Architecture Groups Melbourne

Welcome to the next 2026 AWS Melbourne Well-Architected User Group Meetup!

Hi Architects, Welcome to our next AWS Melbourne Well-Architected User Group Meetup for 2026, including more exceptional speakers and topics! :-D At each meetup we covered off various pillars in detail, best-practices and insights from industry leaders that specialise in the Well-Architected Framework. And giving away drones, of course. Lots of drones. **Please also note that AWS Security now requests a company name and company email where it is available. If you are a student, please list your institution and your student email address at that institution 👍** We'll be announcing more speakers on [https://well-architected.me](https://well-architected.me/) and previewing presentations during the coming weeks - our speakers and details this month include: * **Shilin Wu, Principal Solution Architect — VeloDB / Apache Doris** **Cost-Efficient Real-Time Analytics on AWS: Storage-Compute Separation with Apache Doris** Real-time analytics have a reputation for being expensive — you pay for fast storage you barely use, and for compute that sits idle overnight. This session walks through VeloDB / Apache Doris's storage-compute separation architecture on AWS, showing how to push warm data down to S3 while keeping sub-second query latency on the data that matters. We'll round off with a **live demo** querying billions of rows against S3-backed storage, soattendees can see the latency-vs-cost trade-off in action rather than on a slide. * **Pankaj Reddy, Head of Engineering - Simplicity KiwiSaver** **The next thing that matters (orientation theory continued..)** The talk explores mental models for how an agent decides what matters next, and how that shapes its orientation before it acts. It connects this idea to the Well-Architected pillars of Operational Excellence, Reliability, Security, and Performance Efficiency, showing how better orientation can lead to more deliberate and effective agent behaviour. * **Mystery Speaker** **Generative AI Cost Optimisation** Cost Optimisation is essential but with all the anecdotal stories of massive token budget blowouts, staying on top of Generative AI best-practices is essential to avoiding these scenarios. This month's menu will include: * Pizzas * Beer: Nastro Azzurro * Wine: Big and red 🤤 NB: Please check in up the stairs from the ground floor to the Mezzanine Level. So come join us at 5:30 for a 6pm **SHARP** start, followed by beer, wine, pizza and friendly networking after our talks :-) Tired of Linkedin’s "thought leadership”, spam and advertising? Join https://well-architected.me/ , the AWS community built for architects, developers and cloud professionals. * Connect with experienced AWS practitioners * Preview upcoming AWS Meetups and relive past content * Create and review beautiful AWS case studies in minutes * Prepare for AWS certifications with curated quizzes * Show your manager and reports you’re well-architected (Please note that by registering to attend you agree to your details being shared as and where required with Amazon Web Services and AWS Well-Architected User Group partners) in

AWS Builders Summit 2026

**AWS BUILDERS SUMMIT 2026** Our biggest event of the year. Our flagship Builders Club event. And a room we’ve been working towards for a long time. This isn’t another workshop. We’re bringing together industry experts, some seriously brilliant technologists, University leaders, AWS voices, founders, builders and the people shaping what comes next in cloud and AI, all in one room at Melbourne Connect. **On the agenda** * What the AWS Builders Club is and how far it's come * How students are engaging with AWS tech and programs * Builder Showcase — real architectures, solutions and startup ideas * Where the student builder community fits into University, MEC and AWS plans * Discussion and Q&A * Networking to wrap things up Expect big conversations and even bigger ideas. Hear from people working at the frontier of technology. Get perspectives from across AWS, industry, startups and the University. See what some of Melbourne’s strongest student builders have actually been creating. Dive into cloud architecture, AI, data, startups and technology at scale. And then comes the **Builder Showcase**, where our students put their architectures, solutions and startup ideas in front of the room. This Summit is about something bigger than learning AWS services. It’s about connecting students with the people building industry. It’s about putting ambitious builders in the same room as people who can challenge their thinking. And it’s about asking one question: What happens when you give the next generation of builders a seat at the table? We’re about to find out. The builders are ready. The room is coming together. Now it’s time to show what we can build.

