Soldier modernisation programme managers and industry experts use Soldier Technology each year to communicate their future requirements and plans. All aspects of the soldier system are covered including
Situational Awareness,
Soldier Power,
Training and Simulation,
Lethality,
Weapons Sights and
Soldier Protection. This year at Soldier Technology there are more international speakers than ever before from nations including
Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and
Malaysia.
Whichever aspect of the soldier system you are responsible for, gaining insight from the speaker briefings and susequent follow up with them will enable you to
align your organisation with future requirements.
Scroll through the list below for full speaker biographies and follow the links beneath to the agenda to see which subjects they will be speaking on:
Soldier Lethality and Situational Awareness Day - 21st May
Strategic International Soldier Modernisation Updates - 22nd May
Tactical International Soldier Modernisation Updates - 23rd May
Soldier Power and Reducing the Burden Day - 24th May
For more information about the speakers and speaker sessions, please call +44 (0) 20 7368 9465 or email
soldiertechnology@wbr.co.ukView exclusive content from previous and current Soldier Technology speakers at the
soldier modernisation Knowledge Portal
Speakers include:- Colonel Jason Blain, Director, Diggerworks, Australian MoD
- Mark Richter, Program Manager, Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad, US Marine Corps Systems Command
- Colonel Yousef Al Aitan, Jordanian Armed Forces
As Director of the Technical Center for Information Systems (2004-2007) he was in charge of the reorganization of the technical and human resources dedicated to the information infrastructure (local and global networks, associated services, workstations, information systems) of the DGA. 2008-2009, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Division in charge of the procurement of C4ISR systems. Since April 2009 he is Director for Land Systems acquisition. Besides, he defended in 2001 his Professor thesis, has directed a dozen of PhD students in robotics and computer science, and has published over seventy articles in conferences and international journals. He teaches robotics, theoretical computer science, system engineering, at graduate level in various universities and engineering schools.
Ben Barry left the British Army in October 2010. A graduate of Sandhurst, the Army Staff College, the joint Higher Command and Staff Course and the Royal College of Defence Studies, An infantry officer, he has commanded troops at every rank from Lieutenant to Brigadier and in every British infantry role apart from parachute. Regimental experience includes three Northern Ireland tours, two in intelligence appointments, Cold War soldiering in Germany and Berlin, and duties in France, Portugal, Canada and Hong Kong. He wrote “A Cold War; Frontline Operations in Bosnia” describing his battalion’s operational tour under both UN and NATO flags. He subsequently commanded a NATO brigade in Bosnia. He has instructed at the Rifle Depot, the School of Infantry and Shrivenham and has led Defence Diplomacy work in NATO countries, Central Asia and the Middle East. Staff appointments have mainly been in the MOD, including the commitments staff, Director General Staff, Director Force Development; responsible for assessing future capabilities across the UK forces, and finally as Head of MOD Streamlining; designing and then implementing reduction and rationalisation of the MOD. His final appointment was leading the British Army’s analysis of the lessons of the Iraq campaign.
Prior to retirement from Indian Army in May 2007, General Malhan was incharge of training and equipping over 9000 Indian Peacekeepers(over 90% were from Infantry) deployed in various UN Missions in Congo,Sudan, Lebanon and Ethopia, where he periodically visited and addressed them. He was also an Instructor at the Indian Military Academy Dehradun & Army War College, Mhow where he trained junior officers. He has been addressing officers attending various staff & command career courses at the Indian premier institutions such as Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Army War College, Mhow & Centre for Peace Keeping, New Delhi. Being an Infantry man and a paratrooper, he has participated in many counter insurgency operations in J&K, North East India and Sri Lanka where he served as part of Indian Peace Keeping Force for 2 years. He has also commanded my Battalion, Brigade and Division in the most challenging areas. .
Mark currenty the Program Manager for the Marina Expeditionary Riffle e Squad Program. Retired from the Marine Corps he continues to work on the integration and modernization of the Marine Riffle e Squad focusing on the squad as the system and the Marine as the war fighter. The Marine Corps continues to rapidly equip the squad with new capabilities in the current conflict but must integrate these capabilities for the future.
