Dr Alex Zelinsky was appointed Chief Defence Scientist and head of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) in March 2012. Before joining DSTO he was Group Executive for Information Sciences at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Director of CSIRO’s Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Centre. Dr Zelinsky was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Seeing Machines, a high-technology company developing computer vision systems. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a start-up from the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, where Dr Zelinsky was Professor of Systems Engineering. Dr Zelinsky researched in robotics and computer vision at the AIST Electrotechnical Laboratory in Japan and has taught and conducted research in computer science at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. He started his career as a Systems Engineer with BHP Steel International. Dr Zelinsky has extensively advised Federal and State governments in Australia, including as a member of the Australian Government's Defence Industry Innovation Board. He has served on the advisory panels to the Australian Research Centre (ARC) Centre for Vision Science and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems. Dr Zelinsky completed his Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences (Honours) and Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Wollongong, NSW. In 2009, Engineers Australia named Dr Zelinsky Professional Engineer of the Year (Sydney Division) and he has been included in Engineers Australia’s list of the 100 most influential engineers since that year. In 2013 he was awarded the prestigious Pearcey Medal, the ICT industry’s premier prize for lifetime achievement.