Drones Melbourne

Welcome to the next 2026 AWS Melbourne Well-Architected User Group Meetup!

Hi Architects **(NB; this month's Meetup is on a Tuesday)**, Welcome to our next AWS Melbourne Well-Architected User Group Meetup for 2026, including more exceptional speakers and topics! :-D At each meetup we covered off various pillars in detail, best-practices and insights from industry leaders that specialise in the Well-Architected Framework. And giving away drones, of course. Lots of drones. **Please also note that AWS Security now requests a company name and company email where it is available. If you are a student, please list your institution and your student email address at that institution 👍** We'll be announcing more speakers on [https://well-architected.me](https://well-architected.me/) and previewing presentations during the coming weeks - our speakers and details this month include: * **Nitin Yadav, Principal AWS Architect, Nuvrix** **Ensuring Business Value through Well-Architected AI Projects** Nitin has been unpicking the importance of business value, financial metric tracking and ROI etc associated with AI projects and the importance thereof. * **Mystery Speaker** **AWS Well-Architected Agent Review** AWS has recently released the AWS Well-Architected Agent and will soon be releasing additional agentic tools to programmatically establish alignment with best-practices - we dive deep and break it down but with more and more programs leveraging Well-Architected, it will be interesting... This month's menu will include: * Pizzas * Beer * Wine: Big and red 🤤 NB: Please check in up the stairs from the ground floor to the Mezzanine Level. So come join us at 5:30 for a 6pm start, followed by beer, wine, pizza and friendly networking after our talks :-) Tired of Linkedin’s "thought leadership”, spam and advertising? Join https://well-architected.me/ , the AWS community built for architects, developers and cloud professionals. * Connect with experienced AWS practitioners * Preview upcoming AWS Meetups and relive past content * Create and review beautiful AWS case studies in minutes * Prepare for AWS certifications with curated quizzes * Show your manager and reports you’re well-architected (Please note that by registering to attend you agree to your details being shared as and where required with Amazon Web Services and AWS Well-Architected User Group partners) in

