Engineering

RSVP on our Meetup event >> https://www.meetup.com/gdg-melbourne/events/313164035/ RSVP Codeword: NEWYEAR Get ready for our first monthly meetup of the year! This event is hosted at the Mantel Group Office, with the recording of the talks to be shared afterwards on YouTube if you can't make it. There will be food, networking and some surprise swag! Agenda: 6:20 - Intro 6:30 - Talks 8:00 till late - networking & chat (& drinks optional) Talks and Speakers: Kotlin → C#; Experimenting with Cross-Runtime Interop by Isuru Rajapakse, Senior Android Developer at Motorola Solutions Kotlin is a warm, cozy blanket of null safety and garbage collection so that we don't gave to get our feet wet. But what happens when you rip that blanket away, compile your Kotlin code down to a C static library, and try to use it in a .NET application? I did it so you don't have to. And I brought the stack traces to prove it. From Hype to Hands-On: Building Smarter Apps with the Agent Development Kit by Lovee Jain, Google Developer Expert - Cloud | Senior Software Engineer @Prezzee AI agents are more than hype — they’re a new way to design applications. In this talk, we’ll take a practical look at the Agent Development Kit (ADK) and how developers can use it to orchestrate multi-agent workflows. We’ll explore agent types, chaining strategies, and how to integrate tools and context effectively. The session includes a demo of a point-based buying agent that showcases how agents can interact, make decisions, and deliver value in a real-world scenario. Expect less buzzword, more code, and practical lessons you can apply in your own projects. Agentic DevOps: I Gave AI Agents root access to a VM – Here’s What I Learned by Bishal Sapkota, Software Engineer | AI Solutions Architect | Co-founder at Outback Yak Real Automation, self patching, persistent memory, cron jobs, and the obvious loaded gun. How to find us: Doors open at 5:45 PM at our host the Mantel Group, Level 2/452 Flinders St Melbourne. Message via Meetup or Slack if you are arriving after 6:00 as the lifts won't let you up.  This is an in-person only event. If you have any accessibility requirements please reach out via the Meetup or Slack to the organiser group to discuss and we will do our best to help you out. Agenda --- Hosted By Katie Barnett, GDE Android / GDG Organiser Katie is passionate about all things Android. She has taken on a wide variety of challenging projects including in the live event, media and travel space. Her favourite thing is to see someone having a delightful experience using something she has worked on. Katie is very active in the development community, she is a Google Developer Expert for Android, one of the organisers of GDG Melbourne and is a Women Techmakers Ambassador. She frequently runs events, speaks on technical and non-technical topics and enjoys writing blog posts to share her experience with others. Katie is based in Melbourne, Australia but loves to travel the world and outside of tech she enjoys boardgaming and attempting to finish many craft projects. Suesi Tran, Senior Flutter Developer Google Developer Expert in Dart, Flutter & Firebase, Women Techmaker Melbourne ambassador, GDG Melbourne & Flutter Melbourne co-organiser. In short: Flutter is love, and mobile is life. Poornima Sivakumar, GDG Organiser Lovee Jain, GDG Organiser Lovee is a Software Engineer at Prezzee, a GDG Melbourne Organiser and also a Women Techmakers Ambassador. A tech inquisitive philomath, she loves problem solving and solution design. She has worked at a city council where she developed a lot of useful system integrations and while at Prezzee she develops and works on multiple gift card solutions to cater the B2B2C market. Zach Jensz, GDG Organiser Passionate about the web, seamless UX and accessibility. I love attending meetups, find me and come say hi! Ujjawal Raj, GDG Organiser Bramley Turner-Jones, GDG Organiser Yuba Raj (UV) Panta, GDG Cloud Organiser Kartik Arora, Android Engineer Google Developer Expert in Android Android Engineer @ Bilue Carolyn Ai Chi Wong, Complete your event RSVP here: https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-melbourne-presents-gdg-melbourne-february-2026-meetup/.