COL (R) Richard Hansen, recently retired as Project Manager Soldioer Warrior from PEO SOldier offers a candid assessment and perspective of the ""Big A"" Acquisition process (Requirements, Resourcing, Technology, and Materiel Development) through the eyes (...and Helmet Mounted Display) of Land Warrior and other similar Military Soldier Systems that support the Air, Ground, and Mounted Warfighter. His presentation will glance at 60 years of Soldier systems with the intent to forecast furture requirements and the evolutionary acquisition/procurements of capabilites to meet the Warfighters' needs.
Born in 1968 and educated at Bedford Modern School, Marcus Bruton joined the Ministry of Defence as a graduate engineer in 1990 after completing a four year Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Brighton Polytechnic. Initially working for the Directorate of Air Armament in the Procurement Executive where he spent six years in various HPTO and SPTO posts before being accepted by Imperial College to study for a postgraduate Master of Business Administration degree. Returning, in 1998, to the now renamed Defence Procurement Agency as an SPTO in the Special Projects CISR IPT, he worked on various surveillance projects for Special Users before being promoted to Assistant Team Leader (Surveillance) in August 2001. In July 2003 he moved to the Future Offensive Air System IPT as the Chief Systems Engineer and Programme Manager and in 2005 became the Deputy Team Leader of the newly formed Strategic Unmanned Air Vehicle (Experiment) IPT. In this team he was responsible for developing the UK’s UCAV strategy and working closely with BAES to scope project Taranis, promoting the need within the MOD to understand that developed technologies needed to be integrated into a system in order to de-risk procurement decisions. Following a brief spell on temporary promotion to the B1 SUAV(E) Team Leader post, he took up the Air Systems post in BDSUS in Washington DC in January 2006 working on air acquisition projects and S&T collaboration. As part of the REAPER UOR project he was instrumental in achieving congressional approval for the export of REAPER to the UK. Returning to the DE&S in June 2009, he was successfully promoted to the Integrated Soldier System Executive Team Leader post where he is responsible for reducing the burden on the dismounted soldier and creating the ISSE into the ‘platform’ IPT for the Soldier System.
Dr. James Thagard is the Global Marketing Manager – Helmets within Honeywell’s Advanced Fibers and Composites group. Dr. Thagard obtained his Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Houston and a Master’s degree in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from the Florida State University. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from the Florida State University in 2003. Dr. Thagard also earned an M.B.A. degree from Clemson University in 2010. Dr. Thagard has held several engineering, program management and business development positions at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the Boeing Company, General Dynamics and the South Carolina Research Authority. Dr. Thagard served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Florida State University with a focus on composites and thermoplastic based ballistic materials. In recent years Dr. Thagard was the technical lead for body armor and helmets at DSM Dyneema, USA.
Upon graduation, Mark joined the MOD working on Physical Protection within the Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency, focusing on Body Armour and Combat Helmets. Following the studying of an MSc in Systems Engineering for Defence, Mark joined Dstl, providing analytical and scientific advice to UK Armed Forces on exercises and on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2007, Mark returned to research into body armour and is now a Principal Scientist supporting the various body armour programmes within Dstl. Within this role Mark supports several body armour standards committees and the continuing development of test protocols for in-house armour testing.
Benjamin Fuchs retired from the German Armed Forces with the rank of captain. He works at the European Defence Agency as the acting Project Officer Engage in the Capabilities Directorate, focusing on soldier modernisation programmes, soldier systems, personnel recovery mobility assurance, non-lethal capabilities, precision engagement and unmanned systems.
As a former military officer.Master degree in weapon technology and ballistics from the Swedish military academy. Worked with small arms systems at FMV – which is the technical and procuring agency for the Swedish armed forces for 30 years.Has been the product manager for small arms systems since 1994.Has been active in various NATO groups since 1998.Has been the chairman for the NATO weapons & sensors working group since 2008.
Dr. Adam Best is a Research Scientist at CSIRO's Division of Energy Technology (www.csiro.au). I am the Project Leader for the development of the FIED. His main research interest is in the development of electrolytes for all types of lithium batteries; particularly ionic liquids. Additionally, Adam is also working on other issues associated with the commercialisation of lithium batteries. His other research interests include fuel cells particular electrolyte membranes, hydrogen storage and other novel applications of ionic liquids.
