After leaving School in 2000, Chris took a tutoring job and gap year in the UK before returning home to Australia to undertake a Bachelor of Arts Multimedia (Web design and Authoring) at Charles Sturt University. After a number of years working for the Australian Customs Service and the Department of Defence, it led him to his current position as the Acting Director in the Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Centre of Expertise in the Department of Defence. In 2017, his passion for innovation saw him enter ‘Hyper – Australia’s Best App Idea Competition’ where he was a finalist with his App which was designed to help people with auditory and visual disabilities. This success, and a wish to progress his career, took him back to university to study a Masters in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (MEI). Through this, and his long-time interest in innovative concepts to help the environment, Chris won the EnergyLab Incubator Program Competition with his concept to convert organic waste into energy. After the completion of his masters, Chris launched his own company which provides personal, business, and lifestyle solutions and links to resources. As well as this, his first-hand experience of domestic and international university students in Australia led him to the development of ‘Links4UniLife’ which offers future, current and past university students an easy portal to find resources and information required through their university experience.