**Salsa, Bachata & Kizomba Beginner Classes in Prahran** Always wanted to try? Now is the time! Learn to dance with our friendly beginner classes for Salsa, Bachata & Kizomba. You’ll always walk away with a smile after dancing! **Get Fit. Have Fun. Meet new people.** Every Wednesday night Prahran RSL \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* **Timetable** **6.30pm** **FREE Intro to Cuban Salsa** (30mn) 7.00pm Beginner 1 Cuban Salsa & Bachata 8.10pm Beginner 1 Kizomba Privates lessons also available if you can’t make group classes! \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* **Location:** Prahran RSL 301 High Street Prahran Looking forward to seeing you all! \*\*\* **Cost:** Try our Free Intro class and after if you want to increase your dance level, feel free to enjoy our special deal for new students below! **Beginner Welcome Pack** 4 weeks Beginner Classes + 30 min Private Lesson Just $65!! (value $165) For more information You can contact us directly : 0411 572 822 ✅ David Smile Dance https://www.davidsmiledance.com

**"TechWalking" - Networking + Walking** Are you a tech professional looking to network beyond the screen? Look no further than my upcoming #TechWalking event! ‍♀️ Join us for a refreshing Yarra River Short City Loop. It’s the perfect chance to connect with industry peers while getting in some steps! I know many of you have been tuning in to my online events, but we've never had the opportunity to meet in person. Let's change that! Check out the video from the last event: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Z955MaRHSqI We'll kick things off at **5.30 pm sharp** at Federation Square. Please, don't be late! We're hitting the trail around the river as soon as we gather. And trust me, you won't want to miss it – unless you're up for a bit of a sprint to catch up! (we're going clockwise) Meeting point: Mamas Gozleme, 14 Birrarung Marr Walk, Melbourne VIC 3000 https://maps.app.goo.gl/wDruvccNUzSWkV8y5 This event is pet and kid-friendly, as long as your little ones and furry friends can manage a 3 km walk, they're more than welcome to join. Looking forward to meeting you all in real life! *** Subscribe to YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ITCareerinAustralia Follow me on LinkedIn for more information: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-martens/ Just moved to Australia? Grab your FREE guide to land your tech job! [https://yanamartens.com/first-tech-job-in-australia/](https://yanamartens.com/first-tech-job-in-australia/) Need more support? Join our 8-week program! https://www.meetup.com/it-career-in-australia/events/312469499/

Hey everyone We are putting on an in person OpenShift meetup on Wednesday 25 Feb. Come and join us to hear the latest capabilities for OpenShift 4.21, Roadmap, Virtualisation, GPU, AI & MCP servers and more. Having just returned from Red Hat One in Vegas we have a lot to share of what we have seen happening around the world. Its the usual time starting at 6pm with a 7:30pm finish as well as drinks and pizza! Look forward to seeing you there. OpenShift Meetup team https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/achieve-more-red-hat-openshift-421

### Your First Bachata Class on Wednesdays is FREE! ✨ Welcome to your new midweek rhythm on **Queensberry Street, North Melbourne**! Whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned dancer looking for a friendly community, this is your new Wednesday home. ✨ **THE "ZERO-RISK" FIRST STEP** Not sure if Bachata is for you? Come and see for yourself with **no commitment**! * Your first **6:30 PM Fundamentals class is 100% FREE**. * No partner needed and no experience required. * Just show up, meet the crew, and have fun. ⭐ **THE RISING STAR MEMBERSHIP SPECIAL** If you love your first class and want to stick with dancing midweek, we have an exclusive offer for our community: * **The Deal:** Grab our Rising STAR Membership Card for just $50. * **What’s Included:** Covers your next 7 classes! * **Total Value:** Just $7.14 per class — officially the best value dance deal in Melbourne! * **WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE** * 6:30 PM: Bachata Fundamentals (Beginners) — FREE for first-timers! * 7:00 PM: Bachata Improvers * 8:00 PM: Bachata Intermediate * 9:00 PM – Late: Social dancing & community vibes **WHERE WE ARE** **Sokol Melbourne**, 497 Queensberry St, North Melbourne Look for our check-in table at the entrance. We’re the friendly group having a great time! Why join us? We aren’t just a dance school; we’re a **community**. Since 2018, we’ve focused on **connection, laughter, and making everyone—especially solo beginners—feel welcome** from the moment they walk in. Come as you are, bring a smile, and let’s make every Wednesday your night of dance!