Fabric x SpaceXAI Launch Event

🚀 What does it really mean to build AI-native software? Join us for an upcoming fireside chat with [SpaceXAI](https://www.linkedin.com/company/spacexai/posts/?feedView=all) as we explore what’s next for AI-powered software development. We’ll unpack: 🔹 Why the SpaceXAI × [Fabric Group](https://www.linkedin.com/company/fabricgroup/) partnership matters 🔹 What AI-native software development really looks like 🔹 How AI is reshaping engineering teams and workflows 🔹 The challenges organisations face when adopting AI at scale 🔹 Opportunities to modernise legacy systems and accelerate delivery Whether you’re leading an engineering team, driving digital transformation, or exploring what AI could mean for your organisation, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. 📍 Join us for the conversation.

Street Photography Ethics and Fitzroy Photowalk

We will start our Photowalk in Fitzroy with a coffee and selection of sweet and savoury treats at Smiths Cakes, and the opportunity for an informal and respectful discussion on street photography and ethics. The discussion part is optional, members are welcome to arrive for the beginning of Photowalk at 11.30 am if preferred. Melbourne Walk and Shoot has run street photography specific events for a number of years, but never had the opportunity to talk about the moral and ethical decisions we all need to make when practising this art form that is street photography. So it's an opportunity to discuss street photography beyond what is legally permitted, to open it up to how we try to work with respect and accountability while dealing with issues such as privacy, power dynamics, exploitation and cultural sensitivities. This will be a discussion that is general in nature, but it would be great if people wish to outline how they developed their own sense of personal ethics and artistic boundaries! We expect widely differing experiences and opinions in the discussion, but hope it will be a learning experience for all. Please keep in mind that this is purely a discussion and **not** a set of rules on Street Photography by the Melbourne Walk and Shoot Group. **Schedule** 10.00am - Part 1 - Meet at Smiths Cakes for an informal discussion on Street Photography and ethics (optional). 11.30am - Part 2 - Start of the Photowalk - meet outside Smiths Cakes. 2.00pm - The event ends We look forward to having you join us for this event. Cathrin and Ananda ' I love street photography but it's probably evil'. Ben Luu, 2024 **Discussion Resources** In regards to our street photography ethics discussion, it will be useful for members to do a little light reading prior! Here are a few resources that are helpful. **Arts Law Centre of Australia- Street Photographers Rights Info Sheet** Whilst we are focusing on ethics in discussion, it's helpful to have grounding on the legal aspects first. **Peta Pixel** **Six Ethical Considerations When Doing Street Photography by Polly Ryan** **The Michigan Daily** **The Questionable Ethics of Street Photography by Ben Luu** **www.michigandaily.com**

Sept Meetup - Azure Comms Service and A Starship AI in .NET

**Ethan Zeccola - Azure Communication Services: The Comms Stack You Already Own** Every application eventually needs to talk to someone. An SMS to confirm a booking, an email receipt, a video call with a support agent. The usual answer is to bolt on a third-party service, which means another vendor, another bill, another set of credentials, and customer data taking a trip outside your tenant. Azure Communication Services is Microsoft's first-party answer to that problem: SMS, email, chat, voice, and video, exposed as SDKs and REST APIs and living inside the same subscription, identity model, and compliance boundary as everything else you run. It also behaves like a normal Azure resource: deployable with Bicep, governed with RBAC, and observable through Azure Monitor. I'll walk through what the service actually covers, then demo it live, standing one up and getting a message out the door, so you can see how much work it really takes. **Stuart Dobson - My Ship's AI Told Me It Was Cooling the Reactor: A Starship AI in .NET** You are the captain of the ISV Kestrel. AURORA, the ship's intelligence, is a HarnessAgent wrapped around an IChatClient. Order it to seal a hull breach and it confidently reports the breach sealed, while the compartment keeps venting six turns later. This talk builds a starship AI on the new Microsoft Agent Framework harness in .NET, and uses it to show where an agent framework helps and where it fabricates its own reality: \- why there is deliberately no GetShipStatus tool\, and what ambient state belongs in the context window instead \- why forbidding invented readings does nothing to forbid invented actions \- driving the whole thing from a deterministic simulation\, so agent behaviour is a controlled comparison You'll leave knowing how to wire a harness agent in C#, which defaults to turn off first, and how to spot when a built-in harness provider, not your prompt, is putting words in your agent's mouth.

