Brigadier General Constantin Nicolaescu

Brigadier general Constantin NICOLAESCU is the Commander of Headquarters Multinational Brigade South-East, located in Craiova, Romania. Before being assigned to this position, BG Constantin NICOLAESCU held numerous appointments across the Romanian Army. In October 2019, he was assigned as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, for the newest NATO headquarters established in Romania, Headquarters Multinational Corps South-East and on November 19, 2020, he was appointed to his current position.
Brigadier general Nicolaescu has deployed in three missions abroad: Afghanistan 2006, Iraq 2009 and Afghanistan 2013-2014.
In 2019 he graduated from “Carol I” National Defense University with a PhD in Military Sciences. Since 2017, he has been an Associate Professor of the same institution.
 

Colonel (Ret.) Richard Hansen

As Former Program Manager, Soldier Warrior, PEO Soldier, US Army COL (R) Hansen spent 26 years in the US Army in both the war fighting and acquisition fields. He held various command and staff positions in self-propelled, towed, and airborne artillery units and fire support elements. His research, development, and acquisition experience includes various assignments as a product, project, or program manager in electric guns, armored vehicles, and precision guided munitions. In his last 4 years of service as the Project Manager for Soldier Warrior, he was responsible for weapons, clothing, and equipment for aviation crewmen (Air Warrior), dismounted Soldiers (Land Warrior, Ground Soldier Ensemble), and vehicle crewmen (Mounted Soldier).

Colonel Ákos Tajti

Colonel Akos Tajti is the Director of the Capability Development Office, Defence Staff, Hungarian Defence Forces.

He served as Military Advisor and Senior National Military Representative of Hungary to UN Headquarters between 2017 and 2020.
He started his career as an infantry officer of the 2nd “Air-Assault” Company, 1st Light Cavalry Regiment.
He served four tours in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
He holds a BSc from the National Defence University, and an MSc from the National University of Public Service (Hungary). He is also a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute (US) and the Royal College of Defence Studies (UK).

Colonel Art van Beekhuizen

Colonel Art van Beekhuizen is at the moment Project Manager Soldier Modernisation within the Defence Materiel Organisation of the NLD MoD.
He started his military career in 1993 at the Naval Academy. His first appointment was platoon commander within the 23rd Inf Coy of the 2nd Marine Battalion. Throughout the years he was assigned infantry and logistic appointments. He completed Staff College in 2012-2013. From 2019-2022 he was CO of the Marine Barracks Savaneta on Aruba.
His first operational tour was as a Battle Captain responsible for Logistic Supply within the UN Mission Ethiopia Eritrea in 2000-2001. He did two tours to Afghanistan. One as a Company Commander and one as head of a police training assessment team stationed at Camp Eggers in Kabul.
His current goal is to increase the awareness within projects that the cubic meter around the dismounted soldier is a system. To secure operational effectiveness, survivability and sustainment are key to success.

Colonel Carlos Henrique Martins Rocha

Colonel Nicolas Mueller

Dr. Nicolas G. Mueller studied chemistry, physics and national security. 6 years research in laser engineering, worked several years as ICRC coordinator/delegate, 1999-2001 in Afghanistan. Worked 2001-2005 as international strategy consultant. Subsequently in Joint Staff as PM Swiss Information Operations Force. 2007-2016 he was the federal crisis management advisor, directed the federal strategic crisis exercises, organized yearly OECD conferences and advised the Swiss Government in crisis early warning and -management. 2017-23 Head Weapons and Ammunition at armasuisse. Presently Head Defence Procurement Cooperation. General staff colonel, former deputy head of operations (G3) of Swiss Land Forces and recon bn commander. Adjunct professor at Geneva School of Diplomacy, teaches national crisis management and future of warfare.

