Sunshine Coast’s leading stars in technology of 2024
The next generation in technology development are shaping the future of the Sunshine Coast through innovative and entrepreneurial business models, community work and, of course, their tech. Meet our brightest stars.
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From providing children’s education to ensuring cybersecurity and providing services catering to disabilities, these tech stars have put their passions together to evolve their Sunshine Coast businesses.
These tech gurus have made their own success on the Sunshine Coast, whether it be young enthusiasts making a living on their own for the first time or experienced CEOs cruising in aircrafts and leading the region’s community associations
Sarah Eisenmenger, Zest Robotics
Sarah Eisenmenger, 21, is a sole business trader leading an initiative to provide STEM education to predominately female students in remote Queensland locations who would usually not have the opportunity or confidence to seek out a career in tech.
Ms Eisenmenger said she started exploring in robotics in 2019 when she was in grade 9 and two years later, her team placed in the international First Lego League competition.
She said she had a “lightbulb moment” during the competition when she noticed her competitors were mostly males, similar to her own team which was made up of seven boys and three girls.
Ms Eisenmenger became inspired to focus on female STEM education from that point on, she said.
Teaching robotics in school was a “niche market” at the time and she received help from teachers and mentors at the Peregian Digital Hub, taking on public speaking roles in Brisbane and at entrepreneurial business events, Ms Eisenmenger said.
“I love working with the kids,” she said.
“My favourite moments is when they have a lightbulb moment - seeing when they get it and view it as not only math but as something useful which they’d like to explore as a career choice.”
Ms Eisenmenger is currently attending QUT studying a double degree in Bachelor in Business and Bachelor in Engineering Honours, having just completed six months in the UK on an exchange program.
She now works in advocacy on the Sunshine Coast after many schools formed their own extra-curricular classes and help students get more out of their education system.
Ms Eisenmenger said she currently travels to regional schools across Queensland to teach students and also has a contract with University of the Sunshine Coast in presenting workshops.
She is now on the way to financial independence thanks to her business, having recently bought her own car and securing a budding entrepreneurs scholarship worth $24,000.
Timothy Hall, GreaseBoss
Timothy Hall, 36, is co-founder and CEO of industrial IoT company GreaseBoss focusing on verifying greased equipment to avoid failures and downtime for primarily mining, manufacturing and water utility markets.
Mr Hall had been a mechanical engineer and project manager for 12 years before moving into the tech industry in 2018, overseeing a project deploying Australia’s largest council digital radio network.
At the same time, he also founded a startup featuring underwater inspection drones but shut the business down after receiving positive feedback for GreaseBoss.
“GreaseBoss formed at a startup weekend, I was there to find a tech co-founder for my drone business but the traction that we received from GreaseBoss was too strong to ignore,” he said.
In their first year of operations, the pair were accepted into startup accelerator company Y Combinator to boost and transform their business.
Mr Hall said he loved many aspects of working in the industrial IoT sector in both the tech and business spaces.
“There is hardware, firmware, networking and software all of which need to be acceptable to a tier one company if you want to succeed - that is a feat in itself,” he said.
“There are always multiple aspects of the business that we are developing in parallel and I get to work with some incredible people in major global companies.”
Mr Hall said his life was fast-paced and the “excitement of all the innovation and development” keeps his days interesting and he loves going to work everyday.
“Don’t be afraid to start you own business and give it a go,” he said.
“The chances are, you will fail a number of times before you hit something that sticks but you learn incredible life lessons along the way.”
Rob Neely, Sell Securely
Rob Neely, 63, is the managing director of Sell Securely focusing on protection from social media scams.
The company developed “social media identity securitisation”, a type of data orchestration licenced to banks in order to allow social media users to validate their profile and “establish the authenticity of their online presence” through their bank.
He began working on the technology in 2020 and was contacted by AusPayments Plus in 2023 to discuss integrating their technology into a new product.
The company was a finalist in the Telstra Business Awards in 2023 for its innovation as well as a finalist for the Sunshine Coast Business awards.
Mr Neely was also invited to showcase his technology at the Payment Industry Awards at London in March this year.
Mr Neely and his family live on a private estate in the Noosa Hinterland and own a corporate aircraft.
The family is also involved in philanthropy, particularly with charity Angel Flight.
Bradley Chesham, Bundle of Rays
Bradley Chesham, 44, is the founder of Bundle of Rays, a company using virtual reality and augmented reality technology to create training modules for the healthcare education system.
With a background as a registered nurse, Mr Chesham became entranced with the possibilities of VR through his friends, one being a video game enthusiast and the other captivated with curating art galleries.
“This blend of art and technology sparked my initial fascination with the possibilities of virtual reality,” he said.
Mr Chesham’s “defining” moment came when he was placed inside a human heart through VR technology, being able to explore every detail within the immersive environment.
“This brief, five-minute experience was a revelation,” he said.
“The power of being able to interact with and visually dissect complex subjects in a virtual space showed me a new horizon in healthcare education.”
Mr Chesham said he plans to impact healthcare education worldwide, with his business already established in Australia, Korea, the US and soon in the UK.
“This journey, with its ups and downs, has been immensely rewarding, offering a deep sense of fulfillment,” he said.
Mr Chesham holds a Masters of Science in Critical Care and will also start his PhD focusing on investigating augmented humanoids for healthcare.