🍜Asian Background Social: Lounge Asia Melbourne (Easy English) 6pm

Why People Love Lounge Asia 🍜 Asian-focused event 🤝 Many guests come alone 💬 No need for perfect English 🌏 No games or forced introductions — just enjoy the conversation Lounge Asia began within the Asian community, so people from Asia often feel comfortable and at home here. At the same time, everyone is welcome — locals, expats, travellers, students, returnees, digital nomads, and globally minded people. ━━━━━━━━━━ How to Join 1️⃣ Tap "RSVP" on this page 2️⃣ Show your Meetup QR code at reception 3️⃣ Collect your name tag and start meeting people ✅ Early RSVP is free ✅ RSVPs made within 24 hours of the event start time are $5 ✅ Limited capacity — please RSVP early Many people attend alone, so don't worry if it's your first time. ━━━━━━━━━━ How to Find Us 📍 Venue La Di Da 577 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000 ⏰ Start Time — Melbourne Local Time 6:00 pm ⚠️ Important: This is the local time in Melbourne. Meetup may display Brisbane time or another time zone, so please follow the local time shown above. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🍺 Please Support the Venue This event is free or low-cost because the venue supports our community. Please purchase at least one drink during the event. Your support helps us keep organising events at great venues. ━━━━━━━━━━ 💚 Please Be Respectful Lounge Asia is a friendly social event where everyone should feel comfortable and welcome. 🚫 This is NOT a pickup or dating event. Anyone who makes others uncomfortable may be removed immediately. Not allowed: harassment, unwanted attention, MLM / crypto / religious recruitment, or anything that makes others uncomfortable. Organisers reserve the right to refuse entry or ask anyone to leave. 🪪 A valid government-issued photo ID is strictly required for entry. No photo ID, no entry. Driver's licences must be issued by the government of the country where the event is held. 📸 Photos and short videos may be taken for community and promotional purposes. If you prefer not to appear, please let an organiser know when you arrive. ━━━━━━━━━━ Lounge Asia is already growing in Australia and is now expanding across Asia — Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Our goal is simple: More friendship, more understanding, and more genuine connections across cultures. 📱 Join the Lounge Asia Australia WhatsApp Group Stay connected with the Lounge Asia community after the event. ✅ Hear about upcoming Lounge Asia events ✅ Meet local and international people ✅ Stay connected with people you meet ✅ Receive community news and event updates [👉 Join the WhatsApp group:](https://chat.whatsapp.com/CJV5i6FQMc7DVXezkJUUib) 📱 Instagram: @_lounge_asia [🎥 Watch Event Video:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNak_cu9CXw) [👉 GET VIP ACCESS:](https://forms.gle/t6GXAjTNFECetVuZ8) ━━━━━━━━━━ 🌏 Come say hi! Hey, come hang out! 来一起玩吧！ 一起來聊天吧！ 気軽に遊びに来てね！ 편하게 놀러 와요! มาเจอกันนะ! Tới chơi nha! Tara, sali ka na! Yuk, gabung! လာပြီး အတူပျော်ကြရအောင်! មកលេងជាមួយគ្នាណា! ມາພົບກັນເດີ້! Хамтдаа цуглацгаая! Komm einfach vorbei! Jom join kita! See you at Lounge Asia!

Elevating Your Research Through Software Development

**Elevating Your Research Through Software Development** **Date:** 22nd September, 2026 **Time:** 5:30 PM (networking and refreshments from 5:30 PM; talk begins at 6:00 PM) **Where:** DiUS, Level 3/31 Queen St, Melbourne Research projects often begin with a collection of scripts and files that become increasingly difficult to manage, reproduce, and share. Adopting software development practices and structuring research projects like software packages can help address these challenges while improving the quality, reproducibility, and impact of research. In this meetup, we’ll explore how package-based project structures can transform analytical workflows, using real-world examples from COVID-19 vaccination policy analysis and scabies transmission modelling in the Netherlands. The talk will demonstrate how treating research code as software enables more efficient collaboration, easier reuse, and faster translation of analyses into real-world decision-making. We’ll also discuss how emerging AI tools, such as Claude Code, can help researchers build resources that extend the reach of their work beyond its original scope. Come along if you’re interested in reproducible research, scientific programming, data analysis, or research software engineering, or if you’d like practical guidance on creating more structured, reusable, and collaborative research projects!

