PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Alex Zelinsky

Also known as Alexander Zelinsky

Alex Zelinsky is an Australian computer scientist and roboticist whose work links robotics and computer vision. He began his academic career in the University of Wollongong's Computer Science department in 1984, worked as a research scientist in Japan, and became Professor of Systems Engineering at the Australian National University. His ANU group studied co-operative robot systems and computer vision, and he helped found Seeing Machines; with Gareth Loy, he co-authored a 2003 radial symmetry transform for finding points of interest in images. He served as Group Executive for Information Sciences at CSIRO in 2010 and led Defence Science and Technology from 2012 to 2018; he received the Pearcey Medal in 2013 and an Officer of the Order of Australia appointment in 2017. As of October 2026, he is Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Newcastle and Chair of ATN Universities, with his retirement from the vice-chancellorship set for February 2027.

Now at
University of Newcastle and Australian Technology Network of Universities
Works
181
Citations
5,611
h-index
27
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1984

    Computer science at Wollongong

    He begins his academic career in the University of Wollongong's Computer Science department in 1984. He later works as a research scientist in Japan before becoming Professor of Systems Engineering at the Australian National University.

  2. 2000–2003

    Robotics at ANU and Seeing Machines

    At ANU, his research group works on co-operative robot systems and computer vision. In December 2000, the Robotic Systems Lab launches Seeing Machines as its first start-up; he helps found the company. With Gareth Loy, he publishes a fast radial symmetry transform in 2003 to highlight points of interest in images.

  3. 2010

    Group Executive at CSIRO

    In 2010, he serves as Group Executive for Information Sciences at CSIRO.

  4. 2012–2018

    Chief Defence Scientist

    He leads Defence Science and Technology as Chief Defence Scientist from March 2012. In 2018, he announces that he will leave the role to take up the University of Newcastle vice-chancellorship.

  5. 2013

    A Pearcey Medal

    He receives the 2013 Pearcey Medal.

  6. 2017

    An Order of Australia appointment

    He is appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017 for service to defence science and technology, systems engineering and education.

  7. As of October 2026

    Vice-Chancellor and ATN Chair

    He is Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Newcastle and Chair of ATN Universities. He is due to retire as Vice-Chancellor in February 2027.

A language model matched the links in this timeline to people, organizations and papers (provisional, model-judged).

Career

  1. NowUniversity of NewcastleVice-Chancellor and President
  2. NowAustralian Technology Network of UniversitiesChair
  3. 2014–2016Department of Defence
  4. 2012–2018New Zealand Defence ForceChief Defence Scientist
  5. 2010–2021CSIROGroup Executive for Information Sciences
  6. From 2000Seeing MachinesCo-founder
  7. 1996–2008Australian National UniversityProfessor of Systems Engineering
  8. 1984–2005University of Wollongong

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Fast radial symmetry for detecting points of interest2003 · IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence · 593 citations
  2. Planning Paths of Complete Coverage of an Unstructured Environment by a Mobile Robot2007 · 302 citations
  3. An algorithm for real-time stereo vision implementation of head pose and gaze direction measurement2002 · International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition · 282 citations
  4. A mobile robot exploration algorithm1992 · IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation · 274 citations
  5. Quantitative Safety Guarantees for Physical Human-Robot Interaction2003 · The International Journal of Robotics Research · 234 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes University of Wollongong. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Australian National University. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  3. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1962 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  4. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Alex Zelinsky yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Alex Zelinsky - University of Wollongong – UOW uow.edu.au. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. Robotic Systems Lab @ ANU users.cecs.anu.edu.au. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. Alex Zelinsky atse.org.au. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. Fast radial symmetry for detecting points of interest researchportalplus.anu.edu.au. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. Departure of Chief Defence Scientist dst.defence.gov.au. Checked 18 October 2026.
  6. 2013 Pearcey Medal pearcey.org.au. Checked 18 October 2026.
  7. ATN Universities thanks Chair Professor Alex Zelinsky AO atn.edu.au. Checked 18 October 2026.