Physical AI Meetup - Year-ender

A premier platform to share insights, expand your network, and bridge the gap between Academia, Industry, and Suppliers. The Physical AI Meetup Melbourne brings together researchers, engineers, and industry practitioners working across artificial intelligence, robotics, embedded systems, sensing, and edge computing. Important: Please grab your[ FREE Eventbrite ticket to attend.](https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/physical-ai-meetup-melbourne-year-ender-tickets-2003999424224) Hear 4 expert talks, ask your questions in a panel Q&A, take the mic for an AI / hardware demo or announcement, and connect over pizza & drinks. A special thanks to the **La Trobe Business School** for hosting us, brought to you by **element14 Electronics** — our trusted electronic components distributor. Take the mic at our Community Open Mic! Bring your demo, prototype, or announcement — whether it is AI, hardware, robotics, embedded systems, sensing, or edge computing. All welcome. This is our last 2026 Physical AI Meetup in Melbourne, with more exciting topics and event formats in 2027! Agenda for this one: **5:30 – 6:00 pm \| Pizza & Networking** Enjoy pizza and drinks and connect with other attendees. **6:00 – 6:10 pm \| Welcome & Official Start** Hear a short welcome from the event hosts and an introduction to the Physical AI Meetup community. **6:10 – 6:30 pm \| Talk 1 – Practical case studies of Physical AI in Product Development** **Overview:** 2026 has been a wildly accelerated year in Physical AI. This talk dives into case studies on how the technology has evolved and is being used – from diagnostic medical imaging to battery-powered image recognition in the outback. **Speaker:** Blake Fuller, Head of Product Design and Engineering, Capgemini Australia Bio: Blake is the Head of Product Design and Engineering at Capgemini Australia. He has released more than 50 products to market and leads high-calibre product development teams. **6:30 – 6:50 pm \| Talk 2 – Technology and Innovation in Home\-Based Care Using Social Robot Matilda** **Overview:** Attendees will learn how social robotics and AI are transforming residential and home-based care. Key takeaways include: • AI & human-centred interaction: how emotional intelligence, facial/voice recognition, and multimodal communication enable human-like engagement. • Personalised care: how Matilda delivers cognitive stimulation, social connectivity, daily routine support, and health monitoring. • Supporting caregivers: reducing carer burnout, streamlining workflows, and enabling real-time analytics. • Ecosystem integration: combining companion robots with smart home devices and wearables for proactive, independent living. **Speaker:** Dr. Debbie Mei-Tai Chu, A/Prof, Director at Computer, Communication and Social Innovation Hub, La Trobe University Bio: Dr Debbie Mei-Tai Chu is an Associate Professor at La Trobe Business School and Director of the Computer, Communication and Social Innovation Research Hub. She was Program Director of the Master of Business Analytics and Master of Business Information Systems for over 10 years, and has more than 10 years of global industry experience, including as a knowledge management consultant across the public and private sectors. **6:50 – 7:10 pm \| Talk 3 – Beyond LLMs: Developing physical grounded agentic memory** **Overview:** As AI systems move beyond text generation toward autonomous decision-making in the physical world, memory becomes a critical missing capability. This talk explores how physically grounded agentic memory can enable AI agents to learn from real-world experience, retain context, and continuously improve their decisions. Drawing on Generative AI, embodied intelligence, edge computing, and adaptive reasoning, Dr Wei Peng will share insights into building agents that can perceive, remember, reason, and act in dynamic environments. **Speaker:** Dr. Wei Peng, A/Prof, Principal Research Fellow in AI, RMIT University Bio: Dr Wei Peng brings over 15 years of international experience bridging AI research and product innovation across academia and industry. After developing enterprise-scale Generative AI applications at global technology companies, he now leads industrial AI development at RMIT University. He has published at top AI conferences including ACL, CVPR, EMNLP, and NeurIPS, and holds multiple patents. **7:10 – 7:30 pm \| Talk 4 – Brain\-Inspired AI for Robotics: Visual Place Recognition on Neuromorphic Hardware** **Overview:** As robots become more autonomous, the computational demands of visual perception become a major challenge in energy-constrained environments. Can the human brain inspire more energy-efficient robotic intelligence? This talk shares recent research on neuromorphic computing for Visual Place Recognition (VPR), which lets robots recognise previously visited locations. The approach combines Vector Symbolic Architectures (VSA), Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs), and Intel's Loihi 2 neuromorphic processor, replacing conventional nearest-neighbour search with brain-inspired, event-driven computation. Experiments show lower power consumption than a conventional CPU implementation, with competitive recognition accuracy. **Speaker:** Dr. Vidura Sumanasena, Lecturer, AI and Analytics, La Trobe Business School Bio: Dr Vidura Sumanasena is a Lecturer in AI and Analytics at La Trobe University. He holds a PhD from La Trobe and a bachelor's degree in Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. His research covers brain-inspired AI, neuromorphic computing, Spiking Neural Networks, and Vector Symbolic Architectures, including evaluating neuromorphic algorithms on Intel's Loihi research processors for autonomous robotic systems. **7:30 – 7:50 pm \| Panel Q&A** There will be no question portion after each talk. Please hold your questions for this session, so you can ask anything that may be answered by any and all of the speakers. **7:50 – 8:00 pm \| Community Open Mic** Take the mic and share with the group — from hardware demos and embedded prototypes to quick AI-at-the-edge announcements, project showcases, and calls for collaboration. Last reminder: Please make sure to register on Eventbrite for your free ticket: [https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/physical-ai-meetup-melbourne-year-ender-tickets-2003999424224](https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/physical-ai-meetup-melbourne-year-ender-tickets-2003999424224)