Colonel Norbert Vetter

Colonel
Dipl.-Ing.
Norbert Vetter

Married, 2 boys

• Born 1965
• Grown up in the Stuttgart area
• 1985-1994 Active Military Service in the Mountain Infantry: company commander
• 1991 Master Degree in Aeronautical Engineering
• 1994-1996 Department Manager IT & Organization BJB, Neheim-Hüsten (luminaire industry)
• 1994-2006 Active Reserve Service in the Mountain Infantry: Battalion Staff Officer
• 1996 Bachelor Degree in Business Administration
• 1996-1998 General Manager GRAU Werkzeugsysteme, Schwäbisch Gmünd (automotive industry)
• 1998-2000 Chief Marketing Officer GEIGERtechnik, Garmisch-Partenkichen (automotive industry)
• Since 2000 self employed with the ingenieurbuero norbert vetter (IT-consulting)
• 2001-2003 Managing Partner Kochel.net GmbH, Kochel (IT-consulting)
• 2007-2013 Active Reserve Service in the Mountain Infantry: Battalion Commander
• 2012-2021 Timber trading and hunting outfitter, Catapú, Beira Mocambique
• 2013-2017 Active Reserve Service in the Mountain Infantry: Brigade Chief of Staff
• 2017-2019 Active Reserve Service at the Army Command: Branch head Organization
• 2019-2022 Active Reserve Service at the Army Command: Branch head Land based Operations
• Since 2022 founding Manager “InnovationLab Soldier as a system” at the
Bundeswehr Research Institute for Materials, Fuels, Lubricants and Digitisation

Hobbies:
• All terrain cycling
• Mountaineering summer & winter
• (Mountain) hunting
 

Colonel Paul Cummings

Having read for a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Liverpool before entering the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in January 2000, Colonel Paul Cummings commissioned into The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) in December of that year. His career at Regimental Duty saw him based in Germany for his early years with deployments to Bosnia, Iraq, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan. Most recently, he commanded 6 Armoured Close Support Battalion REME between August 2017 and February 2020, deploying the Battalion to Canada twice and to Oman in 2019 where he commanded the Combat Service Support and Theatre Enabling Group for the joint Omani-British Exercise Khanjar Oman. His proudest moment in command was collecting the Worshipful Company of Turner’s trophy on behalf of his soldiers and officers, awarded to the best REME Battalion 2019. His staff appointments have largely been in capability and acquisition, with several tours of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), and in logistics as Deputy Chief of Staff 102 Logistic Brigade. His first post in DE&S was as the Heavy Logistic Vehicles Requirements Manager, and then on promotion to Lieutenant Colonel as the Military Assistant to the 3* Chief of Materiel (Land). He returned to DE&S, to the Vehicle Support Team, in 2020 on promotion to Colonel, spending a year as the Senior Operations Manager heading up the Optimisation portfolio, looking to drive efficiencies across the in-service vehicle fleet, before moving to become Deputy Head and, latterly, Acting Head. He was appointed to his current post in May 2022 where he and his team are responsible for delivering Dismounted Close Combat capability - Survivability, Lethality, and Surveillance & Target Acquisition - to the Army and United Kingdom Strategic Command. Colonel Cummings is a graduate of the Advanced Command and Staff Course, holds a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Mechanical Engineering, a Master of Arts in Defence Studies from King’s College London, and is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. A keen, although slightly lapsed, cyclist, Colonel Cummings is married to Caroline a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser with whom he has two young daughters.

Colonel Peter Hofer

Col Dr. Peter Hofer is Head of the Institute of Advanced Officer Training at Theresian Military Academy being one of the hubs of life-long learning for all active and reserve officers in Austria. He is also head of the IRON NIKE research and development group with a focus on the requirements of a Digital Headquarters and urban operations. Infantry man by trade, Peter has served as platoon and company leader, held various staff appointments, and commanded an infantry battalion. He was deployed on operational tours in Kosovo and Tchad.

Command Sergeant Major Niels Moelleskov

I have been a NCO for 40 years and in the last 30 years been working as an SME on Individual Equipment for the Danish Soldiers. Recently I have been involved in the project for the new Nordic Combat Uniform system as the Danish User Representative.
I have been a member of CCIEP for more than 15 years and since 2021, I have been the Chairman of the Group.
My latest Deployment was to the Afghan National Officers Academy in Kabul in 2014/15 where I acted as a mentor in the S7/Skill at Arms Section.