1994-1995 Compulsory Military Service in Brigade North Signal Company
1995-1998 Army Technical College in the Norwegian Army Signal Corps
1998-2003 System administrator C2IS at Joint Headquarters North Norway
2002 Army Military Academy Qualification Course
2003-2008 Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Master degree in Information and Communication Technology
Master thesis – “Representation of Human Behavior in Military Simulations”
2008- Staff Officer Procurement Planning NbF in the Army Staff
Born in Bodø a city just above the polar circle in Norway, Captain Vidar Engmo joined the Norwegian Armed Forces in1994. He did his compulsory military service in the Brigade North Signal Company at Bardufoss. In 1995 he was accepted as a student at the Army Technical College in the Norwegian Army Signal Corps. There he got his education in electronics and computer systems, which layed the foundation for him serving as a system administrator for NEC CCIS and MCCIS at Joint Headquarters North between 1998 and 2003. In 2002 he did the Army Military Academy Qualification Course, which
qualifies for permanent employment in the Norwegian Armed Forces. In 2003 he started a five year study at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. He has a master degree in Information and Communication Technology and wrote “Representation of Human Behaviour in Military Simulations” as his master thesis. After graduation in 2008 he has served as a procurement staff officer within the Army Staff Plan and Development Division. Amongst his tasks is to function as the project manager in the definition phase of the different projects and in the latter phases coordinate efforts, ensuring that the intended effects of the material procurement are fulfilled. He is at the moment responsible for the projects 4001 - NORMANS Communications and Hearing Aid, 4002 - NORMANS Digitalization 1, 5910 - C2IS Block 2, 8008 - Interim Battlefield Management System and 8157 - Network based Training and Exercise Capability
EDUCATION
Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy (B.S. in Electrical Engineering) 1989
Georgia Institute of Technology, USA (M.S. in Electrical Engineering) 1991
Command and General Staff College (Command and Staff Officer Course) 1998
Armed Forces Staff College, USA (Joint Combined Staff Officer) 1999
Joint Service Command and Staff College, UK (Advanced Command and Staff Course No. 6) 2003
PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENTS
Radio Officer, Signal Department 1989
Chief of Organization Section, Directorate of Operations 1999
Assistant Operations Staff Officer, Thai PKF – UNTAET (East Timor) 2001
Instructor, Command and General Staff College 2003
Deputy Director of Information and Communication Technology Division, Directorate of Operations 2006
Army Attaché, Royal Thai Embassy in Berlin 2008
As one of the founders in 1999 of Alchemie, Haslen identified the portfolio of Russian high strength materials technologies that are being developed and commercialized. Haslen after being commissioned as an officer from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst served in the Royal Anglian Regiment as an infantry officer. Service as a platoon commander took him to Northern Ireland, Germany “BAOR”, Hong Kong, Brunei and into Gulf War 1. Haslen has a wide range of management and commercial skills that are combined with first hand experience of some of the applications of the technologies as a previous user in his military service. As a former infantry officer he is leading the drive to reduce mass of the protective apparel & equipment soldiers are required to carry by using Alchemie’s unique materials technologies, including AuTx.
Vladimir Lakunin was appointed by the shareholders and Kamensk City administration as the managing director of Kamenskvolokno in 1991 to rescue the enterprise after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Vladimir restructured the business and has lead a team of over two thousand people to build a solid, profitable and developing business that has successfully diversified from being a fiber supplier to the Russian defense, atomic energy and space agencies. Diversification included developing export markets and commercial markets for its original copolyaramids as well as investing in production plants for polyethylene and polypropylene fibers. Against the trend for producing lower and lower initial cost engineering fibers, Vladimir saw that this route was not the way forwards for a specialist fiber manufacturer. Instead Kamenskvolokno invested into putting sopolyaramid fibres into production, with increased performance that give end users better “through life value” and other strategic benefits. Since meeting in 2002, Vladimir has worked with Haslen Back to develop state of the art materials and solutions that offer significantly higher performance then those made from copolyaramids, giving superior “through life” economic and strategic benefits.
