The Lote Technical Conference featured multiple presentations across various engineering and safety disciplines. Topics covered include the evolution of fire detection from historical methods to cutting-edge AI-driven systems, advanced strategies for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) and Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM), and specialised fire safety challenges in complex environments like offshore oil rigs, e-fuel production, and EV bus depots. Several talks focus on the strategic adoption of generative AI in consulting workflows, stressing the need for human oversight and regulatory compliance, while others address foundational issues such as IoT security, psychological safety in teams, and the importance of physical security measures and robust operational systems in a growing consultancy. Overall, the conference emphasised innovation, risk management, and the integration of technology with established engineering practices to ensure a safer, more resilient future.

Lote Consulting participated in the Public Venue Safety and Security 2025 conference in Melbourne. This conference yielded critical learnings regarding the changing threat environment, the crisis of youth radicalisation and online extremism, new frameworks to understand grievance-fuelled violence, crowd safety and management, retail safety, and security in healthcare. Modern security and counter-terrorism are moving away from being a lone fortress or reactive defence, and transforming into an interconnected immune system. This system must not only possess advanced internal monitoring tools, such as digital intelligence/AI, but also rely on the health and awareness of every cell, through social Intelligence and trained citizens and staff, while rapidly adapting its defences through proactive strategies as new, shapeshifting viruses manifesting in diverse extremist motivations constantly emerge.

We were also fortunate to attend the Safeguarding Australia Summit in Canberra. The overall learnings from this conference suggest that security threats are converging rapidly, where hybrid threats, AI weaponisation, quantum risks necessitate a holistic national approach. Success depends less on technological parity and more on developing Augmented Intelligence capabilities and building a Trusted Workforce that can withstand cognitive erosion and physical threats, underpinned by strategic, deliberate investment in sovereign technological ecosystems.

Our fire safety team has also been engaged in a multitude of different conferences. Returning to Western Australia for the first time in seven years, AFAC25 brought together thousands of emergency management professionals, industry leaders, and innovators to share knowledge, showcase technology, and strengthen connections across the sector. Dr Amer Magrabi presented two technical posters: Fire-fighting water demand and containment for Renewable Energy Sites and Balancing Fire Safety and Sustainability – Natural Ventilation Design.

The biannual SFS SFPE Fire Engineering conference on Holistic Fire Safety Design was held in Melbourne. The event is designed to bring together experts in the field of fire safety engineering to share their knowledge and experience. The conference held over three days featured a range of technical presentations on best-practice fire engineering, effective communication of fire safety concepts and strategies and case studies. The conference covered a range of topics related to holistic fire safety design, including the differences between this approach and atomistic methods, the involvement of different stakeholders in the design process, the methods and criteria for implementing this approach and the need for appropriate engineering standards and supporting legislation. The third day of the conference involved hot cell practical training at the FRV training facility and site visit to the Anzac station to look behind the scenes at fire protection strategies and systems for part of Victoria's newest infrastructure, before it opens to the public. Dr Amer Magrabi facilitated the expert panel session on Fire Safety in Waste Management featuring panellists from Wastetech Engineering, Fire & Rescue Victoria (FRV), Veolia, Lethlean Fire & Environment and Christopher Koch presented on Performance-based fire safety design of data centres with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

All Energy Australia 2025, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest clean energy event, drew thousands of professionals from across the renewable energy sector. The exhibition featured major BESS manufacturers—including Tesla, Sungrow, CATL, EVE, and EVO—alongside emerging companies entering the Australian market. Attendees explored the latest advancements in solar technology, renewable energy integration, environmental impacts, grid connectivity, and upcoming legislative changes shaping Australia’s role in the global renewables landscape. Dr Amer Magrabi and Jack Tetley presented at the Pre-Conference Hithium Melbourne BESS Event, offering strategic insights into fire safety design for grid-scale BESS in Australia. Presentations by Peter Stafford and Alam Hossain from Fire & Rescue Victoria covered Fire Safety Guidelines GL-55 (BESS) and GL-54 (Fire Safety Study). Amer also participated in an expert panel alongside representatives from Hithium, Modo Energy, and FRV.

The Overseas Energy Storage Fire Protection Forum 2025 hosted by Hubei Jiandun Fire Technology in Yichang, China, was a two-day event attracting more than 400 attendees and international delegates from Australia, the United States, India, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Italy, and South Africa. The forum fostered valuable collaboration across BESS manufacturers, suppliers, and integrators, with presentations covering updates to NFPA (2026 edition), UL testing developments, full-scale testing programs, and international compliance requirements. Christopher Koch presented on BESS Compliance Requirements in Australia on day two of the conference.

To cap off this conference season, our CEO Dr Maher Magrabi attended the Fire Safety Event Asia and the Security Event Asia in Singapore alongside the ASIS Asia Pacific Conference. For both fire and security, the marketplace events (FSEA and TSEA) serve as vital sourcing platforms, showcasing over 10,000 innovations for installers, integrators, and consultants. For security, the central lesson is that effective protection is driven by Technology Management, not technology alone, requiring consultants to specialise in the convergence of physical and cyber domains and demand integration as a strategic advantage. The conference highlighted Fire safety professionals often deal with complex, real-world failures involving regulatory compliance and rigorous approval processes, driving greater investment in quantitative and testing driven performance solutions.