Our Presenters
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Dr Mike Ryan holds BE, MEngSc and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the University of New South Wales. He is a Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust), a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) in systems engineering, electrical and ITEE colleges, a Senior Member of IEEE (SMIEEE), a Fellow of the International Council on Systems Engineering (FINCOSE), a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders (FIML), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW (FRSN). Since 1981, he has held a number of positions in communications and systems engineering and in management and project management. From 1998 to 2020, he was with the University of New South Wales, at the Australian Defence Force Academy where he was most recently the Director of the Capability Systems Centre. He is currently the Director of Capability Associates Pty Ltd. His research and teaching interests are in communications and information systems, requirements engineering, systems engineering, project management, and technology management. He is the Co-Chair of the Requirements Working Group INCOSE. He is the author or co-author of thirteen books, four book chapters, and over 400 technical papers and reports.
Dr Shari Soutberg holds a BE (Electrical), BEc, MMgtEc (Project Management), and a PhD addressing requirements development of military systems. She is a Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust) and a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng). Shari has worked for over 30 years in the Department of Defence in roles ranging from engineering and project management for maritime systems through to senior policy positions in engineering, materiel acquisition and sustainment, industry, and technical and engineering workforce learning and development. She was also a member of the First Principles Review (FPR) Capability Lifecycle (CLC) reform team. From 2016 to 2020, as an Industry Fellow at the UNSW Capability Systems Centre, Shari supported Defence on a range of CLC-related topics including Project, Product, and Program Management with a particular focus on joint force integration using Mission Engineering and System of Systems (SoS) Engineering approaches.
Dr Ian Faulconbridge holds doctorate, master, and bachelor degrees in engineering and an MBA in project management. He is a Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust), a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) in the electrical and aerospace colleges, a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) and a Senior Member of IEEE (SMIEEE). Since 1990, he has held a number of engineering, project management and academic positions in the fields of avionics, simulation, radar, communications and information systems. He is the director of a Canberra-based engineering consultancy (magpietech.com) where he is an active industry consultant in both Government and private sectors. He is the author or co-author of a number of books covering radar, radar electronic warfare, avionics systems, and systems engineering.
Dr Craig Benson holds a bachelor in electrical engineering from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), a master in science from Cranfield University (UK), a second master degree in Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in electrical engineering from the University of New South Wales (Australia). He is a former RAAF engineering office, a former senior lecturer with UNSW, and is now a consultant. His research experience and interests are in space communication, mobile ad-hoc networks, underwater communications, guided weapons, electronic warfare, radar systems and GPS and navigation warfare.
Dr Trevor Wheatley holds a BE (hons) in electrical engineering and a PhD on quantum optics from the University of New South Wales. He is a Senior Member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (SMIEEE), a life member of the Laser Institute of America (LIA) and an LIA Board of Laser Safety Certified Laser Safety Officer (CLSO). In 2020, he was appointed by the Minister to the ARPANSA Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council. From 2007 he has been the Head of the Australian delegation on International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Committee 76, where he is currently co-convener WG 7 (high power lasers) and secretary of WG 8 (development and maintenance of basic standards). He is the Chair of the Standards Australia SF-019 Committee and serves on the ANSI Accredited Standards Committee z136. For the last 15 years he has been the Director of Opticum Pty Ltd where he has taught and consulted in laser safety for defence, industry, and academia both in Australia and Internationally. In addition to having written and reviewed numerous ADF laser safety papers, he has published peer reviewed journal and conference papers.
Dr Chris Jackson holds a Ph.D. and MSc in Reliability Engineering from the University of Maryland's Center of Risk and Reliability. He also holds a BE in Mechanical Engineering, a Masters of Military Science from the Australian National University (ANU) and has substantial experience in the field of leadership, management, risk, reliability and maintainability. He is a Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) through the American Society of Quality (ASO) and a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) through Engineers Australia. Chris is the cofounder of www.is4.com online learning, was the inaugural director of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA's) Center of Reliability and Resilience Engineering and the founder of its Center for the Safety and Reliability of Autonomous Systems (SARAS). He has had an extensive career as a Senior Reliability Engineer in the Australian Defence Force, and is the Director of Acuitas Reliability Pty Ltd. He has supported many complex and material systems develop their reliability performance and assisted in providing reliability management frameworks that support business outcomes (that is, make more money). He has been a reliability management consultant to many companies across industries ranging from medical devices to small satellites. He has also led initiatives in complementary fields such as systems engineering and performance-based management frameworks (PBMFs). He is the author of two reliability engineering books, co-author of another, and has authored several journal articles and conference papers.
Dr John Davies holds a bachelor degree in electrical engineering from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), a master degrees in aerosystems engineering, an MBA in technology management, and a doctorate and masters degree in law. He is a registered project manager (RegPM) and specialises in complex program management, military systems, and complex contracting arrangements. Since 1993, he has held a number of engineering, project management and academic positions in the fields of military systems (guided weapons and explosive ordnance technology), capability development, complex project management, and procurement strategies. He currently provides strategic commercial advice to corporate and government clients in the domains of collaborative contracting, risk management, and procurement governance.
Matthew Squair holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Newcastle and a Master of Systems Engineering from the University of New South Wales. He is a former naval officer and part time lecturer at the University of New South Wales. Matthew has worked professionally in the area of system safety engineering for more than two decades providing expert advice to Defence, rail and aerospace industry and government clients. Mathew is a Chartered Professional Engineer with Engineering Australia.
Dr Andrew “Jacko” Jacopino is a Senior Advisor in Ngamuru Advisory, an Australian Small-Medium Enterprise (SME), and a Fellow of IACCM. Andrew has a unique and diverse set of skills and experiences based on over 30 years of commercial, engineering and logistics experience for both the ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ side. Although best known for his work on Performance Based Contracts (PBC) and Performance Based Logistics (PBL) arrangements, as the former Assistant Secretary for Supplier Analysis and Engagement within the Australian Department of Defence he has extensive skills and experience in designing, leading and running large scale commercial operations. This includes developing procurement strategies, tender development and release, evaluation, negotiations, transition and operation, with a focus on long-term, collaborative arrangements. Andrew regularly writes and delivers workshops, both domestically and internationally, on PBC and in 2018 released his book, Mastering Performance Based Contracts.
Dr James Hanson holds an MBA in strategic management from Yale University and an EdD in adult learning and professional education from the University of Sydney. His main expertise is in using graphical techniques to develop the strategic thinking, high-order reasoning and communication skills of managers and professionals. Since 2004, he has taught strategic management, organisational behaviour and decision making at the Australian Defence Force Academy. In 2009, he was awarded a prestigious Australian Learning & Teaching Council citation for his cutting-edge course designs, based on recent research in the learning sciences. His well-known Effective Writing course uses argument mapping as a graphical technique to bring that same cutting-edge approach to professional education. The course focuses on writing clearly and concisely about complex topics, writing persuasively in the face of contestability and writing strategically when the stakes are high.
Bronwyn Rust-Jones holds a MSc (Defence Simulation and Modelling – Cranfield University), a MSc (Ops Research and Statistics - UNSW), a MSysEng degree (UNSW), a Grad Dip in Engineering (Monash University) and a Grad Cert in University Learning and Teaching (UNSW). Since 1988, Bronwyn has held several positions in maintenance engineering, capability development, simulation and systems engineering/project management. Bronwyn is a former Army officer and a consultant in project management/systems engineering. From 2010 to 2022, Bronwyn was with the University of New South Wales, at the Australian Defence Force Academy where she lectured in systems engineering, and simulation, and was most recently Deputy Head (Teaching -Post-Graduate) for the School of Engineering and Information Technology. Bronwyn’s primary interests are in the practical application of simulation in business, and conceptual development. She is co-author of several conference papers in systems engineering.