Board of Advice

Chair

Dr Alastair Stone

Managing Director, Pacific Infrastructure Corporation

Alastair has more than 30 years' experience in banking, economics and engineering. His career has covered all facets of urban affairs including senior positions with the World Bank, Lend Lease and Merill Lynch. Alastair teaches in the Foundations lecture series on public infrastructure services.

Deputy Chair

Cecilia Warren

Board Member, iMOVE CRC

Cecilia leads IAG’s Research and Development function with responsibility for collaborating with university and research partners to deliver insights into the nexus between emerging technology and human need in mobility, shelter and work. 

Local members

Gillian Akers

Director, AkersConsult

Gillian has more than 35 years' experience in traffic and transport, road design, urban development and civil engineering. She has participated in several state and national working groups and is often consulted on strategic transport planning matters by both public and private sector infrastructure investors.

Emily Bobis

Co-Founder, Compass IoT

Emily is a co-founder of Compass IoT, a multi-award-winning Road Intelligence company that uses Connected Vehicle data to build better, safer transport and city infrastructure. She has 6+ years of experience operating tech-enabled mobility startups with a focus on vehicle-generated data and CAV-led innovation. Emily was also a finalist for NSW Young Woman of the Year 2022 and winner of Women in Digital's Innovator of the Year 2022.

Todd Chapman

Principal, Leading Edge Management Consulting

Todd is the Principal of Leading Edge Consulting, a Sydney based practice that specialises in business transformation and operations improvement. Todd had previously worked in senior leadership roles within the Qantas Group for over 20 years and leverages this experience to help businesses unlock value and to be their best. He also brings a high energy, people centered approach to his work and focuses on developing leadership and relationships to driven genuine and sustainable change.

Julie Gee

Executive Director, Transport Strategy at Transport for NSW

Julie is a proud founding staff member of ITLS and former student, who regularly gives her time to support the ITLS learning and research programs. Julie has over 30 years’ experience in the transport sector gained through a variety of planning, policy, advocacy and research roles across state and local government, consultancies, universities and the community sector. She has expertise in transport and land use planning and a strong personal interest in transport disadvantage. Julie currently leads the Transport Strategy team in Transport for NSW who deliver better community outcomes through collaboratively creating strategies and tools informed by robust evidence that anticipate future challenges and opportunities. Accountabilities include setting the long-term vision for an integrated, user-centric transport system for NSW, creating guidelines and practical tools to support the implementation of this vision (including Movement & Place), and place-based multimodal network strategies across NSW.

Xiaolin Gong

HDR Representative

Xiaolin is a PhD candidate with three years of study in ITLS. Her thesis focuses on enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of macroscopic modelling at signalized intersections. Her research interests include traffic flow theory, macroscopic network modelling, and machine learning-based traffic forecasting and optimization. Xiaolin holds a Bachelor's degree in Traffic Engineering from Chang'an University in China and a Master’s degree in Transportation Systems from the Technical University of Munich in Germany. Additionally, she gained industry experience in the Department of Interior and Exterior Functional Design at BMW AG.

Professor Mark Hickman

Transport Engineering, University of Queensland

Professor Mark Hickman is the Transport Academic Partnership (TAP) Chair and Professor of Transport Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Queensland. He also serves as the Deputy Head of the School of Civil Engineering. As the TAP Chair, he coordinates transport engineering and planning activities between the University of Queensland and the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. He also directs the Transport and Population Research Network (TPRN), a network to coordinate transport and population research across several schools and faculties at the University. Prof Hickman has expertise in public transport service planning and operations, travel demand modelling, and traffic engineering.

Kelsey Holman

Executive, Group Services, Qantas

Prior to Qantas, Kelsey was a Director at KPMG and a Corporate Lawyer at what is now Norton Rose Fulbright. She has advised a range of government and transport entities, covering air, road and rail, with a highlight being work on the separation of Queensland Rail and creation of Aurizon, Australia's largest rail freight operator. Kelsey is also a mum of two kids, keen traveller, and she has a passion for driving inclusion.

