. She has appeared on radio and podcasts, made a science documentary series, and written for Australian Doctor, Medical Observer and the Washington Post.

Salah Sukkarieh
Professor of robotics and intelligent systems at the University of Sydney

Salah develops robotic devices and intelligent machines that can operate 24/7 in outdoor spaces without direct human input. His intelligent machines include robotic aircraft that can spray weeds in remote locations, an automated berth in Brisbane where ships are loaded and unloaded by robots and autonomous systems for commercial aviation. In 2017, he was awarded the CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Innovation and Science.

Lachlan McCalman
Machine learning engineer at Data61, Australia’s leading data innovation group

Lachlan leads a team at Data61 that builds software systems to solve real-world problems with machine learning. He focuses on complex, ambiguous or data-poor applications where making decisions requires robust estimates of predictive uncertainty. He is an expert on artificial intelligence and machine learning with a broad knowledge of privacy preserving technologies and how these can be applied to big data.

Matt MacLeod
Engineer and manager of Advanced Technical Vehicles & Site Development at Toyota Australia

Matt leads Toyota Australia’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell activities, which have significant potential to become an alternative source of energy. Hydrogen is an ideal material for storing energy in large quantities and hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity producing only water a by-product. They can be used in cars, buses, trucks, trains, forklifts and also in fixed locations. From a mobility perspective Toyota sees both battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles as complimentary technologies in the future.

Brad Yelland
Director of engineering and technology at BAE Systems Australia

Brad is an aerospace engineer who has worked in a wide range of projects at BAE Systems including real-time digital flight simulation, the Nulka autonomous hovering rocket and unscrewed aerial vehicle technology. He is an expert in hypersonics and autonomous systems.

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