Governance
Our executive
Dani Alexander
MBiotech, BBusMan, BSc
Chief Executive Officer, UNSW Energy Institute
Ms Dani Alexander is a passionate advocate for reshaping our energy system to be clean, affordable, reliable and equitable. Her experience in the energy sector is broad having held roles in universities, government including the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, and industrial co-operative research centres. Her background is multi-disciplinary in science and business, reflecting the nature of her work bridging the gap between new technology and transitioning markets.
Dani has a deep and broad knowledge of the energy transition, including energy system flexibility, renewable energy generation, clean fuels, energy storage, grid integration and energy consumers and markets. Her own research focuses on mainstreaming energy innovation across the value chain, accelerating the technology and commercial maturity of new technologies.
Email: dani.alexander@unsw.edu.au
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani-alexander-83817888/
Our governance
Academic Committee
The Energy Institute takes a multi-disciplinary approach to energy challenges and opportunities, across a range of faculties and schools at UNSW, which participate in the Academic Committee.
Industry Advisory Board
The UNSW Energy Institute partners with industry to solve current energy challenges, create future opportunities and lead the global energy transformation. We are grateful to a range of companies and individuals for their partnership and guidance.
Members of the Industry Advisory Board:
- Grant King: Chair of HSBC Bank Australia; Chair of the Transgrid; former Chair of the Climate Change Authority, Sydney Water and the Business Council of Australia; former Managing Director of Origin Energy.
- George Maltabarow: Former Managing Director Energy Australia; Corporate Adviser and Consultant.
- Peter Tyree: Director of the Tyree Foundation.
- Monique Miller: Chief Investment Officer (Renewables and Sustainable Finance) of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
- Mark Twidell: Professor of Practice.
Grant King
Professor of Practice and Chair, Industry Advisory Board
Grant is a leading voice in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) space. He currently holds several roles including Chair of Transgrid, HSBC Australia, the Melanoma Institute Australia and North Harbour Clean Energy. Grant is also a Director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. He previously chaired the Expert Panel on Low Cost Carbon Abatement Opportunities, Sydney Water and the Hydrogen Hub Industry Assessment Panel.
Grant was appointed President of the Business Council of Australia in 2016, a role he held until 2019. He was Managing Director of Origin Energy Ltd between 2000 and 2016, following its demerger from Boral, where he was Managing Director of Boral Energy between 1994 and 2000. He is a former Chair of the Climate Change Authority, Green Collar, CWP Renewables, Australia Pacific LNG, Contact Energy, Oil Company of Australia and the Energy Supply Association of Australia, and a former Director of BHP Billiton and the Australian Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of Australia.
Energy Institute Management Team
Michelle Vaqueiro Contreras
Institute Manager
With over 8 years of expertise in solar energy technology, Michelle is deeply committed to advancing renewable energy initiatives and driving impactful change in the Australian energy transition. As an accomplished researcher, she has honed her skills in stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and project management. Michelle’s experience includes significant contributions to impactful projects such as the Silicon to Solar (S2S) study, which played a pivotal role in establishing Australia’s $1 billion Solar Sunshot program. Michelle is passionate about research translation, with a goal to leverage her expertise and collaborative approach to foster innovation and drive sustainable energy solutions in Australia's evolving energy sector.
Mark Twidell
Professor of Practice
Mark is an impactful leader with over 35 years of experience as an executive or director of top-tier organisations including AGL, Tesla, SMA Australia and BP in global distributed energy markets. He holds deep financial, commercial, and governance expertise, having successfully guided solar photovoltaics, battery storage, and enabling control and orchestration technologies from their early stages to becoming bankable asset classes with widespread market adoption. Mark’s mission is to contribute to the sustainable energy transition.