# ** Melbourne AWS User Group –** February **Meetup ** ** Wednesday, 25 February** ** NAB Events Hub – 395 Bourke Street, Melbourne** **⏰ Food at 6:00 pm, talks from 6:30 pm (with live stream)** We’re kicking off 2026 properly with a deep technical session and another exciting speaker announcement coming soon This month we’re diving into Kubernetes networking changes that could directly impact your clusters — especially if you’re running Ingress-NGINX. This month’s lineup features: * **Gokul Venugopal** returning with a Level 300 session on the retirement of Kubernetes Ingress-NGINX. * **Warwick Wilson** shares lessons from running and evolving a production AWS Serverless orchestration platform over three years. A huge thank you to our sponsors: Mantel Group – Gold Sponsor, Cevo – Silver Sponsor, NAB – Venue Sponsor The event will be **live-streamed on YouTube** as always. *** # **️ Agenda** * **6:00 pm** – Food & Socialising * **6:30 pm** – Introductions * **6:40 pm** – What’s New in AWS * **6:55 pm** – The Retirement of Kubernetes Ingress-NGINX (Level 300); Speaker: **Gokul Venugopal** * **7:25 pm** – Almost Serverless Spatial (Level 200); Speaker: **Warwick Wilson** * **7:55 pm** – Marketplace (Who’s Hiring) * **8:00 pm** – Networking + Close *** # ** Talk Details** ## **The Retirement of Kubernetes Ingress-NGINX: Impacts, Risks, and Next Steps** Speaker: Gokul Venugopal Level: 300 Description: Ingress controllers are foundational to how traffic flows into Kubernetes workloads — but with the announced retirement of Ingress-NGINX, many teams are asking: what now? In this session, Gokul will cover: * A refresher on Kubernetes Ingress and the role of Ingress-NGINX * What the retirement means in practice * Risks for existing clusters * Migration paths and available alternatives * Pros and cons of the major options If you’re running Kubernetes in production, this is one you don’t want to miss. *** ## **Almost Serverless Spatial** Speaker: Warwick Wilson Level: 200 Description: Warwick manages a Spatial Data supply and distribution platform for DTP, an AWS Serverless orchestration that has now been in production for nearly three years. In this session, Warwick will walk through: * The original architecture and design decisions * How the AWS Step Functions workflows started simple * How they evolved over time as production realities set in * Lessons learned operating and refining long-running serverless orchestration If you're running or designing Step Functions in production, this is a practical, experience-driven session you won’t want to miss. *** # ** Want to Speak at a Future Meetup?** We’re always looking for new speakers and believe everyone has an interesting talk waiting to be shared. If you’d like to present at a future event, reach out at the meetup, via our website: [https://melb.awsug.org.au/speak/](https://melb.awsug.org.au/speak/)

Applied Scholastics Study Technology is able to improve anyone's ability to study. Millions of people are already using this technology and whole countries are now adopting it. - You can learn Faster with less stress - You don't forget the information - You stay interested in the subject - Your marks increase English literacy rates routinely improve by 25 to 35 percent. Likewise, student test scores improve dramatically with students routinely meeting or exceeding grade level expectations in EVERY ACADEMIC SUBJECT. Our workshop will be focusing on how students learn. Study Technology can easily be incorporated into any educational activity—from classroom instruction and curriculum design to employee training or homeschooling. It provides a stable foundation enhancing all educational efforts. Study Technology is what teachers, tutors, trainers, parents and students can use to improve the quality of teaching and learning. No matter the curriculum in your current academic setting, Study Technology offers proven teaching strategies and resources that can help resolve classroom issues and improve student achievement. No matter if you are a teacher yourself or a good students or bad student we can all do better at study once we have this technology under our belt. Teachers who use this technology report amazing turn around with once troubled students. The application of Study Technology has quite literally changed millions of lives. You are most welcome to bring along a friend or those that struggle with study. (any topic) If you are unable to attend this meetup then let me know, We can arrange for you to meetup at a different time and date. Light refreshments will be provided.

