The Victorian Government’s 2026 AI Mission Statement positions the state to lead Australia in the adoption of artificial intelligence. So as AI drives unprecedented demand, data centres are becoming vital infrastructure to be considered as part of the fabric of our cities and regions - but their rapid growth raises critical questions about sustainability, cybersecurity, energy use and urban liveability.
Hear from expert panellists at the forefront of this conversation as they explore the opportunities and challenges of integrating data centres into our urban environments - and what responsible digital infrastructure should look like for the future.
Join us for a timely panel discussion on the future of data centres in our cities, proudly co-hosted by the Women of Architecture, Building and Planning (ABP) and the Women in Engineering and IT Alumni Network (WEIT).
Lucy Guerin
Director of Data Centres, Australia (ESR)
Lucy Guerin joined ESR in August 2025 as Director of Data Centres, Australia, bringing 20+ years’ experience delivering infrastructure and large property portfolios, including five years in the data centre sector. She leads ESR’s Australian data centres business, focusing on identifying and delivering new opportunities in the local market.
Previously at Microsoft, she led the Land Development team and oversaw delivery strategy, due diligence, authority engagement, utilities, offsite works, planning/permitting, and environmental requirements for data centres across APAC (including Australia and multiple other countries). Prior to joining the DC sector, she directed major programs across sectors including commercial, health, education, aged care, and retail.
Lucy holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Legal Studies from UNSW and began her career in the Royal Australian Navy as a Marine Engineering Officer managing ship refits, dockings and maintenance programs.
Prof Eduard Hovy
Executive Director, Melbourne Connect
Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, The University of Melbourne
Eduard Hovy is the Executive Director of Melbourne Connect (a research and tech transfer centre at the University of Melbourne), a professor at the University of Melbourne’s School of Computing and Information Systems, and an adjunct professor at the Language Technologies Institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.
In 2020–21 he served as Program Manager in DARPA’s Information Innovation Office (I2O), where he managed programs in Natural Language Technology and Data Analytics. Dr. Hovy completed a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) at Yale University in 1987 and was awarded honorary doctorates from the National Distance Education University (UNED) in Madrid in 2013 and the University of Antwerp in 2015. He is one of the initial 17 Fellows of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) and is also a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).
From 2003 to 2015 he was co-Director of Research for the Department of Homeland Security’s Center of Excellence for Command, Control, and Interoperability Data Analytics, a distributed cooperation of 17 universities. In 2001 Dr. Hovy served as President of the international Association of Computational Linguistics (ACL), in 2001–03 as President of the International Association of Machine Translation (IAMT), and in 2010–11 as President of the Digital Government Society (DGS).
Dr Nourehan Wahba
Research and Development Engineer, Conserve IT
Dr. Nourehan Wahba is a research and development engineer at Conserve It, where she works on improving HVAC performance in critical facilities such as data centres and hospitals. Her work focuses on reducing energy consumption and improving system efficiency through machine learning, system identification, and optimisation algorithms.
She develops mathematical models of HVAC equipment and investigates ways to better predict and optimise system behaviour under changing operating conditions. Her work combines controls engineering, data analysis, and building physics to support more efficient and reliable operation of large-scale cooling systems.
Before joining Conserve IT, Dr. Wahba completed a PhD focused on nonlinear system identification in critical facilities, occupant thermal comfort, and the relationship between cooling system operation and energy use. Her research led to a patent and several peer-reviewed publications in the areas of HVAC controls and intelligent building systems.
Her interests include data-driven control strategies, energy optimisation, and applying machine learning techniques to complex mechanical systems.
