Technion Australia Board

Prof. Michael Blumenstein

Vice President

“Professor Blumenstein has accumulated over two decades of experience in leadership roles at Universities where he has successfully led the growth of cutting-edge education and research, particularly in collaboration with industry and focusing on translational outcomes. He is a nationally and internationally recognised expert in the areas of automated Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Professor Blumenstein is passionate about developing technology that has a positive effect on society, focusing on AI for good. He has published his work widely, particularly AI applications with multi-disciplinary teams for solving global problems. Among the many projects he has led in collaboration with industry, Professor Blumenstein’s team developed the award-winning SharkSpotter – a world-first AI-based technology for detecting Sharks in the ocean from Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to enhance beach safety and for saving lives.”

Professor Blumenstein has served in numerous leadership roles with industry and professional associations over two decades, including as a Board Member of the Internet of Things Alliance Australia (IoTAA) and as Vice President (Academic) of the Australian Computer Society (ACS), and prior to that as Director of Technical Advisory Boards. He was also elected onto and served as a member on the NSW Council of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA). Prior to moving to NSW, he served as the Chair of the Queensland Branch of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Computational Intelligence Society. He was also the Gold Coast Chapter Convener and a Board Member of the ACS Queensland Branch Executive Committee. He is a past Chairman of the IT Forum Gold Coast and a former Board Member of IT Queensland.

Michael has served on the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) College of Experts on the Engineering, Mathematics and Informatics (EMI) panel. In addition, he also served on the Executive of the Australian Council of Deans of Information and Communication Technology (ACDICT). Michael is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales.