Robert Pataki has been a practicing designer and an effective contributor to the profession for the past forty years and a member of the Design Institute of Australia since 1978.

Robert graduated in Industrial Design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and commenced work at John Holland Constructions. His career has seen him work with major industries such as Phillips (in Australia and Holland), ACI Design Centre and then as General Manager and Design Director of PA Consulting.

In 1987 Robert created The Neo Group of Companies, including NeoTechnics, the largest industrial design consultancy in Australia, with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, and Singapore and NeoProducts Pty Ltd in 1989, electronics manufacturers. He has also worked extensively in many other Asian countries.His particular areas of expertise are in appliances, professional and technical equipment, home wares, packaging and graphic design. His clients have been major industrial companies including Motorola, Phillips, Black and Decker, Vulcan, Varian, Honeywell, GE, Kambrook, and Fischer & Paykel.Robert served on the Victorian State Council of the Institute and was active on the course advisory committee of the Industrial Design programs at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Chairman of the Course Advisory Committee at Monash University.In recognition of his services and commitment to the profession he was made a Fellow of the Institute in 1985 and inducted into the Design Hall of Fame in 2007.