25 October - 27 October 2023
Transport Beyond Certainty
More than 80 presentations across all modes of transport, international speakers, and presentations on everything from how we could travel to Mars to a wealth of knowledge on sustainable pavements.

2023 Photo Gallery








Conference Proceedings
Attendees had the opportunity to hear from industry experts and thought-leaders as they explored the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities in the world of transportation.
The conference sessions were recorded and are available to watch by all who attended.
- Day 1
- Day 2
- Day 3
Wednesday, October 25th 2023
Day 1 began with a close examination of how we will put human life on Mars and its logistics, plus some important demographic transport insights.
Professor Gordon Cable AM, from Australian National University, presented The Road To Mars - Why It Won't Be Easy, as one of the keynote speakers.
Demographics, map and data expert Simon Kuestenmacher gave some insight into important transport trends, while there were also keynotes from Melissa Radke (Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator), Dr Erik Denneman (Puma Bitumen) on biogenic bitumen, and Paul Younis (Secretary, Victorian Department of Transport and Planning).
Stream sessions on New and Emerging Materials and a look at automated vehicle progress from the Centre for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CCAT) – led by CCAT Executive Director Rahila David - also featured throughout Day 1.
Day 1 - Wednesday October 25th 2023 |
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08:00 - 09:00 REGISTRATION |
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9:00 |
Welcome Address: Michael Caltabiano, Chief Executive Officer (NTRO) |
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Keynote 1: The Road to Mars: Why it won't be easy |
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Keynote 2: Demographic Shifts - The Future of Transport in Australia |
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10:15 |
Panel Q&A |
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10:15 - 10:40 MORNING TEA | ||||||||
10:40 | Introduction to Technical Plenary - Next Generation Transport and Materials Michael Caltabiano CEO (NTRO) |
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Speaker 1: ...But what about culture? Melissa Radke, Senior Manager Strategic Policy (Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator) |
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Speaker 2: Biogenic Bitumen: The Journey to Net Zero
Dr. Erik Denneman (Puma Bitumen)
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Speaker 3: Planning Australia’s Greenfield, Regenerative Port
Patrick Seares (Westport) |
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Speaker 4: Long Term Agility for Corporate Success
Dr. Stas Krupenia PhD (Scania)
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Panel Q&A Michael Caltabiano, Chief Executive Officer (NTRO) |
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12:45 | Speaker 4: Department Secretary Address Paul Younis (Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) Victoria) |
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12:45 - 13:30 LUNCH | ||||||||
Technical Sessions |
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STREAM 1 - NEW & EMERGING MATERIALS (1)
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STREAM 2 - DRIVERS OF INNOVATION
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CCAT SHOWCASE
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13:30 |
Mats Wendel (Peab Asfalt AB) Sustainable asphalt practices |
Dr Mike Shackleton (NTRO) Involving the community in developing and implementing transport policy |
Rahila David (CCAT) Intro to CCAT |
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Allen Browne (Hiway Group / Hiway stabilisers) HiTex™ Retexturization of flushed seals |
Fredrik Pehrsson (Codo Consultancy) Derisking Future Transport Innovation |
Michael Hopkins (National Transport Commission) Regulating for an uncertain future |
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Dr Chrysoula Pandelidi (NTRO) Methods for assessing microplastics release from recycled plastics-modified asphalt |
Dr Elliot Fishman (Institute for Sensible Transport) Electric vehicle charging: Understanding the factors for identifying high-demand locations. |
Amit Trivedi & Nicholas Brook (TMR) Cooperative and highly automated driving (CHAD) pilot |
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Dr Negin Zhalehjoo (NTRO) Laboratory characterisation of stabilised recycled material blends |
Dr David Lacey (FSG – Geotechnics + Foundations) & Risk in perspective - Rockfall protection systems |
Morgan Avera (Transurban) The pathway to the commercial application of autonomous trucks |
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14:45 |
Amir Shahkolahi (Global Synthetics) Sustainable solution for construction of pavements over expansive subgrades |
John Esnouf (NTRO) & and Trevor Distin (COLAS Australia Group) Benefits of forward moving aggregate spreading for sprayed sealing |
Rahila David (Moderator) & Speakers Panel Discussion |
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14:45-15:00 |
Session Q&A |
Session Q&A |