Peter Varnish is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and is a world-renowned expert on Stealth and Electronic warfare. He has spoken on platform survivability around the world and he has been Alchemie’s senior advisor for 9 years in its defense related markets, with a special focus on soldier survivability emphasizing the potential through the use of high performance materials. Peter began his career with the Royal Navy Scientific Service in 1968 and after 33 years in HM Government Service he retired from the board of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, (now QinetiQ and [DSTL]) and he has since served on the UK Defence Scientific Advisory Board. In January 1993 Peter was appointed as the Director General of the UK Ballistic Missile Defence Agency, MoD, London. He supervised all scientific and technical co-operations with the US on the SDI program, and represented the UK at NATO. His knowledge of International Defence and Internal Security is extensive, and in December 2007 he chaired the ISNR Conference and Exhibition held jointly with the US Department of Homeland Defense and the UK Home Office.
Peter was awarded the OBE in 1982 for his contribution to the Falklands War. In !992 Peter was at the Royal College of Defence Studies where her majored in Defence Technology. His PhD thesis was entitled ‘Electronic Bombarded Semiconductor Devices’.
Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal commanded an infantry brigade in the high-altitude Gurez Sector in northern Kashmir on the Line of Control with Pakistan (Operation Parakram, 2001-03) and an artillery regiment in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir Valley (Operation Rakshak, 1993-94). He has served as Deputy Assistant Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Doctrine, Organisation and Training Branch) at HQ Integrated Defence Staff, New Delhi; as Director MO-5 in the Directorate General of Military Operations at Army Headquarters (dealing with threat, strategy and force structure); United Nations Military Observer in UNTAG, Namibia; Brigade Major of an infantry brigade and, as an Instructor-in-Gunnery at the School of Artillery, Devlali.
A former Director Security Studies and Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi; Senior Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi; Senior Fellow, Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi and Visiting Research Scholar at the Cooperative Monitoring Centre, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, USA; Brigadier Kanwal has authored several books including “Nuclear Defence: Shaping the Arsenal”; “Indian Army: Vision 2020”; “Pakistan’s Proxy War”; “Heroes of Kargil”; “Kargil ’99: Blood, Guts and Firepower”and “Artillery: Honour and Glory”.
He has contributed extensively to Strategic Analysis, CLAWS Journal and other military journals of repute as well as leading national newspapers. He wrote a column on national security for theStatesmanfor over two years. He is a regular speaker at well known international think tanks and military institutions.He is also a keen photographer and has published a large number of photographs. His post-graduate qualifications include M Sc. (Defence Studies) and M Phil. (Strategic Studies and Management).
Lt Col Matt Stovin – Bradford was commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1991. He has commanded at Rifle Troop and Company level and has served in a wide variety of Regimental appointments. His staff experience includes JFHQ in Northwood, as the desk officer in MOD for West and Southern Africa and most recently as the Ops Officer to COMUKAMPHIBFOR.
His operational experience includes Pristina, Kosovo with the HQ and Signal Squadron Royal Marines, Kabul, Afghanistan with C Company, 40 Commando RM and most recently as the Divisional Liaison Officer to the multinational Corps HQ in Baghdad, Iraq. He has also supported a NEO in the Ivory Coast and Humanitarian Assistance Operations in Nicaragua, Honduras and in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami.
He joined the Royal Marines with a BSc (Hons) in Political Science and he completed a Masters Degree in Military Studies while attending the USMC Advanced Command and Staff College in 2003. He took command of 30 Commando IX Group Royal Marines on St George’s Day 2010. He is married to Katie and has two sons Harry (13) and Jamie (11). His hobbies include spelling his name to people, rugby, golf and real ale.
Prof dr Adelbert Bronkhorst, born 1 January 1958, received his masters degree in experimental physics in 1982 from the University of Amsterdam and his PhD in 1990 from the medical faculty of the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam. Since 2005 he professor by special appointment at the Cognitive Psychology department of the VU. His research interests include human perception, attention, and human factors.
