Mr Graham Willett, Chairman

A graduate of The University of Sydney and Sydney Teachers College (BSc, MSc, Dip,Ed), Graham has a background of over twenty years in the Australian mining industry working with precious, base and specialty metals (including rare earths) as a professional geoscientist, project manager and company director. His experience includes corporate strategic planning, setting of corporate policy and management to Board level, recruitment and management of multi-disciplinary technical teams undertaking R&D, overseeing financial and legal matters relating to major projects and negotiating deals at national and international levels. Since 1992 Graham has been Director of Corporation Technologies Pty Ltd (trading as CEED Program Qld), which links University students from QUT, the University of Queensland, the University of Southern Queensland and the University of Sydney with industry-based projects. Graham has personally overseen the completion of 800 successful CEED projects – for the companies and students involved. In addition, Graham is Chairman of the Start Innovation Centre Pty Ltd, which aims to assist in the early stage commercialisation of new technology. As Chairman of the Qponics Advisory Board, Graham attends Qponics Board meetings as a non-voting observer.

Mr Geoff Wilson has resigned as Non-executive Director due to ill health. This position is presently filled by Mr Graham Willett, a co-founder of Qponics.

Professor Peer Schenk

Peer leads the Algae Biotechnology Group at the University of Queensland. He is internationally recognised for his expertise in Plant Biotechnology, including molecular biology of algal biofuel production and his links with industry/commercialisation. He has published 74 scientific papers, 5 patents and produced new plant crop varieties that are commercially grown in 3 continents. He was invited as Australia’s representative for the Australasian-Pacific Economic Cooporation (APEC) to speak on biorefinery concepts. He has developed the adaptive evolution approach for rapid algae selection and the cost-effective split system design for modularised high lipid and Omega-3 production from algae. His laboratory at the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences harbours a large collection of local algae strains from tropical and SE Queensland. Peer holds a PhD in microbiology, botany and plant pathology from the Georg August University Göttingen, Germany.