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15:00 - 15:30 AFTERNOON TEA | ||||||||
Technical Sessions |
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STREAM 1 - NEW & EMERGING MATERIALS (2)
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STREAM 2 - NEXT GENERATION RESEARCHERS
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CCAT SHOWCASE
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15:30 |
Brook Hall (NTRO) Recycled and Replacement Materials Market Analysis |
Paul Davies (Austroads) Skills to serve the roads sector into the future |
Steve Cratchley (Suncorp Group) Insurance impacts for vehicle automation |
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Mark Bondietti (Western Australian Local Government Association) Local Government guideline for sustainable road construction practices in Western Australia |
Arjoon Jesudasan (SPARC Hub - Monash University) A novel approach to evaluating unbound granular pavement rutting with the incorporation of climatic effects: insights from a New Zealand case study - CAPTIF |
Rahila David Steven Cratchley Ben Haddock Rebecca Hamilton Learnings from the CCAT International Outreach - – Overview and Delegate Panel |
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Sean Dorahy (Transport for NSW) |
Georgia O'Connor (NTRO) Towards more Sustainable Road Tunnels in Australia and New Zealand: Recommendations for Practitioners |
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Dr. Javad Yaghoubi (NTRO) Development of A Technical Specification for Processed Solid Organic Waste for Road Infrastructure Applications |
Havisanth Erasanayagam (SPARC Hub - Monash University) Towards a better understanding of unsealed road corrugation formation: an innovative modelling framework |
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16:45 |
Dr James Grenfell (NTRO) New Materials for a recycled future - Recycled paint and Carbon Black |
Dr Arooran Sounthararajah (SPARC Hub - Monash University) A new approach to maximise the benefits of current intelligent compaction technology for asphalt compaction |
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16:45-17:00 |
Session Q&A |
Session Q&A |
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17:00-18:00 - Cocktail Drinks Networking Event - Conference Venue |
Thursday, October 26th 2023
Day 2 took a look at sustainability in the ports and airport sectors, how best practice is being applied across the world’s ports and airports - and what is happening locally in a presentation by 20+ year industry veteran Jason Sprott.
Other topics on the agenda included a presentation on a fast and accurate pavement distress detection method from Dr Yuanhao Guo from China’s RoadMainT Co Ltd, and NTRO’s Johan Cronje discussing how we can measure, manage and monitor airport runway and pavement condition with far less downtime.
The stream sessions delved into technical aspects such as pavement performance modelling, sustainability – including important sessions on infrastructure vulnerability and road design incorporating bushfire resilience, zero emission energy and optimised motorway design. Road Beyond Certainty, led by NTRO Executive Director, Roads, Jeff Doyle, featured fascinating views on future road building and the journey to net zero.
A rail workshop – Rail Beyond Certainty - featured a robot able to carry out rail-related tasks in a safer, more effective manner, while Italian company MERMEC provided interesting discussion on infrastructure measurement for rail.
Day 2 - Thursday, October 26th 2023 |
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08:00 - 09:00 REGISTRATION | ||||||
9:00 | Session introduction - Chair Michael Caltabiano | |||||
Speaker 1: Is Innovation in Transport an oxymoron? Some experiences from the UKPaul Campion (TRL) | ||||||
Speaker 2: Infrastructure support for an automated public transport Prof. Michael Ortgiese PhD (DLR) |
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Speaker 3: Addressing uncertainty in the safety assurance of machine learning for automotive applicationsProf. Dr. Simon Burton (Fraunhofer IKS) | ||||||
Speaker 4: Sustainability in the Port & Airport sectors: the great acceleration…and what lies ahead Jason Sprott (NTRO) |
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10:45 | Panel Q&A | |||||
10:45-11:15 MORNING TEA | ||||||
Technical Sessions |
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STREAM 1 - ASSET ASSURANCE (1)
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STREAM 2 - TECHNOLOGY & DATA
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11:15 |
Johan Cronjé (NTRO) iPAVe on Western Australia airports |
Dr. Clarissa Han (NTRO) Optimising road network operations through new technologies & digitalisation |
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Dr Burt Look OAM (FSG - Geotechnics + Foundations) Past successes constrains the implementation of current geotechnology testing in earthworks design & construction assurance |
Dr. Yuanhao Guo (RoadMainT Co., Ltd.) αCrack: A fast and accurate pavement distress detection method based on deep grid segmentation |
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Jinjiang Zhong (Logan City Council) Adopting deep learning/computer vision in Road Asset Management |
Dr. Tim Martin (NTRO) Updated Austroads road deterioration models |