Dr Babak Daneshrad

A scientist with demonstrated early-stage company experience, Dr. Daneshrad served as a professor with the UCLA Electrical Engineering Department from 1996 to 2019. He is viewed as a thought-leader in his field of expertise, and is well-published in the area of wireless communications with an emphasis on experimental multi-antenna systems. Prior to arriving at UCLA he was with AT&T Bell Labs and was focused on broadband wireless data communications. In 2001, he co-founded Innovics Wireless, raising $14 million in venture capital to develop the first multi-antenna, diversity-enabled WCDMA-3G mobile terminal ASIC. In 2004 he co-founded Silvus technologies with a vision of manufacturing cost-effective MIMO solutions that could deliver communications to the most harsh and demanding environments.

Dr. Daneshrad obtained his PhD in electrical engineering from the Integrated Circuits and Systems Lab of UCLA in 1993. He obtained his MEng and BEng (honors) degrees from McGill University in 1988 and 1986 respectively.

Dr Julie Greeves

Julie Greeves is the Principal Physiologist for the British Army, and has spent over 20 years researching the health and performance of service personnel?at QinetiQ, ARITC and now Army HQ. Julie’s specialist interests are female physiology and bone biology. She was appointed research lead for the Women in Ground Close Combat Review in 2015; an innovative six-year Defence physiology research programme delivering the evidence-base for the safe and effective through career employment of women in physically arduous roles. She holds honorary Chair positions at the School of Medicine UEA, and UCL, is Chair of the NATO 203 Panel on optimising menstrual health of servicewomen, actively supervises PhD students, and has published over 100 original papers in peer reviewed journals.

Dr Sebastian Gies

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Dawe

Lieutenant Colonel Austin Banford

LTC Austin Banford currently serves as the Product Manager for Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment (PdM SCIE), a subset of the United States Army’s Program Executive Office, Soldier (PEO Soldier), and Program Manager Soldier Survivability (PM SSV). Before assuming command of PdM SCIE, LTC Banford held numerous operational Warfighter positions from Platoon Leader, Foreign Military Trainer, and Targeting Lead to Company Commander and Brigade Operations, serving in both Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. His program management experience, across S&T, market analysis, production, manufacturing and sustainment, spans from Missile Defense Integration to various PEO Soldier programs; Rapid Equipping Force (REF), Next Generation Advance Bomb Suit (NGABS), and the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS).

Lieutenant Colonel Brett Grant

Lieutenant Colonel Brett Grant was born in Leeton, New South Wales. In 1994, he completed a Bachelor of Science Degree with Honours from the University of Sydney. He was then employed for three years as an Industrial Chemist with Lombe Scientific. In 1998, Lieutenant Colonel Grant entered the Royal Military College Duntroon, where he graduated to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps in June 1999. His first posting was to 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (Parachute) where he served as a Rifle and Heavy Weapons Platoon Commander. Lieutenant Colonel Grant deployed to East Timor as a Platoon Commander with INTERFET in September 1999.
In 2003, Lieutenant Colonel Grant was promoted to Captain and posted to 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (Parachute) as a Rifle Company 2IC. During this posting, he successfully completed the Commando selection and reinforcement courses. In 2004, Lieutenant Colonel Grant was posted to 4th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (Commando). In 2005, he commanded a Commando Platoon on OP SLIPPER as part of the Special Operations Task Group (SOTG). Lieutenant Colonel Grant deployed again in 2006 on OP RAMP as the Special Operations Liaison/Operations Officer with the Defence Supplementation Staff (DSS) attached to the Australian Embassy Beirut, Lebanon.
In 2007, Lieutenant Colonel Grant was posted to The Royal Military College Duntroon, where he served as an instructor to second and first class cadets. In 2008, he was posted to Special Operations Headquarters as the Aide-de-Camp to the Special Operations Commander-Australia.
In 2009, Lieutenant Colonel Grant was promoted and appointed as the Officer Commanding Delta Company, 2nd Commando Regiment. Delta Company was then fulfilling the role of Tactical Assault Group East (TAG-E). In 2010, Lieutenant Colonel Grant deployed with his company to Afghanistan as part of SOTG XIII, OP SLIPPER. For this deployment, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM). In 2011, Lieutenant Colonel Grant served as the S3, 2nd Commando Regiment before completing Australian Command and Staff College in 2012. In 2013, he was posted to Army Headquarters as the Staff Officer to Director General Modernisation-Army where he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
Lieutenant Colonel Grant was posted to Special Operations Headquarters as the SOJ3 in 2014 and the SOJ5 in 2015. In 2016, he was posted as the Special Operations Staff Officer to Military Strategic Commitments and in 2017 he served in the USA as the Special Operations Liaison Officer to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). In 2018, Lieutenant Colonel Grant was appointed as the Commanding Officer of The Pilbara Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Grant completed Capability and Technology Management College in 2020 and was posted to the Dismounted Combat Program, Army Headquarters as SO1 Survivability. Currently he is Acting Director of the Dismounted Combat Program.

Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Armstrong

Chris is responsible for digital transformation within the Future Commando Force Programme with a project portfolio covering tactical communications, uncrewed systems and digital joint fires.

Lieutenant Colonel D. Christian Hasbach

LTC Christian Hasbach received a Regular Army commission as an Engineer Officer from Officer Candidate School in December 2004. LTC Hasbach received a Master’s in Procurement and Acquisition Management from Webster University in May 2015. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from University of South Florida in Finance, awarded 1998. His military education includes Engineer Officer Basic Course, Engineer Officer Advance Course, United States Army Command and General Staff College (ILE), Army Acquisition Basic Course and the Military Transition Team Course. He is certified in Program Management at the Practitioner Level, and Foundationally Certified in contracting. LTC Hasbach has held acquisition assignments as a Contingency Contract Team Leader, MICC Fort Carson, CO. OCSIC Deputy, Operation Inherent Resolve (III Corps), Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Assistant Product Manager Special Operations Forces- Enablers, Special Programs and Fire Support, Special Programs, Fort Belvoir, VA., served as an Assistant Product Manager of Body Armor, Soldier Protective Equipment and Tactical Cloud Computing, IVAS, PEO Soldier, Fort Belvoir. LTC Hasbach is currently serving as the executive officer for the Deputy to the Deputy of Acquisition and Systems Management, ASA(ALT), Pentagon. LTC Hasbach’s company grade experience includes: Platoon Leader, 43rd Combat Engineer Company, Second Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, CO, Company Executive Officer, Echo Company, 1/67 Armor Battalion, 2nd Brigade 4th Infantry Division, Fort Cason, CO, Military Transition Team Leader, Police Mentor Team, Tahkar Provence, Afghanistan, Engineer Operations Officer, 3rd Army (ARCENT), Fort McPherson, GA, and Company Commander, HHC, 8th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood, TX. LTC Hasbach’s major theater operational experience includes Operation Iraqi Freedom; and Operation New Dawn, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Inherent Resolve. His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Naval Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, NATO Medal, Combat Action Badge, Parachutist Badge, and Pathfinder Badge. He is married to the former Ms. Kelly Paton and they have one son, Jack.

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Watzenig

Daniel Watzenig is CTO at Virtual Vehicle Research and Professor of Autonomous Driving at Graz University of Technology, Austria. Since 2019 he is invited Guest Lecturer at Stanford University, USA, teaching multi-sensor perception and data fusion. He also teaches vehicle autonomy at Tongji University in Shanghai, China. He is militia officer of the Austrian Armed Forces.

Lieutenant Colonel Davide Pugliese

LTC Davide Pugliese currently serves as chief of the concept development and space branches, a subset of the Innovation and Space office of the Italian Army General Staff.
Before assuming command of the Innovation branches, LTC Pugliese held numerous operational Warfighter positions from Cavalry Platoon Leader, Cadets Platoon leader, armoured Coy Commander, recce Squadron Commander to Cavalry Battalion Commander, serving in numerous Operations, such as ISAF, UNIFIL, KFOR and IRAQ “Antica Babilonia”. As Staff Officer LTC Pugliese served in planning, operations and personnel branches.
His program management experience, especially in CD&E experiments, spans from investigating the impact of Emerging & Disruptive Technologies in the way ITA Army conducts operations to various robotics autonomous systems and space programs for the Defense.