Simon Hunter

Chief Transport Planner, Transport for NSW

Simon started as the Chief Transport Planner in Transport for NSW in 2022. In this role he is responsible for the Strategic Planning Branch that sets the future direction for Transport in NSW. Simon has worked for over 20 years in the NSW Government, primarily in Transport, working in policy and planning roles in freight, regional and urban transport roles as well as in infrastructure strategy as an Executive Director at Infrastructure NSW. Prior to this Simon was the Executive Director, leading the Smart Cities work for the NSW Government including the $45m Smart Places Acceleration Program and the Smart Places Customer Charter. He was DPE’s Chief Data Officer and holds an Executive Masters of Public Administration from the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG).

Michael Kaine

Michael Kaine, TWU National Secretary

Michael has been fighting for the rights of transport workers for over 20 years from the TWU NSW branch legal team right through to national leadership. Michael drives the union’s national campaigns, bringing together workers from all sectors of road transport and aviation to fight for safe rates of pay and conditions and to lift standards in transport. A leading figure in the union movement, Michael has also led the charge to kick banks out of super as well as daringly taking on multinational giants in the gig economy such as Uber and Amazon to protect Australia’s hard-earned workers’ rights.

Professor Michael Kennedy

Director and Professor of Practice at Monash Institute of Transport Studies

Michael Kennedy OAM is Director and Professor of Practice at Monash Institute of Transport Studies in the Department of Civil Engineering. In an environment of rapid technological, social, economic and environmental change and rapid growth in the transport and mobility sector, Michael’s focus is on ensuring that Monash ITS education and research programs respond to evolving challenges and opportunities. Michael has a well-earned reputation as an innovator, developing an entirely new intermodal transport system including new ships, terminal systems, road vehicles and containers, all designed to cater for the needs of the market.

Professor David Levinson

School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney

David teaches at the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney, where he leads the Network Design Lab and the Transport Engineering group. He is also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering at the University of Minnesota in the United States. 

Martin Locke

Lidunian Partners

Martin is an infrastructure finance specialist with more than 25 years' experience who has closed high-profile public-private partnerships in transport, health and education. He retired from PwC as a senior partner after leading the infrastructure advisory practice in Sydney since 2001. He now leads Lidunian Partners, and has a portfolio of consulting and non-executive director roles. 

Anisa Makalic

Supply Chain Director, APAC

Anisa is also a board member and director of the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores. She is a supply chain management and strategy professional with extensive experience supporting organisations by delivering improvements throughout the supply chain.

Rico Merkert

Professor and Chair in Transport and Supply Chain Management, Deputy Director, ITLS

Professor Rico Merkert is Chair in Transport and Supply Chain Management and Deputy Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at The University of Sydney. Equipped with a PhD in Transport Economics he has taught and researched at a number of high profile institutions such as Cranfield University or Haas Business School, University of California Berkeley and is Visiting Professor at the University Johannesburg, South Africa. Rico is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Air Transport Management, Associate Editor of the Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management and an appointed member of three U.S. Transportation Research Board (TRB) standing Committees.

Carlee McGowan

Supply Chain Director - Pernod Ricard Winemakers

Carlee is a supply chain professional with more than 25+ years’ experience in fast-moving consumer goods, both locally and internationally. She specialises in supplier management, supply planning, production, logistics, customer management, sales and operations planning to retail. 

Aitan Militao

HDR Representative

Aitan has been a PhD candidate at ITLS since March 2021. His research interests are modelling and simulation of new transportation concepts and their potential impacts on urban infrastructure, operational strategies, economic models, and policymaking. His thesis analyses the potential of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) to achieve sustainable societal goals in urban areas. Aitan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and a Master’s degree in Transportation Systems from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Aitan has practical experience in transport simulation, urban infrastructure design, and marketing.

Maria Palazzolo

Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, GS1 Australia

Maria Palazzolo is the Chief Executive Officer of GS1 Australia a Not-for-Profit global multi-industry association responsible for the development and implementation of GS1 Standards and services in the Australian market. In her twenty plus years as Chief Executive Maria has worked with a wide range Industry associations representing GS1's twenty two thousand company members as they navigate their eCommerce journeys.