Naarm Solarpunk Meetup + Merri-bek.Tech AGM

[Merri-bek Tech](https://www.merri-bek.tech/), a group in the inner northern suburbs of Naarm (Melbourne), invites everyone involved interested in tinkering with grass-roots technologies in support of a **Sustainable**, **Resilient** and **Just** future to join us for the **Naarm Solarpunk Meetup**. This month we have special guest speaker, **Anastasia Beasley**, with the presentation, 'Land shapes the internet'. ***Land shapes the internet*** Margo Ngawa Neale calls songlines "corridors of knowledge", and Internet infrastructure follows those same paths through Country to transport information through cable-sized corridors. The Internet is made of Country - even the fibre optic cables in the NBN are made of Queensland sand - but its protocols are very different to those that govern knowledge sharing in Indigenous systems. I am an ally with settler heritage, and I have no authority to speak about traditional knowledge, but I'd like to share some context about the Internet's history in so-called Australia and recommend some readings by Indigenous computer scientists. *Anastasia is a research fellow at auDA, the Australian not-for-profit organisation responsible for administering the .au domain.* After the presentation, at the end of the Meetup we will be running the Merri-bek.tech Annual General Meeting (AGM), presenting the annual report and nominating and confirming the committee members for the next year. This is a great opportunity to get further involved with the organisation; to become a member, or as a member to nominate as, or vote for committee members. If you do none of these things is a a good chance to see how a grass-roots organisation can be organised and run. **About the Naarm Solarpunk group** Some of us are technologists, and will be showing off software or hardware projects, and others are more interested in community organizing, responding to the climate crisis, or building local resilience. Whatever your area of interest, or your level of skill, you're absolutely welcome to dive in. At the meetups we'll have a show-and-tell time for any projects that you're working on, as well as occasional short presentations. The space will be hosted by volunteers, and we'll actively work towards inclusion through applying a [code of conduct](https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/1/code_of_conduct/). Merri-bek Tech has some projects that you might be interested in updates from, including our attempt to build P2P mesh network based community hosting on Raspberry Pis, and our project to run a local fediverse social network. We aspire to keep this meetup **Solarpunk** as fuck. We support the hackers, tinkerers and makers and misfits. There are plenty of other spaces for big corporate green tech, so bring your hobby project, not your day job, unless that job is firmly rooted in the solidarity economy. We are not value neutral. We'll start with Merri-bek Tech's [values](https://www.merri-bek.tech/about/values/) and [principles](https://www.merri-bek.tech/about/principles/), and build from there together. In particular, in the context of ongoing genocide, we will ask you to leave if you're associated in any way with the weapons industry. This meetup will be hosted on the stolen, unceeded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. **Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.**

Iron Maiden & Megadeth

Legends of Metal in Melbourne \m/

HOW TO MAKE MORE MONEY

We are doing a seminar on how to help increase your income, and to give you some useable tools that you can help apply to your life/new business venture in order to take yourself to the next level, financially! It is no secret that the cost of living is continuing to grow, and will most likely only continue to. So how can you work around this? In this seminar you will learn: \- Who is the most important person in any business\. \- How to set achievable goals\. \- The power of surveying \- PLUS MORE\! Come along and learn some useful tools that could help set you on the right path.

Neural Processing from the Ground Up, & Phoenix Architecture

The MLAI Meetup is a community for AI researchers and professionals which hosts monthly talks on exciting research. Our format is: * 6:00 - 6:20: Socializing * 6:20 - 6:40: Announcements and AI news * 6:40 - 7:40: Talk(s) and Q&A * 7:40 - 8:00 Networking * 8:00: Head to the nearest pub for dinner **Tristan Penman: "Neural Processing from the Ground Up"** **Talk description:** Have you ever wondered how an NPU or TPU works under the hood? A lot is written and said about how these purpose-built chips can accelerate neural networks, but not so much about how they actually work. In this talk we'll see how, starting from basic operations like dot products and matrix multiplications, we can implement non-trivial model architectures such as CNNs and Transformers. From there, we'll see how those same techniques are applied in real embedded NPUs and data-centre scale TPUs. Some concepts we’ll touch upon include systolic arrays, tiling, and the impact of memory hierarchies. Code examples will be shared where possible, along with diagrams to help build intuition. **Speaker bio:** Tristan is a Principal Engineer at a Melbourne-based EdTech startup. His recent work centres around bringing AI to the classroom, in ways that improve learning outcomes, increase student engagement, and minimise strain on teachers. In his spare time, Tristan dabbles in reverse engineering, hardware hacking and FPGA design. **Raúl V: "Phoenix Architecture"** **Abstract:** Drop the code, (re)generate specs that are well defined for (multi) agents to replicate every single time. Machine code is no longer scarce and increasingly disposable. The limiting factor is no longer writing software, but understanding, evaluating, and governing it. **Speaker Bio:** Raúl is the solopreneur founder of Quantaliz, a private AI software development. He is a neerk (nerd + geek) systems engineer, always looking to learn, explore, exploit the most out of the computers.