Lieutenant Colonel Emanuel Sousa

Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Davies

Lt Col Gareth Davies took over as SO1 Combat Systems and Bearers in Sep 2023 after 4 and a half years establishing SoldierWorks within Army HQ. His portfolio includes the delivery of the Dismounted Situational Awareness project (UK equivalent of Nett Warrior) and a number of tactical bearer systems, such as Multi Mode Radio, into service across the Defence Lines of Development. Career wise, he has completed 5 operational tours as an infantry commander including Iraq and Afghanistan twice and has previous experience as a Requirements Manager for the FIST programme, Chief of Staff of Soldier, Training and Special Projects team within DE&S and SO1 Soldier Systems in SoldierWorks. He is due to leave the Army in September after 27 years service.

Lieutenant Colonel Johnny Hanlon

Lieutenant Colonel Johnny Hanlon was commissioned into the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carbiniers and Greys) in 1999. He served his early Regimental career in Germany as a Challenger II (Main Battle Tank) troop commander. As a Squadron Commander he converted to a Reconnaissance role serving with 1st The Queens Dragoon Guards.
Operational tours include Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. Staff appointments include Military Assistant to the General Officer Commanding the UK Support Command in German, Land capability lead in British Embassy in the USA and the programme manager for the CT40 Cannon in Defence Equipment & Support.
He is currently leading the Army’s SoldierWorks team which is taking a ‘platform’ approach to delivering an Integrated Soldier System.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Milne

Lt Col Mark Milne joined the Army in 2004, spending the first part of his career as an Armoured Infantry officer in North Germany, peppered with training roles. Experiencing all aspects of Armoured warfare, he has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in several roles, offering experience from the tactical to the strategic.
Beyond soldiering, Mark has worked in Defence Equipment and Support and Army Headquarters where he is now employed as ‘SO1 Light Forces and 1 (UK) Division’, offering a future capability role spanning from boots to rifles to missiles to protected mobility platforms.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Cocker

Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Bowman

Lt Col Trevor Bowman grew up in Dorset and commissioned into the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) in 1991 having previously served He has completed nearly 42 years’ service in UK, Germany and on Operations in Kuwait, Iraq and elsewhere. He has served in posts as Platoon Commander, Second in Command of a REME Company and a Regimental Workshop, Battalion Operations Officer, SO2 Personal and Professional Development for REME and SO2 Contracted Engineering support in Army Headquarters. On promotion to Lt Colonel, he was appointed as the first SO1 Battlelab in Dorset a post which he assumed in September 2021. He is married to Isobel who is a Teacher, and they have two children – Allan and Gillian. He was the Chairman of the Arborfield branch of the Royal British Legion, is a volunteer Racemaker at Silverstone circuit and a holds qualifications in Management, Teaching, Organisational Behaviour, ISO 9001 auditing, Spectator safety, LEAN tools and Techniques, business startup and operation and is an MOD accredited Contract manager.

Lieutenant Colonel Will Jerrold

Lieutenant Colonel Will Jerrold RM is currently SO1 Commando Systems in the Navy’s Commando Force (CF) Programme Team. He has operational experience in on land operations in East Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan, including with UK Royal Marines and the US 101st Airborne Division. The CF Programme is charged with delivering a transformed UK Commando Force, geared towards the threats, over the decade ahead. Jerrold is responsible for the ground manoeuvre, on-the-person systems and littoral access craft.

Major Gabriel Benoit-Martin

Major Gabriel Benoit-Martin joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 2004 as an Officer Cadet. He graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in military study in 2008. Then, he completed Infantry Officer training in 2009 and joined the Royal 22e Regiment (the Vandoos) as platoon commander in the 1st Battalion. He deployed in that role in Afghanistan, Kandahar province, with the Canadian Battle Group between November 2010 and July 2011. Between 2011 and 2018, he was employed in multiple function, from Infantry Company 2nd in command within a Battalion to Dismounted Infantry Officer Course instructor and Adjudant. Between March and Nov 2016, he deployed to Ukraine as a Plans Officer with the US lead Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine. Major Benoit- Martin was promoted to his current rank in 2018 and took command of a Mechanized Infantry Company between 2019 and 2020. From 2020 to 2023, he was posted to Canadian Joint Operations Command as a Desk Officer supporting operations in the Middle East and Indo- Pacific region. He has been part of the Director Land Requirements directorate for the past 8 months as the Integrated Soldier System Project director.