Andrew Petersen

CEO, Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia

In March 2011, Andrew Petersen was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Business Australia (now Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia). He has an enviable reputation as legal advisor on matters relating to environmental risk, law and policy, including climate change, and as a thought leader and advisor on the business of sustainability. Andrew studied Law and Arts majoring in Political Economics at the University of Sydney and he is a qualified solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW, solicitor of the High Court of Australia, Affiliated Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and former Director/Company Secretary of Environment Business Australia.

Neil Smith

Kelsian Group Ltd

Neil is a Non-Executive Director and major shareholder of Kelsian Group Ltd, the largest operator of road and water-based passenger transport in Australia. He is a trustee of The Relay Trust, a charity focussed on developing leadership training colleges across Africa. Neil has a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Transport Management from the University of Sydney. He has been an active participant in the Institute of Transport Studies and Logistics from inception, and a strong supporter of the THREDBO series of conferences. He has funded the Neil Smith Chair in Sustainable Transport Futures.

Peter Thornton

Principal of Transportation Associates 

Peter is a leader in infrastructure and transportation consulting based in Sydney. He specialises in the strategic development, planning and concept design of transport and infrastructure projects, drawing on his skills in engineering, environmental planning and project economics. He formed Transportation Associates after holding senior roles in WorleyParsons and having been a Director of TMG International and Arup Australia and an Associate Director of Macdonald Wagner. Peter has advised on projects such as Western Sydney Airport, Very High-Speed Trains, Inland Rail, airport rail links, autonomous freight vehicles and highways, minerals railways and port development. Peter is also a member of the Committee for Civil Engineering at Sydney University and was influential in the commencement of an undergraduate program in Transport, which has strong links to ITLS, within the School of Civil Engineering at Sydney University. He is an occasional lecturer on transport matters in the undergraduate program. From 2019 to 2022 Peter was the Chair of the Humanitarian Innovations Awards Committee of the Warren Centre at Sydney University.

Matt Threlkeld

BusNSW Executive Director

Matt is the Executive Director of BusNSW which incorporates the Bus & Coach Association (NSW), Bus and Coach Industrial Association (NSW), and Bus and Coach Co-operative Society NSW. He is a senior executive with experience in managing contracts, people, fleet, marketing and events.

Sue Tomic

Non Executive Director, Board Advisor, C Suite Professional, BBus, MAICD

Sue Tomic is a Board Director, ex C Suite professional and a supply chain & logistics industry leader, experienced in leading strategic transformation across complex and highly regulated industries in the Freight, Port and Landside Logistics, Automotive, Software technology and Retail sectors. Her C- Suite logistics career has spanned all the 3 critical areas of Commercial, Operations and Finance. Sue is Board Chair of the Supply Chain & Logistics Association (SCLAA). She is passionate about progressing innovation through technology, and efficiency across the industry through collaboration, as well as fostering the recognition of Supply Chain & Logistics as a profession and viable career pathway. Sue is also the Managing Director of Chain Consulting Services, a boutique firm that has provided medium to large organizations with Business and Board advisory, specialist services in business turnaround, M&A advisory, sustainable growth strategies, risk mitigation and Corporate Governance. Sue has a Bachelor of Business, completed the AICD Company Directors course, is a speaker at key industry conferences and active member of various Industry, government and university advisory Board /Committees.

David Tucker

Chief of Project Advisory & Evaluation, Infrastructure Australia

David has responsibility for assessing business cases that are seeking more than $250 million in funding from the Australian Government, and for maintaining the Infrastructure Priority List, which provides a long-term pipeline of high-quality infrastructure proposals to guide government investment. David also oversees the Infrastructure Australia Assessment Framework, which provides best practice, fit-for-purpose guidance on the preparation and evaluation of infrastructure proposals, and led its major refresh, which was published in July 2021. David has over 21 years experience in the infrastructure sector. His technical experience includes planning, design and evaluation across multiple industry sectors and covering each stage of the project lifecycle.

