Mike brings a broad range of Defence and commercial experience in Australia and overseas. Mike served as a rotary wing pilot and instructor for almost twenty years in command, staff and technical appointments in the Australian Army, and in the British military. He has fifteen years commercial experience, focusing on technology and risk, in the consulting, training and education, and medical sectors. Mike lived and worked in Vietnam and the Philippines for seven years. Mike is a graduate of the Australian Command and Staff College, and holds a Masters in Technology Management. He is also a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

For over 20 years, Kristian has worked in collaboration with Government, Defence and Commercial industries, guiding teams to accomplish complex modernisation tasks in challenging environments. These leadership roles have included working with the US DoD, NATO, the Australian Defence Force and Australian Defence Industry. Kristian's work is built on a strong background in telecommunications, engineering development, systems engineering, security, program office and operations management. As the Chief Product Officer at Penten, Kristian guides the strategic development and execution of our comprehensive product portfolio. With a passion for tech innovation, Kristian leverages his leadership skills to guide cross-functional teams, fostering a culture of creativity, customer-centricity, and results-oriented focus. Throughout my career Kristian has consulted to the Australian Government and led the delivery of the secure communication capabilities to the Commonwealth, running numerous projects, testing and operational activities in benign and hostile environments. Kristian's technology specialisations include networks and security, cellular systems, satellite communication networks, tactical radio and Electronic Counter Measures systems. Kristian is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), hold a Master of Systems Engineering, and a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems (Honours) and a range of industry qualifications.

Dr Gaertner has almost 30 years of experience working in the Defence sector and with the Defence Science and Technology Group (or DSTG). He gained his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics in 1997 and joined DSTG as a research scientist working on the restructuring the Army trials. In 2000 he undertook a fellowship to RAND Corporation and conducted research relating to future force warfighting technologies. On return to DSTG Dr. Gaertner led research relating to facial recognition and the Army’s future amphibious capability. In 2006 Dr. Gaertner took the position of Attaché Defence Science at the Embassy of Australia in Washington DC. In this role he promoted collaboration of Defence Science between Australia and North America in areas of Joint Capability Technologies, Missile Defence, Experimentation, Disruptive and Emerging Technologies, and Operations Analysis. Returning to Australia in 2010 Dr. Gaertner continued to lead research relating to the impact of emerging and disruptive technologies for Defence. In 2018 he established the newly formed Joint Warfare and Operations Branch in Joint and Operations Analysis Division and from May 2020 Dr Gaertner has lead the newly created Science, Technology and Research (STaR) Shot in Agile Command and Control as part of the ‘More. Together Defence 2030 S&T Strategy’. Dr Gaertner is currently the Program Leader for Integrated C4 which include the creation and deployment of the PHOEBE digital twin for operational planning and execution.

Brad Junk-Gibson is the CEO of CMDT Group of companies providing communications engineering and project specialists. As the CEO across the CMDT Group, Brad is responsible to drive change and growth within the Defence industry and national partnerships. His responsibilities include developing and building new service offerings through his dedicated business unit managers, People and Human Resources, Finance, and overall company operations. To achieve outcomes, Brad draws on his 37 years of service in the Australian Army Signals Corps with various levels of command and leadership with extensive experience in capability development. Brad is a dynamic, highly driven, professional Defence and Corporate executive and strategic thinker, with an impressive record of leadership achievement in all facets of Defence Project Management, being awarded with a Defence Bronze Commendation as the Program Manager for the Multi-Tactical Data Links Network. Brad is an innovative and pragmatic leader, with proven capability in managing multi-disciplinary teams and complex operations, building strong relationships at all levels. A strategic thinker who leads with integrity to drive change and improve organisational performance by developing high performing teams through coaching and mentoring whilst maintaining positive client engagement across diverse stakeholders. Brad holds a degree in Business and a Masters in Capability Technology from the University of New South Wales. Brad is a Certified Practising Program Manager with the Australian Institute of Project Management and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Scott Carr is the Chairman and Managing Director of Datapod, a company established in 2007 to meet the growing demand for expert data centre engineering solutions, worldwide. Scott is also the Chief Architect of the Datapod System, an innovative system of modular data centre infrastructure components designed to dramatically improve the adaptability, efficiency and performance of data centres facilities necessary to keep pace with today’s computing environments. Scott has a long association with innovation, beginning with him winning the Siemens Prize for Innovation an award for Australia’s most outstanding final year undergraduate project in electronic, electrical, communications or computer engineering in 1999. Since that time, Scott has enjoyed a career working as an engineer and as a commercial analyst in large scale renewable energy, telecommunications, Internet and data centre infrastructure initiatives. Scott holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) from the University of Canberra and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investing from the Financial Services Institute of Australia and is a member of the Institute of Company Directors.