Linguas Melbourne's Largest Language Exchange

**🌍 Welcome to our Linguas Thursday Social + Language Exchange** 📍 **Asian Beer Café** Level 3, Melbourne Central 🕕 **Every Thursday, 6:00–10:30 PM** ### ⚠️ IMPORTANT — PLEASE GO TO LINGUAS RECEPTION FIRST **Before buying any food or drinks, you MUST visit the Linguas reception table and get your wristband.** Entry is: **🍺 Purchase food or a drink AFTER getting your wristband** **OR** **🎟️ Pay $5 entry** **If you buy food or a drink BEFORE getting your wristband, it does not count towards your Linguas entry and you will still need to pay the $5 entry fee.** Please remember: **1\. Go to Linguas reception first** **2\. Get your wristband** **3\. Then purchase your food or drink** Find updates and event information on Instagram: **@linguas.au** 💬 Find your people (New!) Looking to practice a specific language? Post in the discussion using: * **#LearnSpanish** * **#LearnEnglish** * **#TeachEnglish** * **#LearnJapanese** * etc. 👉 This helps others find you faster and makes it easier to connect. 📲 Join our WhatsApp Community Stay connected before and after the event, meet people, and find language partners: 👉 **Join here:** [https://chat.whatsapp.com/Bi7FlhHP91e0eP7MfdeWcZ](https://chat.whatsapp.com/Bi7FlhHP91e0eP7MfdeWcZ) ⏰ What to expect We consistently have **160–220 attendees** every Thursday (across multiple Meetup groups/Eventbrite/Facebook). People arrive at different times — **best time to come is between 6PM and 9PM.** Come solo or with friends — most people come alone and join conversations naturally. 🌏 Who attends? A mix of: * Native & non-native English speakers * International students * Backpackers & working holiday travellers * Professionals & expats * Local Australians You’ll meet people from: Europe, China, Japan, Korea, Latin America, and more. 🗣️ Why join? 👉 A relaxed, social way to practice English 👉 Meet people from around the world 👉 No pressure, no structure — just conversations 🍕 FREE DRINKS & FOOD FOR FRIENDLY VOLUNTEERS! We’re looking for **friendly volunteers** to help welcome newcomers and keep the vibe social. 👉 You’ll get: * Free drinks (beer/soft drink) * Food (pizza, wedges, etc.) * A fun team to hang out with No experience needed — many of our volunteers are **first-timers too**. Interested? 👉 [www.Linguas.com.au/Volunteer](http://www.linguas.com.au/Volunteer) 📲 **More info:** [https://instagram.com/Linguas.AU](https://instagram.com/Linguas.AU) or **@Linguas.AU**

Free coding and cafe socialising session.

Do you like to code in your spare time but not always solo? Do you like coffee shops? (Probably it's Melbourne!) Come along to our drop-in social coding session with visits to the cafes at the State Library of Victoria. We'll book-end the personal coding session with cafe visits and socialising about coding (or whatever), but no pressure to attend either the opening or closing cafe visit if you're short on time or sociability. (It's a busy time of year!) **Itinerary** Meet at the Welcome Zone just inside the library off the main steps then we'll head to Guild Cafe shortly after 11am for morning tea and chat about what we might work on. (Own expense.) (optional) We'll find an area to set up our own laptops and work on personal projects until 13:00. If you miss the morning tea part, have a look around for us inside Create Quarter or just find your own spot and meet back at 1pm. We'll comment on the event with a description of where we have set up. Around 13:00 we'll head back to Guild Cafe for lunch or drinks and catching up with what we've been working on. Own expense. (Optional). Last time, we went to Mr Tulk, but they are sadly closed now. If the replacement cafe is open by this time, we can go there. Guild has a smaller selection, but if the event is popular I'll find somewhere nearby probably in Melbourne Central.

