Minds of Melbourne Connect: Daniel Shaddock, CEO and Co-founder of Liquid Instruments

Daniel Shaddock is a physicist, engineer, and entrepreneur known for his contributions to precision measurement and test instrumentation. He is the CEO and co-founder of Liquid Instruments, a company that develops reconfigurable test and measurement solutions for scientists and engineers. Before founding Liquid Instruments, he was a professor at the Australian National University and a Directors Fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he developed technologies for the LISA gravitational wave detector project and the GRACE Follow-on mission, the first interspacecraft laser interferometer.

We sat down with Daniel to chat about how Liquid Instruments came into existence and why Melbourne Connect is the right place for them to take the company to the next level.

What led you to create Liquid Instruments?

I was a physics professor at the Australian National University (ANU). The company spun out of a research group I led there, based on technology I developed while working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. We were working on gravitational wave detection — some of the most sensitive measurement technology in the world. After detecting gravitational waves as part of the LIGO project in 2014, it became clear that this technology had broader applications. We saw an opportunity to help engineers across different industries by commercialising what we’d built.

Are you still affiliated with ANU?

No, I resigned from ANU about a year ago. They were very supportive during the transition. Liquid Instruments began as a side project to give my students career paths beyond academia. We raised venture capital, which we funnelled back to ANU as a research contract. That allowed us to keep the team employed within the university while we proved out the business model. Now we’ve grown to around 100 staff, with products sold in over 50 countries and used by more than 1,000 organisations.

What drew you to physics?

I wasn’t especially interested in science as a kid — it wasn’t until Year 11, when I had a fun physics teacher, that it clicked. I’ve always enjoyed problem solving more than the science itself. That problem-solving mindset is what I loved in research, more so than teaching. With teaching, you start over every year. In research, you build continuously. Gravitational wave detection was one of the most complex scientific challenges — and that same approach now drives Liquid Instruments: solving tough problems with powerful tools.

Can you explain gravitational waves for a lay audience?

Gravitational waves, predicted by Einstein in the early 1900s, are ripples in space-time caused by massive objects moving rapidly — like black holes merging. They’re analogous to electromagnetic waves, but instead of light, they’re disturbances in the fabric of the universe. Detecting them means measuring tiny shifts in distance — unbelievably small ones. For example, a strong wave passing between Earth and the Sun might alter their separation by less than the diameter of a hydrogen atom. That level of precision fascinated me and drove our work at NASA and beyond.

What does Liquid Instruments do in the world of physics and engineering?

We make test and measurement equipment — tools that engineers and scientists use to measure, generate, and process electronic signals. Traditionally, you'd need a separate device for each task: an oscilloscope, a spectrum analyser, a waveform generator, and so on. But we use a type of chip called an FPGA, which is reconfigurable. So, one of our devices can switch between many of those functions — it's flexible, powerful, and cost-effective. That’s the origin of the name ‘Liquid Instruments’ — adaptable and fluid.

What’s the mission behind Liquid Instruments?

Our mission is to accelerate science and engineering by giving people better tools. Traditional test equipment is outdated and hard to use. We wanted to build something modern, intuitive, and powerful — not just for ourselves, but for the broader research and industrial community. Rather than hundreds of engineers around the world building the same tools from scratch, we thought: let’s build it once, do it well, and share it. That frees others to focus on solving new problems.

What are some highlights from the past 10 years?

I’m proud that many of our original co-founders — students and colleagues from my ANU lab — are still with the company. They now lead teams and shape our future. That’s rare in start-ups. I also love that we’re building tools that help thousands of engineers and scientists. After contributing to gravitational wave detection, I doubted I’d find anything as rewarding — but this is. Now I get to be a part of many important projects around the world, indirectly, by supporting others through our instruments.

Was there a defining moment when you left academia to go all-in?

It wasn’t a sudden “f**k it” moment. I just gradually spent more time on the company. Every stage brought new challenges and a new job description. Strangely, being a modern academic prepared me for this: securing funding, building a team, setting direction — all skills that transfer well to running a start-up. My old boss at NASA once told me: “Think about what you’ll wish you worked on five years from now.” That’s stuck with me.

What did you learn from working at NASA and ANU?

I wasn’t senior at NASA, so I didn’t see the inner workings of big organisations, but I did learn to focus on long-term impact. The advice to concentrate on what will matter in five years has been invaluable. At ANU, I had more institutional support than most early-career entrepreneurs, and I think that model — universities helping spin-outs for the sake of societal impact, not just profit — is critical. Deep tech start-ups are hard, and IP alone won’t carry you. It’s all about execution.

Why expand to Melbourne, and how are you engaging with the local ecosystem?

Melbourne’s a hub for advanced manufacturing, which drew us here initially. We were building a high-end product in Canberra and started prototyping with a partner in Melbourne. That relationship blossomed into full-scale manufacturing. The local expertise, combined with proximity, has been invaluable. We now work with multiple partners here, and we’re deeply engaged with the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Connect — which also hosts our AI team.

What’s next for Liquid Instruments?

We’ve just launched a new product that pushes our capabilities into the gigahertz range — a big leap in specs. It opens doors to markets like semiconductors, aerospace, and defence, moving us beyond academia. It’s also our first major step into mass manufacturing here in Melbourne. Alongside that, we’ve launched AI-driven features to simplify test equipment. Instead of users needing to know every setting, they’ll be able to describe what they want, and the device will configure itself — a world first in test and measurement. Our AI team, based in Melbourne Connect, is building this now.

Developing complex technologies requires increasingly sophisticated test systems, but the uniqueness of most applications demands adaptable, customized configurations. Traditional multi-instrument setups add significant cost and time, both upfront and throughout the test cycle. Liquid Instruments’ reconfigurable Moku is the only integrated test solution engineered for seamless customization — whether for simple tests or intricate multi-instrument environments. Used in hundreds of labs worldwide, Moku accelerates the journey from idea to implementation by an order of magnitude, cutting the time and cost of advanced research and development. Designed by researchers for researchers, Moku delivers unparalleled efficiency in today’s most complex test scenarios while adapting to your evolving needs in the future. Experience Moku cost-free by requesting a demo today at liquidinstruments.com.