Major General Adrian Ciolponea

On the 1st of August 2023, Major-General Constantin-Adrian Ciolponea has been appointed as SACT Representative in Europe. Prior to this, he was the Land Component Commander and also a Special Advisor to the Defence Minister. MGen. Constantin-Adrian Ciolponea received his commission in 1988, after graduating the Military School for Officers, Sibiu, as an infantry officer. In 2004, he graduated the High Military Studies Academy, Bucharest. He has been assigned to numerous command and staff positions for operations and training, reconnaissance, special operations and airborne operations (1000 + military jumps), both in Romania and abroad. Starting 2008, he commanded the 1st Special Operations Battalion, starting 2009 the 1st Special Operations Regiment and starting 2011 the 6th Special Operations Brigade. In 2015 he has been appointed Deputy Commander at the 4th Infantry Division and in 2016 became deputy Land Forces Commander for training and operations. During 2017-2021, MGen Constantin-Adrian Ciolponea was the Romanian National Military Representative to Supreme Headquarters Allied Power Europe (SHAPE), Mons, Belgium and was the Dean of the National Military Representatives. From 2021 to 2022, he was appointed as the Deputy Commander of the Multinational Corps Southeast in Sibiu, Romania. Abroad, he served in a variety of assignments, most notably being: UN Military Observer Democratic Republic of Congo (2000-2001); Staff Officer in Afghanistan (2008, 2010, 2013); Staff Officer in Kosovo (2009). His military education includes several international courses, including: Army's Rangers Course for Officers, USA, (1996 – 1997 completion certificate) Special Operations Course, USA (2005); Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, USA (2006 - 2007); Advance Program in Security Studies, George C. Marshall European Centre for Security Studies, Germany (2010); Counter Terrorism Special Forces Advanced Course, USA (2014); National War College, USA (2014 - 2015). MG Constantin-Adrian CIOLPONEA's decorations and awards include: UN Medal; The Army Achievement Medal; The Army Commendation Medal; General Staff Badge of Honour; Romanian Army Honour Emblem; Military Veteran Honorific title; Land Forces Emblem of Honour; National Order Military Virtue in rank of Knight; Air Force Emblem of Honour; Naval Forces Emblem of Honour in service of the Homeland – for 25 years of service" Honorary sign. Major-General Constantin-Adrian CIOLPONEA is married and father of two.
 

Major Jared Bambridge

Capt Bambridge grew up in York and completed his undergraduate degree in Sports, Exercise and Physical Activity at Durham University with a focus on biomechanics. Capt Bambridge commissioned into The Royal Yorkshire Regiment in April 2016. He has taken part in exercises in Belize, America, Canada, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Belgium and France. At Regiment, he served as Pl Comd, Coy 2IC and OC Mor Pl with a deployment on Op CABRIT in 2018/19. External to RD he served with SJCHQ delivering UK RESILIENCE Ops in the J3 O&D Cell. He currently serves at ATDU, initially as SO3 WCSP and then for two years as SO3 MIV whilst also fulfilling the role of SO2 Integrated Close Combat, developing an innovative focus and broader understanding of MoD and Cap&Ac process. Most recently, he has also served on secondment as SO2 J35 Land at SJFHQ in Northwood, the deployable arm of PJHQ with a significant amount of time spent at MoD Main Building, where he produced timely OSW and routinely briefed a 2* international audience. As SO3 O&D at SJCHQ, Capt Bambridge gained experience in the preparation and delivery of Joint OSW and regularly brief to 3*. Although principally working on Op RESCRIPT, he tackled a spectrum of UK RESILIENCE Ops and developed experience for liaison with Joint HQ’s in the management of personnel. He built on this at SJFHQ, as SO2 J35 where he planned and executed numerous international conferences and engagements in MoD Main Building, LWC, AHQ and the LOC. Capt Bambridge benefitted exponentially from his 9-month tour on Op CABRIT as he developed skills working in a joint nationality HQ, working closely with Estonian and Danish forces in the planning and delivery of Op planning. Capt Bambridge had to overcome difficulty with language, diverse working practices and varying degrees of support from coalition counterparts. Capt Bambridge was awarded a CGS Commendation in 2018 for actions during the London Bridge Terror Attack. He speaks basic levels of French and Mandarin. He lives with his partner Megane who is a Project Manager and their cocker spaniel, Truffle. Capt Bambridge enjoys CrossFit, fell running and skiing. He is fond of red wine and hunting.