Rob Tyson

CEO, Polis Partners

Rob is a Director in the PwC economics and policy team. He has extensive experience in cost-benefit analysis, option analysis, forecasting, policy formulation, economic growth strategies and business case development, as well as transport infrastructure and urban renewal.

Dr Jake Whitehead

Electric Vehicle Council

Dr Jake Whitehead is Head of Policy at the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC), and CEO of ODIN PASS - a mobility as a service (MaaS) provider. He has worked across government, industry and academia on sustainable transport policy for the past 15 years with a particular focus on electric vehicles and MaaS. Jake holds two PhDs, one in transport science from The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm and a second in transport engineering from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane. He is also a member of the International Electric Vehicle Policy Council, and a former lead author of the transport chapter for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 6th Assessment Report. Jake is passionate about supporting the transformation of the transport sector to support the sustainable, efficient, and equitable movement of people and goods from A to B, and actions that ultimately lead to the achievement of a net zero transport sector before 2050.

Alan Win

Managing Director – Middlebank Consulting Group and Honorary Professor – ITLS University of Sydney

Alan has extensive experience in practical logistics, supply chain & value chain management, having spent 17 years in line management roles for several leading international companies before moving into consulting in 1992.  Since commencing a consulting career, Alan has worked internationally (in more than a dozen countries) on some 150+ projects, across multiple industries & organisations. 

His work has focused on strategic development of logistics & supply chain operations as well as detailed implementation of transport, warehousing, inventory management and systems improvement projects. In addition to consulting, Alan is a Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney ITLS and Professor of Practice at the University of Canterbury & institutions across India and Asia where he also teaches.

International members

Professor Chandra Bhat

Director, Center for Transportation Research and Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor in Transportation Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin

Chandra teaches courses in transportation systems analysis and transportation planning.

Professor Elisabetta Cherchi

School of Engineering, Future Mobility Group, Newcastle University, UK

Elisabetta is currently Editor in Chief of Transportation Research Part A. Her research interest is in data collection, discrete choice models, benefit evaluation, especially for sustainable transport modes and transport innovations.

Emeritus Professor Trevor Heaver

Centre for Transportation Studies, Operations and Logistics Division, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada

Trevor was head of the transport economics and logistics programs at UBC for many years. His recent research focuses on economic and sustainability issues in international shipping and logistics.

Professor Alan McKinnon

Head of Logistics, Logistics University, Hamburg

Alan was also a founder and director of the Logistics Research Centre at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, where he is now an emeritus professor. In 2003 he received the Sir Robert Lawrence Award, the highest distinction of the UK Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

Professor Elise Miller-Hooks

George Mason University

Elise holds the Bill and Eleanor Hazel Endowed Chair in Infrastructure Engineering and is Interim Department Chair of the Sid & Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental & Infrastructure Engineering at George Mason University. She is an advisor to the World Bank and founding Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier’s Sustainability Analytics and Modeling journal. She previously served as a program director at the U.S. National Science Foundation and on the faculties of the University of Maryland, Pennsylvania State University and Duke University. She received her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas – Austin and B.S. in Civil Engineering from Lafayette College.

Emeritus Professor Juan de Dios Ortuzar

Department of Transport Engineering and Logistics, Institute in Complex Engineering Systems (ISCI), Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile

Juan has more than 40 years' experience as an academic and adviser on transport modelling and social projects. He has fostered development of discrete choice models and their application to determining willingness-to-pay in transport.

Professor Eiichi Taniguchi

Department of Urban Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Japan

Eiichi's research centres on city logistics and urban freight transport modelling focusing on stochastic and dynamic vehicle routing and scheduling with time windows, multi-agent simulation considering behaviour of stakeholders who are involved in urban freight transport. 

Professor Kenneth Train

Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley; Vice President, US National Economic Research Associates

Kenneth teaches econometrics, regulation and industrial organisation. He has received numerous awards for teaching and research, including the Richard Stone Prize in Applied Econometrics.

Professor Bert van Wee

Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Bert ia also a scientific director of TRAIL research school. His interests are in long-term developments in transport in the areas of accessibility, land-use transport interaction, evaluation of large infrastructure projects, environment, safety, policy analyses and ethics.