**English for Beginners (A1–B2): Casual Speaking Meetup ** （※Mainly for people in their late teens to 20s） • You understand English… but can’t reply? • You studied for years… but still can’t speak? • You feel nervous speaking English? You’re not alone You just need a place to try This meetup is for beginners who want to actually SPEAK. ✨ Small group (4–10 people) ✨ Friendly & relaxed atmosphere ⸻ **✨ What makes this different?** We don’t just chat randomly. Everyone gets a chance to speak! • Level-based groups (A1–B2) • Pair conversations (10 min each) • New partner every round • Simple question sheets No one is left out :) ⸻ ** No pressure, no judgement** Mistakes are OK ‍♂️ Speak slowly, use gestures or a translator You WILL speak — even a little! And you might actually enjoy it ⸻ ** How it works (1 hour)** • Short intro • 3 rounds of pair conversations • Free chat at the end Speak a little or a lot — both are okay! ⸻ ** Who is it for?** • English learners (A1–B2) • International students / working holiday • Anyone who feels shy speaking English • Young adults (around 18–30) ⸻ ** About the host** Hi, I’m Yuki I also struggled to speak English before. So I created this space where beginners can feel safe and try. ⸻ ** When & Where** Saturday 11:00–12:00 — Meeting Room 1 - Library at The Dock ** Free (just buy a drink)** ⸻ ✨ Just come, try, and enjoy! See you there :)

**Important notice - Please use this link to register for the meetup** **https://luma.com/w01uummz** **Site Reliability Engineers vs Platform Engineers: Who Owns What?** Join us for a dynamic panel discussion exploring the evolving landscape of infrastructure and operations roles in modern tech organizations. As companies scale and technology stacks grow more complex, the lines between Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and Platform Engineering can blur, overlap, or diverge entirely depending on organisational needs. This session brings together practitioners from both disciplines to unpack the core responsibilities, shared territories, and distinct ownership areas of each role. But here's where it gets interesting: ownership boundaries vary dramatically across organizations. At some companies, SREs build the platform. At others, Platform Engineers handle production reliability. Many teams share responsibilities for Kubernetes, observability tools, infrastructure as code, and deployment automation. Company size, maturity, culture, and technical stack all influence how these roles are defined and what each team owns. Our panelists will discuss real-world examples of how their organizations have drawn these boundaries, where collaboration is essential, where conflicts arise, and how to think about structuring these teams for success in your own context. Whether you're an SRE, Platform Engineer, engineering leader, or simply curious about these evolving disciplines, you'll leave with clarity on the distinctions, insights on common patterns, and practical perspectives on making these roles work together effectively.

The discussion topic for this meetup will be identity and whether or not history is a necessary condition for consciousness as Dretske proposed. James