Major Michael O'Connor

Major O’Connor enlisted into the New Zealand Army in January 1981 serving as an Infantry soldier in the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. He has served with the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment in both Singapore and New Zealand, and has completed postings to the 2nd/1st Infantry Battalion and reserve infantry units obtaining the rank of Warrant Officer Class One holding a number of senior appointments. Throughout his soldier career Major O’Connor has undertaken a range of regimental, staff and training appointments including postings as an instructor at the Army Schools and Cadre appointments, completing his soldier career in Army General Staff as the infantry career manager. Major O’Connor was commissioned in 2012 as a general list officer at the rank of Captain and appointed as the adjutant for 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment and was subsequently promoted to Major as the Executive Officer in 2015. In 2017 he was posted to Headquarters Joint Forces New Zealand as a Staff Officer planning, for overseas operations. He was posted to the Australian Army Land Warfare Centre in 2018 as an instructor at the Officer Training Wing. Major O’Connor has deployed on operations with the Multinational Force and Observers in Egypt, the United Nations in East Timor, the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan and as a staff officer within the Headquarters of the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve based in Kuwait. Major O’Connor is a graduate of the New Zealand Command and Staff College (Joint) and holds a Masters in Strategic Studies from the Victoria University, of Wellington. Major O’Connor was appointed as the Capability Manager Soldier Modernisation Office on 12 December 2021.

Major Nicholas Reynolds

Major Nicholas Reynolds joined the Army in 2012 and has served within a variety of roles within Light Role, Mechanised and Specialised (now Ranger) infantry, gaining operational experience within Afghanistan, Iraq and Mali. Having recently promoted to Major and completed the Battlespace Technology course, he is well suited to his current role, requirements managing for DCC STA, where his breadth of experience and expertise play a crucial role in bringing new STA capabilities into service.

Mr Anders Palm

Mr Daan Ruhe

Daan Ruhe is a Global Product Specialist within Viasat International Government, a division that is focused specifically on supporting the explicit requirements and communications needs of government and military customers around the world. Daan is responsible for managing Viasat’s L-TAC service. L-TAC, when coupled with the Spectra SlingShot applique or Commcrete Flipper RF-convertor and a small antenna, is a unique, lightweight, low-power satcom system that enables existing, in-service tactical and commercial radios to utilize Viasat’s global L-band GEO satellite coverage, effectively providing a radio repeater in space, allowing these radios to be used beyond line of sight, globally. Daan joined Inmarsat (which was acquired by Viasat in 2023) nearly a decade ago and brings over 25 years of experience in telecommunications to the role and is a true believer in close collaboration between government and commercial providers to help build real solutions to real end user challenges. As such, you are far more likely to find him out in the field, talking to operational teams about communications challenges and requirements, demonstrating capability and helping to find efficient solutions that help build situational awareness and deliver operational success.

Mr Daniel Peat

Dan Peat is a Principal Scientist at Dstl, within the power sources technical area. He has over twenty years’ experience in power source technologies, range from designing and testing fuel cells, novel hybrid supercapacitors, to testing and evaluating soldier borne power solutions. His current interests are focussed on what technology the future implementations of soldier systems will be based on, and how NATO can accelerate those developments to bring battle winning technologies to our armed forces.

Mr Dave Pheasant

Dave is Team Leader for the Strategic Command and Air portfolios in the Future Capability Group, which is part of the Integrated Battlespace Operating Centre. Having been through DE&S transformation David has seen first-hand how DE&S change has been implemented and embedded and now in the Future Capability Group is working on ways to accelerate the pull through of experimentation and innovation into recognised projects that will deliver capability to the end user.

Mr Graham Ball

Mr Grant Guy

Grant Guy served 15 years in 29 Commando Royal Artillery. Serving as a fire controller on multiple operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan and various exercises throughout the world with commando forces.
Joined Glenair in January 2020 as the UK business developer for STAR-PAN and MIL interconnect solutions.
 

