In Summary

  • Siemens Australia CEO Jeff Connolly has been named an adjunct professor of Swinburne.
  • The appointment recognises Mr Connolly’s significant contributions to Industry 4.0 in Australia.
  • Swinburne is home to the first Siemens Mindsphere Centre in Australia, a cloud-based industrial Internet of Things (IoT) operating system.

Siemens Australia Chairman and CEO Jeff Connolly has been named as an adjunct professor of Swinburne in recognition of his extensive contributions to Industry 4.0 in Australia.

Swinburne’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development), Professor Aleksandar Subic, made the announcement at a function for Australian businesses attending Hannover Messe in Germany, which is the largest industrial trade fair in the world.

Professor Subic said the appointment recognises Mr Connolly’s expertise in advanced manufacturing business and his many contributions to Industry 4.0 strategy in Australia.

“No other individual has contributed so much to Australia’s journey through the fourth industrial revolution. He is an advocate and thought leader, and as a company, Siemens has invested an incredible amount of time, resources and effort to bring this capability to life across Australia,” said Professor Subic.

“Swinburne is proud to be involved with both Jeff and Siemens as we continue to work together to create economic and social impact through positive industrial transformation.”

Mr Connolly is renowned for his leadership in advancing industry with data and automation. In 2016, he established and led the Australian Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce.

“Successfully competing in the future world is all about urgent pursuit of global best practice in both what we do and how we do it. We must be interconnected and enabled by the right tools and the right skills,” said Mr Connolly.

Siemens propels Swinburne to the forefront of Industry 4.0

Swinburne’s partnership with Siemens has been vital to the implementation of Swinburne’s Industry 4.0 strategy.

In total, Siemens Australia has donated more than $1.5 billion in software and innovation grants to the Australian education sector. In 2017, Swinburne received a $135 million industrial software grant from Siemens to underpin the development of the ‘Factory of the Future’. It is Australia’s first fully immersed state-of-the-art Industry 4.0 facility and explores conceptual ideas for manufacturing next-generation products.

In 2018, Swinburne became home to Australia’s first demonstration and application centre – Mindsphere – a cloud-based industrial IoT operating system, developed by Siemens. Mindsphere enables students, academics and industry partners to collaborate and co-create on local and global projects to explore advanced manufacturing, smart cities and transport.

In partnership with Siemens and AiGroup, Swinburne is the first university in Australia to pioneer an Industry 4.0 apprenticeship program, equipping students to work effectively in this digital revolution by teaching cutting-edge technical engineering and information technology skills.

In January 2019, Swinburne was selected as one of six universities for a new national program designed to prepare businesses for the fourth industrial revolution. This initiative is the culmination of Mr Connolly’s work on the Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce.  

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