AWS Kubernetes Security Using Actionable Insights

What can Kubernetes security data tell you about what’s really going on in your environment? And how can you turn that data into something useful beyond just spotting threats? In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore how to collect and analyse Kubernetes security data, spot patterns you might otherwise miss, and uncover risks hiding in plain sight. We’ll also look at how to take that data beyond security, using it to understand risk, prioritise work, and make better business decisions. Through practical examples, we’ll bring together Kubernetes security, observability, and analytics to see what happens when you connect the dots between technical data and the bigger picture. Expect practical examples, real-world use cases, and ideas you can take back to your own Kubernetes environment. Less theory, more digging into the data! Food and drinks will be provided. **Important:** Make sure to bring your laptop, you will also need to have an AWS account you can log into.

Building, Testing & Deploying AI Agents

**Generative AI for Developers Meetup 2026** ***Building, Testing & Deploying AI Agents: Agentic AI, GenAI Workflows & Multi-Agent Systems*** We’re gearing up for another big night on Thursday 12 November. We’ve lined up a great set of speakers and a hands-on agenda. Our wonderful MC, Annemarie Boicovitis, will guide us through the evening. 📅 Agenda 1️⃣ What’s Making News Host Dr George Vossos (netlifestyle.ai) opens the night with a round-up of the latest in AI: 48 model releases in a single month, a price war between the big labs, and a trillion-dollar IPO filing. 2️⃣ Sovereign Foundry: Client Showcase Andy Lamrock and his team return to demo live builds they’ve delivered with customers. Everyone who attends in person will get a FREE Sovereign Foundry account with starter credits. 3️⃣ When Agents Break Loose: The AI Agents Manifesto + Roundtable Dr George Vossos (netlifestyle.ai) presents the AI Agents Manifesto, a practical framework for stopping AI agents from breaking loose in the first place. Every principle comes with an evidence test, so firms can check an agent before they trust it. Everyone attending will receive the free Manifesto Kit 2026 on the night. Then we open the floor to continue our community-wide debate: what happens when AI agents act beyond their intended boundaries? 4️⃣ 2-Minute Speed Talks Working on an exciting AI project? Bring your laptop and show the room what you’re building in two minutes flat. Facilitated by co-host Samuel Klett Navarro. Why attend? If you’re building, testing or deploying AI agents, this is the room where you’ll pick up reusable patterns, avoid common traps, and meet others shipping in the same space: developers, data folks, founders and technical leaders.

KSUG.AI Agentic Engineering & Security @ AWS

**Register HERE =>** [https://ksug.ai/au-71](https://ksug.ai/au-71) **<=** **Latest promotions** discovered by our community! * **30% OFF** [Kubernetes](https://gk.ksug.ai/) exams - *Code:* **30K8SUG** * **20% OFF** [FinOps](https://ksug.ai/finops/?ref=meetup) Certs Code: **KSAI_20** * Missed **75%** off [LF / CNCF](https://gk.ksug.ai)? [Get Notified](https://ksug.ai/signin) for next BIG drop! We're excited to welcome you to the upcoming **KSUG.AI Australia Meetup**! 🎉 We're actively seeking more awesome K8s and AI topic speakers! 👉 [https://sessionize.com/ksug-au](https://sessionize.com/ksug-au) **Agenda and topics preview:** * Food, drinks and Socializing * Welcome / Introductions by the Organizers @**[KSUG.AI](https://ksug.ai/?ref=meet)** * **Topic 1:** BOM for Agentic Engineering by **[Roman Gurevitch](https://www.linkedin.com/in/roman-gurevitch-781220aa/)**, Principal Software Engineer at **Mantel** Group * **Topic 2:** The Container That Shouldn't Exist: Hunting Runtime Threats in Kubernetes by **[Saurabh Mishra](https://www.linkedin.com/in/connectsaurabhmishra/)**, Lead Consultant at **Optum** * **Quiz time:** nice swags giveaways Food and drinks will be provided between **5.30 and 6 pm** on a first-come, first-served basis. ​**❤️ Keeping Our Community Events Sustainable** ​ **KSUG.AI is community-first, not profit-driven.** ​Contributions from Community and Supporter tickets help cover food, drinks and event costs so we can keep running great meetups sustainably. ​They also help us keep **FREE tickets available for students, job seekers and anyone who genuinely needs one.** ​Thank you for helping us keep KSUG.AI accessible to everyone. ❤️ ​This is a great opportunity to learn, connect and network with peers. Thanks to our sponsor [Amazon](https://aws.com/?utm_source=luma) for supporting the community! ​See you all there! **[Register HERE](https://ksug.ai/au-71) to secure your spot!** See you all there! **Location:** Amazon MEL12, Level 13.304 [555 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000](https://maps.app.goo.gl/Kbi13GZqj2zDqDz2A) 👉 Join our [Discord](https://discord.com/invite/Rp9WzYyKua) and [WhatsApp](https://chat.whatsapp.com/D9a9IDiCS7U4cqQ0Sh60cz?mode=gi_t) for latest update! 🔖 𝐎𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬: ☸ 30% OFF **[Kubernetes](https://lf.ksug.ai/)** Certs - Code: **30K8SUG** ☸ 20% OFF **[FinOps](https://ksug.ai/finops)** Certs - Code: **KSAI_20** 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐖𝐞 𝐃𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬: ✅ Learn 𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 ⚡ ✅ Certify 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 💰 ✅ Grow 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 💪 𝟐𝟓𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎+ follow **[KSUG.AI](https://ksug.ai/?ref=meet)** 🔥 [github.com/ksug-ai](https://github.com/ksug-ai) *By registering, you consent to the management of your personal information in accordance with KSUG.AI Meetup's [Privacy Policy](https://ksug.ai/privacy). Additionally, you agree that our sponsors may contact you.*