## Overview Join us in person to explore the newest AI tools, master prompt engineering, and dive into large language models! ## Join Us for Graduate Pathways in AI! Ready to dive into the world of AI? Come explore the latest tools, get hands-on with prompt engineering, and uncover the magic behind LLMs (Large Language Models). This is an in-person event perfect for grads looking to boost their AI game. Don't miss out on networking, learning, and having fun with fellow AI enthusiasts! **Agenda** 6:00 PM - 6:15 PM Arrival + food + networking Check-in, pizza/soft drinks, quick intros. 6:15 PM - 6:25 PM Welcome + session framing What you’ll learn, how to use the session, and how Q&A/breakouts will work. 6:25 PM - 6:45 PM The LLM landscape in 2026 (practical view) What LLMs are good at vs. not good at. Common workflows teams use (research, analysis, content, coding assistance). Tool categories (models, chat UIs, notebooks, agent frameworks, evaluation/testing). 6:45 PM - 7:05 PM Prompt engineering + agentic AI (live examples) Prompt structure you can reuse: role, task, context, constraints, examples, evaluation. How to iterate: compare outputs, check assumptions, reduce hallucinations, get citations/traceability. Agentic workflows: when an “agent” helps (multi-step tasks, tool use, memory) and when it’s overkill. 7:05 PM - 7:20 PM Breakout circles (small groups) 7:20 PM - 7:27 PM Resources + next steps Share resource pack: tool list, learning roadmap, project ideas, evaluation checklist. 7:27 PM - 7:30 PM Surprise + close Surprise reveal and thank you

Welcome to 2026!! We need a second speaker please - if you are doing anything cool let us know Melbourne(at)serverless.org.au and we can get you on the agenda! Even for a future month if you are not quite ready yet. THANKS TO MANTEL GROUP for sponsoring the location & refreshments again! Thanks also to PROGRAMMABLE - we have tickets to give away for people who attend the meetup this month! Please get in touch ASAP if you would like to talk at a future event, send us an email at Melbourne(at)serverless.org.au for more info! First time speakers are more than welcome and we can provide you assistance if you need with your presentation beforehand. Please reach out Melbourne(at)serverless.org.au. It can be a regular talk, lightning talk, demo, workshop, whatever is your thing our community will love it - as long as it is serverless related! Venue: MANTEL GROUP, Level 2, 452 Flinders St. Melbourne Look for the signs! Agenda 5:30 PM - Doors Open! 6:00 PM - Welcome from the organizers / housekeeping 6:05 PM - **"Build vs Buy - how LLMs are shifting the scales" - By Liam Johnston, Lead Consultant, V2 AI** This talk examines how LLMs are fundamentally changing the build vs buy calculus. Through a real project - a crossword generator using AI for clues and algorithms for word-fitting across 300k words - we'll explore why projects that were impossible side quests two years ago are now weekend builds. 6:35 PM - Pizza & Networking 7:00 PM - **"Middle age serverless – Step Function maturation" by Warwick Wilson from the Department of Transport and Planning.** Warwick will share some updates on his AWS Step Functions in spatial data distribution systems which he presented a couple of years back. It looks very interesting! 7:30 PM - Networking and finish the Pizza! 8:00 PM - Door Close, see you next time!

Welcome back for 2026. We're kicking off with a talk by [Caitlin Blackwell](https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-blackwell-8328a623/), Head of Product from Seek who'll share real life stories of getting a product live with AI and the learnings along the way. Caitlin Blackwell is a Head of Product for SEEK across APAC where she leads a team of PM across the homepage feed, search and job pages to help candidates get great jobs and drive high quality placements for hirers. She has worked in a range of ecommerce and SaaS companies as well as being at SEEK for a long time. She resides on a farm on the famous Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia where a large garden, a dog and 100 acres of bush keep her busy. **Our amazing sponsors are Easygo** Bio: [Easygo](https://www.linkedin.com/company/easygo-au/?originalSubdomain=au) is the Australian powerhouse behind the world’s biggest online casino, as well as pioneering a creator-first online streaming platform with over 50 million users. Fuelled by an ambitious mission, our culture of collaboration invites industry visionaries, innovators, and disrupters to drive the future of entertainment forward.

