Innovation / Sustainability

James Bradfield Moody has amassed an impressive  list of credentials in a very short space of time, and for such a young person. Armed with his PhD in innovation theory, James marched into prominence through a host of senior development roles. Currently a CSIRO General Manager, James leads their global development agenda, including  creating research projects of international significance and helping Australia gain access to foreign knowledge, infrastructure and intellectual property. He has also been a guest judge on ABC's 'The New Inventors'

James Bradfield Moody is currently the CSIRO's Executive Director, Development. In this role he connects CSIRO with Australian and international government and industry partners.
The role combines Dr Moody's love for science with his experience in innovation and passion for the future.

Dr Moody is also a regular panel member of ABC TV's The New Inventors and is the co-author of The Sixth Wave: How to succeed in a resource-limited world.

Prior to this, James was the General Manager, International Development for the national research organisation CSIRO. He was responsible for fostering CSIRO’s global development agenda, including access to overseas talent, creating research projects of international significance and helping Australia gain access to foreign knowledge, infrastructure and intellectual property. James was formerly the Director of Business Strategy at CSIRO Land and Water.

Background

Trained as an electrical engineer, Dr Moody was previously Chief Systems Engineer for FedSat, the first Australian Satellite to be launched in 30 years.

For his doctoral work, Dr Moody undertook research on the application to the international and Australian satellite industries of Complex Product Systems (high-cost, complex systems embodying customised, interacting sub-assemblies and components).

Dr Moody was formerly the Managing Director of Natural Resource Intelligence (NRI), which provided environmental, social and economic intelligence to assist organisations in monitoring and evaluating land and natural resources to meet their business and environmental objectives.

He joined CSIRO in December 2004 as Director, Divisional Business Strategy for CSIRO Land and Water, responsible for developing new business opportunities and improving business practices.

Dr Moody was a member and executive secretary of the taskforce on Science and Technology for the Millennium Development Goals and was invited to attend the World Economic Forum as a Global Leader of Tomorrow in 2003.

Academic qualifications

Dr Moody has been awarded

• Bachelor of Information Technology: Queensland University of Technology
  
• Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering: Queensland University of Technology
  
• Graduate Diploma in Accounting: Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria
  
• Doctorate from the National Graduate School of Management, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT.

Professional activities

Dr Moody is an Australian National Commissioner for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and was previously the co-facilitator and Australian representative of the 40-strong youth advisory council to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

He was also a founder and co-chair of the Space Generation Advisory Council in support of the UN Program on Space Applications and a member of the Science and Technology delegation to the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.

In January 2005, he was selected by the World Economic Forum as one of their Young Global Leaders. He is also a member of the Forum's Global Agenda Council on the Intellectual Property System.

Dr Moody sits on a number of advisory boards, including the Australian Bureau of Statistics and previously the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

He is also a board member of the Brisbane Institute in Queensland and is a member of the Australian Museum’s Research and Collections Advisory Committee (RACAC) providing advice on directions for research and collections policy

In 2000, he was named Young Professional Engineer of the Year and was also awarded Young Queenslander of the Year and the following year he was awarded Young Australian of the Year in Science and Technology. He was chosen by Engineers Australia to be one of the top 100 most influential engineers in Australia and in 2007 named by Boss Magazine as one of their young executives of the year. James received his PhD in innovation theory from the National Graduate School of Management and was also a chief systems engineer for FedSat, the first Australian Satellite to be launched in thirty years. This role combines Dr Moody's love for science with his experience in innovation and passion for working in the environment.

Presentation Topics Include

• Developing new business opportunities
  
• Improving business practices
  
• Managing resource utilisation
  
• Providing oversight of technology commercialisation
  
• Contributing to divisional strategy and policy development.