He was employed as a clinical audiologist and deputy head of the Audiological Department at the VU Medical Center from 1983 to 1989. Subsequently, he went to TNO in Soesterberg, where he worked as researcher, group leader, department head and research manager. In 2000, he was granted a fellowship at the Hanse Wissenschaft Kolleg in Germany, where he performed research in collaboration with Oldenburg University. He is currently business line manager Human Effectiveness at TNO, responsible for research within the fields of human performance, human-machine interaction and CBRN coutermeasures.
1st Reconnaissance Team Member, United States Marine Corps - 5/95-5/98.United States Naval Academy - 6/99-5/03 Marine Infantry Platoon Commander - 7/04-7/06.Officer in Charge, 3d Marine Regiment Schools - 7/06-6/07. Advanced Infantry Training, Officer in Charge, 3d Marine Regiment Schools - 6/07-5/08.Deputy Program Manager and Marine Corps Analyst, Enhanced Company Operations (ECO) / Distributed Operations (D.O.) (Contractor at the Columbia Group) - 5/08 -7/09
Mr McCarthy has over thirty two years experience in support of the Department of Defense in a wide variety of duties and assignments. Currently serving as the Director of Operations at the Brigade Modernization Command, Mission Command Complex (MCC), Mr McCarthy has extensive experience in planning, preparing and executing live, virtual and constructive training exercises and events. He has served as the primary exercise planner and controller for more than 900 simulation supported training exercises and events. Mr. McCarthy has also served as the principle exercise designer and planner for more than 50 major Homeland Security and Consequence Management Exercises.In his current position, Mr McCarthy has the responsibility for integration of new and emerging technologies in the live, virtual, and constructive training domains. Additionally in November of 2009 Mr. McCarthy was assigned additional duties as co-lead for the U.S. Army’s “Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications” project. This project is responsible for assessing the military utility of providing SmartPhone technologies to soldiers throughout the Army
Military Academy, Frederiksberg Castle, Copenhagen.Weapon Course, Danish Army Combat Centre, Tank Leopard I Junior Command and Staff Course, Danish Defence College.Command and General Staff Course, Danish Defence College 1978 Private/Royal Jutland Foot Regiment, Fredericia.1979-1980 Sergeant/Royal Jutland Foot Regiment, Fredericia 1985 2IC/HQ Coy/2 Jutland Brigade, Skive.1986 2IC/HQ Coy/Prince Life Regiment, Viborg 1987 2IC/Armoured Infantry Coy/Prince Life Regiment, Viborg.1988 CO/Motorized Infantry Coy/Prince Life Regiment, Viborg.1990 Tactics Instructor at Military Academy, Copenhagen.1992-1995 SO and Deputy Chief at Organization Branch/Planning Division/Defence Command Denmark, Vedbæk.1995-1998 Chief Organization Branch/Plans & Policy Division/Army Operational Command Denmark, Karup.1998-1999 CO/UN Observer Group Golan, Damascus, Syria.1999-2001 CO/Tank Battalion/Guard Hussar Regiment, Næstved.2001 Chief Liaison Officer at French Brigade HQ in Mitrovica, Kosovo.2002-2004 Chief Exercise Branch/Exercise and Training Divison/Army Operational Command Denmark, Karup 2004 Chief J3 Multinational Division South East, Basrah, Iraq.2004-2005 Chief Executive Coordination Office/Army Operational Command Denmark, Karup.2005-2010 ACOS/Operations Division/Army Operational Command Denmark, Karup.2010- Commander Danish Army Combat School
Brigadier Mark Gaunt was commissioned into the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in 1985. Formative training and regimental duty posts focused on aeronautical engineering, latter posts focused on providing equipment support to armoured brigades. Operational experience includes Northern Ireland, the Balkans (under both UN and NATO), Iraq and Afghanistan. Staff experience includes equipment acquisition and capability management within the Ministry of Defence (in both London and Bristol), most recently in the Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) element of the MoD focusing on Through Life Capability Management within all of Head of Capability Ground Manoeuvre’s programmes. Additionally, he also fulfilled staff appointments as the Military Assistant to a British 4 Star Admiral in Norfolk.Virginia and a Directing Staff position at the Staff College. From 2005-07 he commanded 1 Battalion REME in Germany, Canada and Iraq and from Sep 10 to Jun 11 he was Commander Equipment Capability in Afghanistan, responsible for the identification of requirements, and the integration and sustainment of solutions, for UK equipment capabilities across the theatre. He assumed the role of Head of the Individual Capability Group in the DE&S in Sep 11 . He is married to Katey and they have two daughters. He enjoys, but is very average at, most sports and any spare time (and money) is dominated by the renovation of a period cottage in the Cotswolds