### **The Vibe** Are you curious about AI and automation, or are you already building complex workflows in **n8n**? Join us for a casual, after-work gathering in the heart of the Melbourne CBD. This is an "open floor" event—no rigid slides or formal pitches. Just a group of locals grabbing a drink and talking about how we use n8n to reclaim our time and supercharge our businesses. ### **Who This Is For** * **The Curious/Newbie:** If you’ve heard of n8n but haven't started yet, come see what’s possible. No question is too basic! * **The Pro/Builder:** Share your latest "Agentic" workflows, swap tips on self-hosting, or help troubleshoot a tricky expression. * **The Business Owner:** See how Melbourne SMEs are using automation

**Important time note:** Please plan on arriving between 5:30 and 6:00 as the elevators lock after 6 and you'll need to message us and we'll need to come get you. The building address is 4450 Bridge Park The entrance is 6620 Mooney St, Suite 400 You will need to scan your ID at the door to get a visitor badge. **Abstract** *Spec-Driven Development with GitHub Spec-Kit: From Intent to Implementation* Spec-driven development flips the traditional workflow on its head: instead of code being the source of truth, the specification becomes the backbone of design, collaboration, and delivery. In this session, we’ll explore how GitHub Spec-Kit enables teams to treat specifications as first-class artifacts—living documents that drive architecture, implementation, and verification. You’ll learn how Spec-Kit helps teams clearly express intent using structured, version-controlled specs that live alongside code. We’ll walk through a practical workflow that starts with defining system behavior and constraints, then progressively refines those specs into testable, automatable outcomes. Along the way, we’ll show how specs can reduce ambiguity, improve cross-functional collaboration, and make design decisions explicit before a single line of production code is written. This talk will cover: --What spec-driven development is (and what it isn’t) --How GitHub Spec-Kit fits into modern developer workflows --Using specs to align product, engineering, and AI-assisted development --Real-world examples of turning specs into implementations with confidence Whether you’re building greenfield systems, integrating AI into your stack, or trying to reduce costly rework, spec-driven development offers a scalable way to move faster without sacrificing clarity. Attendees will leave with concrete patterns and a clear mental model for adopting GitHub Spec-Kit in their own projects. **YouTube Link** TBA

Excited to share that AWS Cloud Club's first meeting will take place on Thursday, February 26th at 5pm - 6pm! We’re collaborating with [Big Data & Analytics Association](https://www.linkedin.com/company/big-data-analytics-association/) to host [Alok Jha](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alok-jha-42abb928/), Head of Product Management for AWS Intelligent Application Protection at Amazon Web Services, for a tech talk + Q&A on his journey in leading cutting-edge innovation in industry. If you’re interested in cloud, cybersecurity, AI, or product management, this is a session you won’t want to miss. Make sure to join our Meetup and GroupMe to stay up to date for future events and collabs!

Let's gather for lunch at Carfagna's followed by an optional stop in Carfagna's Market to check out the tastes and smells of Italy. Carfagna's address is 1440 Gemini Pl, Columbus, OH 43240

We will show a variety of methods for building agents that run in Microsoft Foundry. This covers the different types of agents: Prompt, Multi, and Hosted, as well as the development lifecycle using evals and traces.

Let's grab some coffee/food and share a morning chat! The East Market has an ample parking lot and outdoor and indoor seating. Grab a cup of coffee from Winston's Coffee & Waffles or on your way to East Market and meet us on the second floor - table behind or east of the elevator. If the weather cooperates we will be meeting in the patio. Per what this group is about: "Everyone is welcome! International transplants to Columbus who want to improve language skills, Columbus residents who want to discuss international travel and culture, and anyone who enjoys getting together for good conversations."

Join us and work remotely together with like-minded UX folks. This is a last minute opportunity to get out at one of our favorites, [Junto](https://thejuntohotel.com/)! Plenty of seating is available in addition to a connected coffee shop and restaurant. I will be there 10-12 for sure, maybe longer. Feel free to come and go anytime during the day, and don't forget your charger and headphones!

Join other experienced and aspiring agile coaches and professionals to: * develop and practice your coaching skills in a peer-to-peer environment * share current successes and challenges in your work environment and get support from each other * learn from each other, build better relationships and experiment with new ideas