Journey Management: an emerging practice that’s changing the way we lead

It’s safe to say that by now, Journey Mapping is familiar territory for many organisations. Yet what actually happens to Journey Maps and Service Blueprints once the project or workshop ends? The hours of synthesis, the pain points, and the hard-won customer insights are often archived in hidden folders or left on walls as wallpaper, rarely referred to in daily decisions. They become static relics as the organisation moves on. Journey Management is an emerging global management practice that turns static maps into a dynamic information system that acts as the backbone of operational and strategic decision-making. But how does an organisation make the shift from static maps to an active management practice? Join MDT for this exciting panel of speakers who talk about how they are developing and scaling their Journey Management practice. **What you'll hear:** ✨ **The Global State of Journey Management 2026:** Which organisations are investing in Journey Management around the world, the reasons why and a case for Strategic Service Design as a leadership capability ✨ **Creating a living management information system:** The challenges associated with building a living information system, going from static to dynamic maps ✨ **Scaling practices across the organisation:** What leaders are required to do to scale this practice across different teams effectively ✨ **Case studies from practitioners:** Key lessons from practitioners as they formalise and scale their practice. **📌 The details:** * Date: Thursday 17th September * Host: Melbourne Design Thinking Meetup x Natural Velocity Innovation Centre * Refreshments included: Pizza and fizz! Our Speakers: **Anna Yip** *Design Leader \| Co\-Author of This is Journey Management \(the book\) and Lead Researcher of The Global State of Journey Management Study 2026* Anna is the co-author of *This is Journey Management (the book)* and lead researcher of *The Global State of Journey Management Study 2026*. Over the last 10 months, she has led a global study on how Journey Management practices have been rapidly evolving and are changing the way managers lead in complex and dynamic environments. This study is the largest global study on Journey Management to date and is the cornerstone of the upcoming book, *This is Journey Management.* Anna Lectures Strategic Customer Experience (CX) at RMIT, consults with organisations and coaches practitioners on advancing their management capabilities. In her spare time, she’s the organiser of Journey Management Monthly Australia and co-organiser of Melbourne Design Thinkers. **David Mulholland** *Associate Director of Service Experience & Design \| University of Melbourne* David Mulholland has spent over 14 years turning complex, tangled service ecosystems into intuitive, human-centred experiences. Spanning UX, CX, and Service Design, his career is built on bridging the gap between lofty strategic visions and the reality of how things actually work on the ground. As the Associate Director of Service Experience & Design within the Enterprise Services Group (ESG) at the University of Melbourne. He heads a multidisciplinary team of User Research & Insights, Service, Digital, and AI Experience Designers. Together, they don't just design screens; they architect end-to-end service blueprints that connect the student experience, improve and automate mundane staff processes, and weave apps, AI experiences, and cross-channel strategies into one cohesive university journey. By translating deep insights into scalable journey systems, David consistently drives tangible results, boosting student engagement, improving staff experience, and unlocking new operational efficiencies. When he isn't mapping complex user journeys or mentoring his team, he brings that same methodical creativity to his downtime, exploring agentic AI tools and vibe coding to bring his own digital side-projects to life. **Keirice Farley** *Customer Experience Design Chapter Lead / 7/11* Keirice Farley is a creative problem solver, design and customer experience leader working at the intersection of strategy, systems thinking, and human-centred design. She leads enterprise experience design across complex, omni-channel environments, helping organisations reduce friction, improve decision quality, and deliver sustainable value at scale. Keirice is known for translating abstract design and CX concepts into practical leadership frameworks that resonate with executives, operators, and product teams alike. Her work focuses on uncovering ‘experience debt’, the hidden cost of compromised decisions. Then helping organisations pay it down through better judgment, governance, and accountability. In her spare time, Keirice takes Korean Language classes, watches Real Housewives (for research purposes 😉), enjoys coffee shop hopping and reads books that improve her craft.

Tour of our Makerspace

Have you been interested in woodworking, 3D printing, CNC, cosplay or Electronics? Come visit Maker Community to get a tour of our space, learn about our memberships, have a chat with our members and discuss your dream projects.

Meditarrean.