Duncan studied geosciences at Birmingham University following which he embarked on a Ph.D. at the University of Bristol. In parallel with his research Duncan completed Commando training with the Royal Marine Reserves in 2002. Since then Duncan trained as a Heavy Weapons specialist and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Following service in Helmand on Operation Herrick 9, Duncan joined the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory as an operational analyst in the Close Combat Systems Group. Duncan’s work at Dstl is primarily focused on the dismounted soldier under both support to operations and longer term procurement programmes concerned with soldier performance, small arms lethality, and autonomous assisted carriage for example
Colonel Gavin Thompson was born and educated in Durham. He gained his First Degree in History and Politics at the University of Keele and commissioned from RMAS in 1993. His early service was spent with the 1RTR on both Chieftain and Challenger 1 in the UK and Germany. In 1997 he was appointed Adjutant of the First Royal Tank Regiment.After finishing his first spell at RD he was posted into the Directorate of Military Operations. From there he completed ACSC and gained MAs from Cranfield and Kings College, returning to the Directorate of Military Operations in 2002 and assisting in the preparation for Op TELIC in 2003. Later that year he moved to the Directorate of Strategic Plans, serving on the staff of General Petraeus in Baghdad. In 2004 he returned to Regimental Duty, commanding both a CR2 and Medium Armour Squadron in 2RTR. Colonel Gavin was subsequently posted to the Joint CBRN Regt as Second-in-Command before returning to the MOD on promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in 2007 as SO1 Army Equipment Plans. He assumed command of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and Joint CBRN Regiment in January 2009 and commanded the BG on the final Operation TELIC. He left command on promotion in 2011 to take up the post of Deputy Head (Equipment Programme) In Cap Ground Manoeuvre.
Bachelor Degree of Mech Engineer From Tech Academy.(Achmad Yani).Graduate Degree in Mech Engineer From Indonesia Naval Institute (Sttal).Maintenance Depot, Centre of Army Workshop in bandung.army Ordnance, Area Service in Kodam v/brw East Java .Army Ordnance, Area Service in Kodam Ii/ Srw palembang.army Ordnance, Area Service in Kodam Iskandar Muda Aceh Army Head Quarter, Logistic Staff in jakarta.chief of Ordnance in Army Strategic Command in jakarta.chief of Centre Workshop of Army Ordnance in Bandung
An infantry officer for 25 years, Colonel Charlie Sykes has served in Norway, Canada, Germany; on operations in Northern Ireland and Bosnia; and as Commanding Officer 1 PWRR in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recent staff appointments have included SO1 Joint Warfare in the MOD and SO1 Herrick Campaign Plan in the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ). In his current post he is the Army’s proponent for Dismounted Close Combat capability; responsible for the coherent implementation of new DCC equipment into service, for the analysis and identification of capability gaps in the future and also the Army’s proponent for combat marksmanship.His interests include Central Asian travel, shooting, mountaineering, skiing and offshore sailing. He is the Commandant of the Small Arms School Corps (SASC).
Responsible for research in operational analysis, simulation, systems engineering and infantry systems lethality. Lecturing responsibilities include leadership of weapon assessment, battlespace technology management, combat modelling & wargaming and management science courses and inputs to many other courses including defence acquisition and systems engineering.
Graduated with an MA (Hons) in Physics from Exeter College, Oxford University.
Previously worked for BAE Systems companies including Royal Ordnance Future Systems Group where he was responsible for team of operational analysts involved in assessments of weapon systems including artillery, armoured fighting vehicles and infantry systems.
Robert is the Technical Lead for the Future Dismounted Close Combat Research project, which currently focuses on research to inform the future Soldier System Lethality programme. Previously, he was also involved with the development of the Soldier System Architecture for the MOD Integrated Soldier System Executive (ISSE).