Alex Merenkov, Dr App
Alex Merenkov, 44, is the director of tech businesses Dr App and I Need a Website and helps drive business success through SEO management, personalised apps and software solutions.
Working with startups and established companies, Mr Merenkov said he is considering expanding the business to New Zealand and exploring franchising.
Initially starting the company with just four employees, Mr Merenkov attributes the company’s success to the support from the Sunshine Coast business community in the past decade.
His journey started in Sydney, where he created a in AI-based app which visualised the effects of cosmetic treatments.
Mr Merenkov said he did not sell many apps at the time, but was frequently asked to create websites and custom apps and provide SEO services, leading him to work with some of Sydney’s top digital agencies and brands.
He began looking for a family-friendly place to live after his child was born, ultimately leading him to the Sunshine Coast.
“We absolutely love everything here - weather, beautiful nature, friendly people and a great place to do business,” he said.
Mr Merenkov’s company supports Sunshine Coast services such as accounting, business coaching and legal assistance and also won the small business in advanced technology award at the Sunshine Coast Business Awards in 2023.
Mr Merenkov said his life working in tech has been “rewarding and transformative” after a journey of hard work and determination.
“After achieving success, I’ve had the privilege of enjoying certain comforts, but I’ve always remained focused on the core values that got us here – innovation, collaboration, and community support.
“While there may be some material rewards like properties and cars, I find the most satisfaction in the positive impact we’ve made in the tech world and the opportunities we’ve created for others in our industry.”
Bailey Page, Zip Zap Chargers
Bailey Page, 23, runs his own successful full-time business, Zip Zap Chargers, after finding himself in a sticky situation during a night out.
He began developing cableless products to create his portable charger company with no prior tech experience, teaching himself through YouTube tutorials and Google searches.
Mr Page had found himself separated from his friends with a flat phone during a night out at Fortitude Valley while he was in his second year of university in 2020.
“I didn’t bring a wallet out as I was using Apple Pay on my phone so I was stuck in a bad position, and couldn’t pay for a taxi, Uber, anything - resulting in me walking over 15km to get home on main roads at the early hours of the morning,” he said.
The next day, he took it upon himself to buy a power bank online but could not find a product which was not “bulky” or didn’t require a cable, and which you could attach to the bottom of your phone.
After looking through Australia’s biggest brands and even searching overseas without success, Mr Page spent the following 13 months development his own product.
Six weeks after launching his product, Mr Page was featured on Sunrise which followed in his first order of 2000 products selling out within three weeks, resulting in six-figure sales.
“The goal was to sell that for the year and we did it in the first nine weeks,” he said.
Mr Page said he loved the challenge of creating a product never done before, and seeing his project come to life to bring a positive result for people.
He was named Queensland’s 7 News Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2023 and has been the subject in many news media programs and articles in 13 different countries.
Until his success after the Sunrise feature, Mr Page had been working as a food and beverage attendant at Twin Waters Resort and other venues whilst completing university and was able to launch full-time into the business in 2022.
“My life now has taken me to a place I could’ve never expected, I am truly very fortunate and grateful to be given the opportunities I’ve had, which were mostly luck of being in the right place at the right time,” he said.
Mr Page is still a one-man team two years into the business with his mother greatly supporting him and often takes time to visit schools to encourage other students and young entrepreneurs.
Bryton Wishart, Vinti Tech
Bryton Wishart is a co-founder of the Sippy Downs-based company Vinti Tech dealing with cybersecurity in Microsoft technologies and data protection services for business employees and clients.
His LinkedIn profile also states he is the co-founder of Cured Compliance, a digital platform for butchers and is a cyber security tutor at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Mr Wishart is also a non-executive board member of community group Silicon Coast, which invites collaboration and development in the Sunshine Coast’s “entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
Jameson Harvey, Royal Robotics
Jameson Harvey founded Royal Robotics in 2019 to offer robotic workshops through different platforms to schools, universities and other organisations in order to prepare the next generation for the world of STEM in various South-East Queensland locations.
His Red Dirt Robotics program offers students in remote regions of Australia a chance to get hands-on through his workshop tours.
Jason Garland, Secure Access
Jason Garland is the founder and chief technological officer at Secure Access, an IT company dealing in various tech solutions, from strategy development and security to hardware and software.
Secure Access was established in 1999 and has since garnered more than two decades of experience working with partnered businesses.
Mr Garland has also been on the Sunshine Coast Tech Industry Alliance committee board since 2021
His business was also a finalist for the Sunshine Coast Excellence in Business award in 2023.
Victoria and Chris Kerrisk, Cerge App
Victoria and Chris Kerrisk are the founders of the Cerge app, which is an assistive application for people with disabilities and their support workers, carers or parents to communicate their service preferences ahead of time to venues.
Their app came to fruition from Ms Kerrisk’s passion to create a tailored customer service experience upon the moment of arrival through collaboration with tech and in-person interactions.
Ms Kerrisk’s LinkedIn profile shows she previously worked for Queensland Health and Mr Kerrisk formerly was a co-director of an IT service company.
Mick Fielding, Raider Targetry
Sunshine Coast robotics engineer and entrepreneur Mick Fielding is the executive director of technology and manufacturing company Raider Targetry.
The Kunda Park-based business has created a unique moving target system involving a robotic vehicle for live-fire training, simulations and testing.
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