Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas, FTSE FIEAust F.Optica GAICD

Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas is the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Melbourne, where he is also a Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. His research focuses on communications technologies and networks, including microwave photonics and optical-wireless network integration. He has held numerous leadership roles and champions interdisciplinary research and innovation.

He is passionate about nurturing the next generation of engineers, emphasizing the need for entrepreneurial mindsets and data-driven approaches like AI. He actively supports entrepreneurial activities within the university community and advocates for strong collaboration between academia and industry to solve complex problems and drive innovation.

He co-founded the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP) in 2012, the first university-aligned startup accelerator in Australia, which has since supported over 100 startups.