Industry Pioneers in Prefabricated Construction

Damien is the Managing Director of Advanced Offsite Group and a pioneering figure in Australia’s offsite construction industry. With over 20 years of experience, Damien began his career as a designer and draftsman, advancing through roles such as Contract Administrator, Construction Manager, Superintendent, Project Manager, Development Manager, and General Manager. In 2007, he collaborated with architect Nonda Katsalidis and Hickory Group to develop the Unitised Building™ system, a prefabricated construction technology.

Damien is also a founding Director and current Executive Chair of prefabAUS, the peak industry body for offsite construction in Australia. His extensive experience includes delivering large-scale modular housing projects and engaging in research collaborations to advance manufacturing technologies in construction.

Damien’s keynote presentations are highly regarded at industry conferences all over the world, as well as corporate events. Using real prefabrication case studies and success stories, it’s Damien’s mission to ensure audiences leave feeling inspired, motivated and prepared to succeed with key takeouts on the topic and valuable insights on how they can improve their own performance.

Lance is a political economist and specialist in economic and industry development. He has authored major analyses and reports focusing on national industrial policy, sovereign capability, supply chain resilience, strategic public procurement, and the circular economy.

In collaboration with Damien Crough, Lance co-authored “Building the Future We Want: A Prefabrication Industry Roadmap to 2033,” Australia’s first Smart Building roadmap. This comprehensive plan outlines strategies to integrate offsite construction with Industry 4.0 technologies over the next decade.

Lance’s work emphasises Australia’s potential to reindustrialise through decarbonisation and advanced manufacturing. His previous roles include Director of Industrial Transformation at the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), where he developed tools to assess digital maturity in manufacturing. Lance’s expertise is instrumental in driving the adoption of smart building practices and fostering innovation in the construction industry.

Professor Tuan Ngo is a globally recognised expert in composite materials and infrastructure resilience. He serves as the Research Director at the ARC Training Centre for Advanced Manufacturing of Prefabricated Housing (CAMPH) at the University of Melbourne, and is the Director of the Asia Pacific Research Network for Resilient and Affordable Housing.

Professor Ngo has pioneered research in offsite manufacturing and modern construction methods in Australia, leading the development of innovative lightweight modular building systems with superior thermal-mechanical, acoustic, and fire properties. He has published over 400 journal articles and conference papers and has been honoured with several awards, including the Eureka Science Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia.

As a Director of prefabAUS, Professor Ngo has significantly contributed to establishing and growing the offsite construction industry in Australia.