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12:15 |
Dr. Robert Kochhan (NTRO) Electric Vehicle Fires and Road Infrastructure |
Tim Cross & David Rawlinson (WSP) Smart Use of Machine Learning for Pavement Asset Management |
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12:15-12:30 |
Session Q&A |
Session Q&A |
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12:30-13:30 LUNCH | ||||||
Technical Sessions |
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STREAM 1 - ASSET ASSURANCE (2)
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STREAM 2 - AGILE TRANSPORT FUTURES
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13:30 |
Lalinda Karunaratne (Main Roads Western Australia) Systematic approach to validating and improving pavement performance model for network-wide long-term investment decision-making making |
Marshall Arokia (Greenwood Engineering A/S) Experiences from Traffic Speed Deflectometer (TSD) measurements on airport pavements. |
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Georgia O'Connor (NTRO) Understanding infrastructure vulnerability due to climate change |
Amit Trivedi (TMR) Lines, Signs, Traffic lights and HD maps – Government’s role in enabling the deployment of Connected and Automated Vehicles |
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Heng Zhao (RoadMainT Co., Ltd.) Research on decision-making technology for pavement maintenance based on long-term pavement performance observation for 15 years. |
Prof Colin Cole (Central Queensland University) Zero emission energy storage options for long-haul road vehicles |
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Melissa Lyons (NTRO) Impact of bushfire on infrastructure and a framework to incorporate bushfire resilience in road design |
Nicholas Brook (TMR) Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS): Lessons from Queensland's deployment of C-ITS |
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14:45 |
Roberto Caporusso (MERMEC) Train and Railway Condition Monitoring: What and Why |
Dr. Hendrik Zurlinden (NTRO) Optimised motorway design and operation as a contribution to Vision Zero |
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14:45-15:00 |
Session Q&A |
Session Q&A |
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15:00-15:30 AFTERNOON TEA | ||||||
Workshops |
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ROADS BEYOND CERTAINTY |
RAIL BEYOND CERTAINTY |
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15:30-17:00 |
The Future of Roads Jeff Doyle, Executive Director of Roads (NTRO) |
Rail Beyond Certainty Carousel drop in session
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Journey to Net Zero from a Transurban Perspective - What Needs to Happen Liz Waller (Transurban) |
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Building Roads: What are we doing now and what will we be doing in the coming years Jill Boag (Leed) |
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Data Collection & Analysis: State-of-the-art Technology, the Source of Truth Richard Wix (NTRO) |
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Panel Q&A Jeff Doyle (NTRO) |
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18:30-Late - NTRO Gala Dinner & Awards Night - Cargo Hall, South Wharf |
Friday, October 27th 2023
The final day saw a change of gears - a scene-setting workshop called What Lies Beyond.
It was a choose-your-own-adventure styled workshop, looking at future uncertainties in transport and brainstorming ways to meet these challenges.
An excellent turnout of delegates worked in small groups, led by facilitators Monash University Associate Professors Alexa Delbosc and Joshua Newman, and NTRO’s Sarah Zhang, Jaimi Harrison and Danielle Garton. The session was opened, and the conference closed, by NTRO Chief Research Officer Dr Mike Shackleton.
Day 3 - Friday October 27th 2023 |
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08:00 - 09:00 REGISTRATION | |||||||||
09:30-10:30 |
Networking Brunch |
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10:30-10:35 |
Conference Day 3 Welcome: Dr Mike Shackleton, Chief Research Officer (NTRO) |
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10:35-12:35 |
WHAT LIES BEYOND |
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12:35-12:45 |
Conference Day 3 Closing - NTRO Chief Research Officer, Dr Mike Shackleton |
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Conference Close |
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12:45 Onwards | Venue, Refreshments + Lab Tours Available |
Award Winners

Finding a use for waste material byproduct for infrastructure under massive loading and with difficult in situ conditions

Cutting edge work with artificial intelligence in road asset management.

Recognised for his extraordinary contribution to the pavements industry, he is considered a legend by peers and those he's taught along the way.

The judges could not separate the joint winners for their outstanding research under the age of 35.
Clifford won for his work in the development of Trackguard.
Chrysoula won the award for her outstanding work in biogenic binders.

Innovative work in evaluating cost effective roundabouts shows the power of local government working together with researchers and industry for optimum results.