Radhika is a registered Australian patent attorney and is an Associate at Griffith Hack. She has been working at Griffith Hack for three years, where she has gained experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications, primarily in the chemical engineering realm. Radhika completed a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Sydney, where she went on to do her PhD in the field of mineral processing. Her research was on lithium extraction from hard-rock silicates, with a particular focus on spodumene. She then went on to work as a process engineer, where she specialised in mineral processing including both hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical processes.

Noam is a registered Israeli patent and trademark attorney and the Manager of Griffith Hack’s IP Intelligence function. He has worked in the Intellectual Property field for over 15 years, including several years tenure as a Senior Patent Examiner at the Israeli Patent Office, and as an IP Analyst in the Australian Private and Research sectors. Noam has a strong background in intellectual property law and worked with a variety of clients, including tech start-ups and large corporations. His expertise includes a wide range of patent-related searches and analysis, including freedom-to-operate, validity, and infringement searches. He has a deep understanding of the patent landscape and have successfully helped clients navigate the complexities of IP protection. He has also worked in research environments, wherein he contributed to the development of new technologies and a strong IP portfolio.

Ray Shaw has spent over 40 year’s managing R&D in Mineral Processing, Pyrometallurgy and Hydrometallurgy through his 30 years with Rio Tinto and subsequently as a private consultant. This has included developing and commercialising copper technology at BHAS Port Pirie and his current work on commercialising new zinc oxide technology and developing the MTM copper Process. He is a past Chairman of AMIRA, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and of the AusIMM and has been a board member/director of numerous R&D Institutions.

Denis Shiers is a Team Leader within the Processing Program of CSIRO Mineral Resources, responsible for leading multiple industry sponsored projects that support the mining and emerging battery industry. He has expertise in the hydrometallurgical processing of ores and concentrates, with a particular focus on fundamental and industrial investigations of low-grade copper sulfide ore processing. He also has experience in solvent extraction, geochemical modelling, pilot scale operations, having worked with copper, nickel, zinc and uranium commodities.

Dr. Shishin coordinates the development of large self-consistent thermodynamic database for non-ferrous pyrometallurgical applications. He also leads professional education activities with companies-sponsors of Pyrometallurgy Innovation Laboratory (PYROSEARCH). The research methodology relies on close integration of literature data analysis, high-temperature equilibration experimental work conducted in-house by the PYROSEARCH team, and CALPHAD-style thermodynamic modelling of sub-systems of the targeted large chemical system. The chemical system of interest has been continuously expanded since Dr. Shishin joined the group: Cu-Fe-O-S-Si-(2014)-Ca-Al-Mg-(2015)-Pb-Zn-As-Sb-Bi-Sn-Ag-Au-(2017)-Cr-(2019)-Ni-Co-(2020)-Na-(2023). Dr. Shishin earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Chemistry from the Moscow State University, and PhD in Metallurgical Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada. During the PhD studies he collaborated with the creators of FactSage software.

Tony de Sousa is a technical leader focused on Technology Development with a background in engineering whose work has demonstrated success with his global team developing and implementing a transformational technology into the hard rock mining industry. The latest being the introduction of a mechanical hard rock cutting solution in the form of a continuous hard rock mining machine. Over the last 27 years in mining Tony has exhibited skills in: Leading technology development, leading product and system introductions, operational productivity enhancements, performance improvement strategies. All these combined with his business acumen has allowed Tony to strike a balance between development and commercialization while building initiatives to meet and exceed mining customer goals.