INSIDER MAGAZINE: Pawsey Supercomputing Centre’s Mark Stickells reboots with a red

In a complex world building supercomputers with the capacity to provide solutions at breathtaking speed to some of the most immediate problems facing the planet, finding time to relax allows Mark Stickells a chance to reboot. And a glass of his favourite wine at the end of the day helps. Stickells is executive director of Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, a national research facility supporting scientists from across Australia to use advanced supercomputing to power their research. He is leading a team of staff installing Setonix, a new supercomputer named after the scientific name for our beloved quokka. Setonix will be the fastest supercomputer in the Southern Hemisphere and it is based here in WA. And these things are not just big toys for geeks and nerds to muck around with. “Supercomputing has been powering the science behind the scenes that has developed the vaccines for COVID and monitoring, almost in real time, its genetic evolution,” he says. “Supercomputing also powers climate models, advanced engineering science, advances in chemistry and many more. “In the future we will use supercomputers to simulate, accelerate and model scientific breakthroughs in health, environmental and physical sciences. In WA, we’ll support one of the world’s most ambitious science projects, the Square Kilometre Array, with more than 130,000 radio telescope antennas streaming massive amounts of data to Pawsey.” For Stickells, an interest in wine started at university, as it has for many business leaders. “I developed a taste and interest in wine from my late teens when I was St Georges College at UWA. In fact, my college neighbour in the late 80s was Nathan Bailey, who is now the winemaker at Brown Hill Estate in Margaret River,” he says. “It’s not just the quality and value in their wines, it’s also a story of a family that have built a winery in the region and have ties to the WA Goldfields.” He started to take an interest in wine but admits he didn’t inherit this fascination from his parents. “In fact, I remember going out to dinner with them and my soon-to-be wife at Felix’s in Subiaco and my dad commenting on how I could afford, as a student, to drink wine when beer was so much more affordable,” he laughs. “I met my wife Michelle when we were students at St Georges and we married in ’94 at the college chapel. Michelle doesn’t drink wine — at all — and we’re still happily married! “Michelle and I had a honeymoon in Margaret River and I remember loving Redgate wines at the time, so we put aside a few bottles of the cabernet sauvignon for a special occasion. It was opened when we shared the news that we were expecting our first baby.” When it comes to computers I struggle to log in, but Stickells and I have one thing in common, we both love sparkling shiraz. “Christmas isn’t complete without a sparkling shiraz. It is Christmas Day in a bottle,” he declares. While his preference is red wine, Stickells says he does enjoy a good bottle of French champagne. And he likes to explore wines from different regions. “It is perfectly acceptable — and you’d die happy — to live a life with only Australian wines, however I’ve enjoyed discovering wines and varieties from different regions around the world,” he says. “In 2001 I started in a national role that meant I regularly travelled over east and this broadened my exposure to other Australian wines. Appreciating and adding SA reds, Tasmanian cool climate pinot noirs and Victorian fortifieds to my list of enjoyable wines. “It’s always a good icebreaker to know something a little positive about wines in the region of your business partner. I’m more diplomatic than parochial by nature and wine’s a great way to engage in a good partnership.” Stickells’ cellar reflects his preference for red over white. “I think 95 per cent of my wine fridge is red wine, with only one rack for whites. Most of the whites are leftovers when people come over for dinner, which means there’s always a bottle or two for my mother-in-law.” As far as favourite wineries goes, Stickells predictably mentions his uni mate’s Brown Hill Estate, which he says consistently punches above its weight. “I’ve always liked Plantagenet wines, and I’m sentimentally attached to Redgate. I like Streicker wines, Leeuwin Estate, Moss Wood, Palmer, Vasse Felix, Voyager Estate and Woody Nook, especially their fortified,” he says. “There’s pleasure in buying wine, storing it, keeping it for a time that you’d like to share with friends and family, tell a story, remember good times, enjoy music or art.” Mark Stickells’ top 10