Join Sagem in 1999. FELIN soldier system bid manager in 2001,since then business development director for the optronics and defence division. Sagem’s representative of the joint venture with Thales and Nexter, architect of the SCORPION Army tactical capability programme. Recently appointed VP Sales and marketing of the Airland digitization department covering soldier and C4I solutions.
A former army officer in the armored forces / mechanized infantry. Since 2000 Mr Lifgren has worked at Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV).
In FMV, he has worked with the CV 90 project at Land Systems Procurement Command and also worked with capability development at Strategic Planning and Development (SML).
Since 2011, he has been Project Manager for the Technical Soldier System MARKUS.
Col Eng Yousef Al Aitan, the head of the technical communication in king Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau( KADDB) .worked as maintenance officer in Jordan Armed Forces(JAF) for 11 years ,then joined KADDB since 11 years.
Started in KADDB as project manager for many projects related to the special force applications, then program manager for the Jordanian future soldier program(phase one), then land systems area leader, then programs department manager ,and now the head of technical communication
Gert Nutzel currently holds the position of Chief Scientist of PHOTONIS Technologies. In that role he is responsible for Innovation within the PHOTONIS Group. Before he held the roles of CTO and in the further past of Director of Research and Development of Delft Electronic Products (DEP), now PHOTONIS Netherlands. Apart from his work in optronics, he held various positions in hi-tech industries : space industry, optical industry, and refinery automation. Gert is co-author of the Springer book : “Single Photon Imaging”. He is a master of Applied Physics, achieved at the Delft University of Technology
As an industrial designer he completed a Bachelor of Industrial Design at the University of Canberra, Australia, in 1996. He has since been employed as a designer in the area of new product design and technical development, Shelden has also been employed as a part-time lecturer in the industrial design program at the University of Technology (UTS), Sydney, Australia. since 2006. He is now a full-time Lecturer in Technology, Design & Engineering at the Australian Catholic University in Sydney, Australia, and a Master of Design postgraduate researcher at UTS. His research covers the areas of advanced textiles and load bearing systems for police, emergency services and the military. His specific research focus is centred around User Comfort and Wellness in General Duty Police Load Bearing Vests: Novel Solutions in garment design and construction that can be derived from Motorcycle and Sportswear Design.
Brigadier Maciejewski (Justin) was born in 1966. He was educated at St Edward’s School, Oxford, where he was an Army Scholar, and Selwyn College, Cambridge where he read History. Commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets in 1985 as a University Cadet, he attended The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on graduation in 1988.
He has commanded Riflemen at platoon and company level in the mechanized, light and armoured infantry roles in Germany, United Kingdom and Norway, whilst part of the AMF(L). He gained alliance experience in NATO HQ as ADC to UKMILREP (1993-95) during the Bosnia crisis. He served as an Adjutant, Company Commander and Battalion 2ic within The Royal Green Jackets before attending Staff College where he also took an MA in Defence Studies with Kings College, London. He served as SO2 G3 (Ops/O&D) in 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division from 2001 to 2004, this period included Exercise SAIF SAREEA II in Oman and Op TELIC. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, he worked in the MOD as MA to the Surgeon General (2004) before moving to command 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets between December 2004 and July 2007 during which time the Battalion became The 2nd Battalion, The Rifles. His command included a training year, a Spearhead deployment to Kosovo (Operation CALICLE) and Operation TELIC 9 as a Basra City Battlegroup (October 2006-May 2007). He has served on operations in Northern Ireland (three tours), Kosovo and Iraq (three tours).
On promotion to Colonel, he was appointed Chief of Staff 3rd (United Kingdom) Division in October 2007. He attended the Higher Command and Staff Course before deploying to Iraq as Chief of Staff Multi National Division (South East), a tour which straddled Operations TELIC 11 and 12. He was promoted to Brigadier and Commanded 12th Mechanized Brigade from December 2009 to October 2011. During this period the brigade grew to include nine Combat units and conducted extensive BG-level training in preparation for deployment on HERRICK 16. He assumed the new appointment of Director Combat at Army Headquarters in October 2011.
He is married to Rebecca and they have three sons.