Moorabbin Air Museum - Open Cockpit

AI & Tech Networking Event in Melbourne by Ascent Valley

Join founders, investors and tech talent at this curated **startup networking event in Melbourne.** Meet ambitious builders, exchange ideas and discover new opportunities in a dynamic community environment. **RSVP: [Use this link](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-tech-networking-event-in-melbourne-by-ascent-valley-tickets-1999727725458?aff=oddtdtcreator)** **Please note that RSVP is managed via Eventbrite to control attendee lists — don’t ignore it to avoid issues with on-site payment.** **🚀 Meet investors, founders, AI experts, operators, and immigrant entrepreneurs building the next generation of global companies.** * Share your project and get feedback. * Connect with capital. * Expand your network. * This is where conversations turn into partnerships. * Use our participant mini app to keep every contact and insight from the event — nothing gets lost. 👥 Who You’ll Meet • Startup Founders • Angel Investors & VC firms • AI Experts • Entrepreneurs from Europe, Asia & the UK • Marketers, Sales leaders & Business Advisors • Builders & Game Changers Startup Pitch Session Selected founders take the stage for a focused 5-minute presentation in front of active investors and tech leaders. Each startup receives: ⚡ Professional evaluation ⚡ Investor feedback ⚡ Visibility inside our global ecosystem **Why You Can’t Miss It** • Meet Tech & Business professionals, founders, and active investors • Gain real feedback from venture capitalists and angel investors • Discover new opportunities in AI, Tech & early-stage startups • Build meaningful connections in a global entrepreneurial community If you’re serious about startups — you should be in the room. 📈 Want to Pitch? Send your deck to: 📧 events@ascentvalley.club or fill [form](https://ascentvalley.com/pitch) Limited spots. Curated selection. 🏆 The startup recognized as “Most Investment-Worthy” will be featured across our social media and included in our investor newsletter. **🌟 About Ascent Valley** [Ascent Valley ](https://ascentvalley.com/infrastructure)is a global ecosystem connecting founders, innovators, and investors. We believe great ideas shouldn’t stay hidden — they deserve to be heard, challenged, and supported by the right people. Our mission is to create environments where ambitious builders connect, collaborate, and grow together.

Melbourne CocoaHeads No. 201

Our last regular monthly presentation night for 2026! At the usual time on the second Thursday of the month from 6:30pm. Thanks to Mantel Group for hosting us again this month. If you're coming in person we're there with food and drinks from 6pm. We will be live streaming the presentations as usual from 6:30pm at [http://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/live](http://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/live) \-\-\- **Agenda** \| 6:00pm \| Food \+ Networking \| \| 6:30pm \| Event begins\. Introductions \| \| 6:40pm \| TBC \| \| 7:15pm \| Rob Amos – Decanter: how we automate CocoaHeads video production \| \| 7:55pm \| Wrap up \+ social time at a nearby venue \| \* All times except the start are approximate. Presentation order will be confirmed on the night. \-\-\-\- We are always looking for speakers and believe everyone has an interesting talk hiding inside themselves. If you are interested in letting that talk out at a future event you can get in touch on the website [https://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/talks](https://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/talks) or on Slack.