In Summary

  • Swinburne alumni and industry partners come together in San Francisco for university’s first North American alumni event
  • Speakers included Mr Chris Oldfield, Australian Consul-General and Senior Trade Commissioner, and Ms Kate O’Keeffe, Senior Director of Cisco Hyperinnovation Living Labs

More than 50 Swinburne alumni and industry partners have come together in San Francisco for the university’s first North American alumni event.

Held in the Galvanize building, the event was an opportunity for Swinburne graduates from the last four decades to come together for an evening that featured speeches from Swinburne alumni including:

  • Mr Chris Oldfield, Australian Consul-General and Senior Trade Commissioner
  • Ms Kate O’Keeffe, Senior Director of Cisco Hyperinnovation Living Labs
  • Professor Aleksandar Subic, Swinburne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development).

Michelle Macgregor-Owen speaking at San Francisco alumni event.
Michelle Macgregor-Owen spoke of increasing engagement with alumni and industry. 

Michelle Macgregor-Owen, Director of University Advancement, opened the event and spoke of Swinburne’s decision to develop a presence in Silicon Valley and the broader San Francisco Bay area.

“Swinburne is committed to increasing our engagement with alumni, industry and partners in this part of the world, expanding research opportunities, and bringing together the brightest minds in design, technology, health, social innovation and much more," Ms Macgregor-Owen says.

“To see so many of you here tonight, kicking goals in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond makes the university incredibly proud.

“This is the first of what we hope to be many engagements with our alumni and friends in San Francisco.”

Connecting with a thriving ecosystem

Crowd at the alumni gala in San Francisco.
Swinburne graduates enjoyed an evening of networking and guest speeches.

The alumni event finished off a week of activity for Swinburne in California, which saw the university officially launch its presence in Silicon Valley, in partnership with CSIRO on 20 January.

“Some of our most enterprising alumni live in this region and it has been fantastic to connect up with many of them, learning more about the thriving ecosystem over here,” Ms Macgregor-Owen says.

Currently, there are more than 450 Swinburne graduates living and working in North America and Canada, with a large proportion of those based in California.

Many of these alumni work in the fields of technology, telecommunications, industrial automation, software and consulting.


Future alumni events in San Francisco

In 2018 and beyond, Swinburne’s presence in California will involve a range of exciting opportunities and events for alumni.

To stay informed and involved in future initiatives in the US, make sure you update your details and connect with us on LinkedIn