Mr James Gavin

Mr Jeremy Gibson

Mr. Jeremy Gibson is a native of Jacksonville, Florida and retired from the Army as an Infantry First Sergeant after 20 years of active service in 2022. He has served at the Tactical and operational levels in a wide verity of leadership positions. Most recently, he served as a DOD contractor with responsibility as a capability developer for Army Futures Command.
Some of his duty positions have included, team leader, squad leader, platoon sergeant and company first sergeant. He has served in various light, airborne and mechanized units as well as being a Ranger instructor (RI) at Fort Moore, Georgia, An Observer, Coach/Trainer (OC/T) at the national Training center in Fort Irwin, California. He is a veteran of the Iraq/Afghanistan war and has earned multiple awards and citations while also being recognized for outstanding achievement throughout his career. He currently serves as a Department of the Army Civilian as a program analyst for the Close Combat Lethality Task Force. He has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in organizational leadership from the university of Charleston.

Mr Jock Hewit

Jock is a former Royal Marines Commando and Police Firearms Officer whose critical understanding of the military and end user experience ensures KME remain at the forefront of the defence market. A primary focus for both Jock and KME is to bring forward innovative and game changing technology and placing it directly in the hands of the end user community.

Mr John Dix

John has significant experience in the defence and security sectors, specialising in project management and capability development. He previously served for 22 years in the Royal Marines where he developed vast experience in planning, supporting and managing projects that deliver multi-million pound, operationally critical military communications technology across maritime and land domains. John is an experienced leader of cross-functional teams working on time-sensitive projects. He transitioned to working in industry at Thales as Sales Manager in 2023. John has degrees from Bournemouth University and the University of Lincoln in Communications Management.

Mr John Thomas

• John Thomas had a full military career before joining Industry. His operational experience from Northern Ireland, the Falkland Islands, the Balkans and Iraq. He is a Chartered Engineer and his responsibilities have spanned a portfolio of C4ISR Services as a deliverer of capability and as an Acquisition SME. His driving raison d'être is to get effective capability to the end users in a timely manner.
• He paints when he can and is a dangerous golf player.
   

Mr Jonathan Russell

Mr Martin Krieg

Martin Krieg is head of IT-fundamentals section and full-time lecturer at the Theresan Military Academy. His work focuses on the use of artificial intelligence in the military decision making process. He is a militia officer in the Austrian Armed Forces and he gains a lot of his research ideas during his field exercises.

Mr Matt Hunt

Matt is a uniquely experienced defence and technology professional with over 28 years specialising in C4I and capability development. Matt served in the Royal Marines for 22 years where he obtained extensive experience in leading, operating and supporting people, platforms and capabilities around the globe. In 2016 he was awarded a strategic command, four-star commendation and mentioned in the Queen’s birthday honours list. In 2016 Matt transitioned successfully to working in industry for Thales’ UK maritime business as a Senior Systems Engineer. Matt has since moved into business development and is responsible for defining and implementing the commercial strategy for land communications at Thales in the UK. Matt has a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Portsmouth.

Mr Matthew Duff

• Matt Duff served 38 years in the Royal Corps of Signals, rising through the ranks from Signaller to Lieutenant Colonel. He served two tours in Iraq and one in Kosovo and also spent two years serving with the US Army.
• A technical supervisor by trade, he is a Member of the IET and gained his Chartered Engineer status in 2016.
• Matt joined Elbit Systems UK in February 2022 as their C4I Solutions Architect. His passion his solving interoperability challenges as will hopefully become clear in the presentation!
   

Mr Nate Whelan

Nate Whelan is the Europe Vice President for Marathon Targets. Nate was a senior civilian at 7th Army Training Command responsible for the U.S. Army Europe Range and Training Area programs, and also the G-3 Training for 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. He was the U.S. representative to NATO Working Groups on Sustainable Range Management and drafted multiple Standardized Agreements.

Mr Olivier Grégoire

Olivier Grégoire joined Glenair in September 2022 as Business Developer for STAR-PAN and Tactical Interconnect Solutions to cover Northern Europe.
Previously, Olivier served 21 years within Belgian Defence of which 10 years as a SOF Operator. From communication specialist to JTAC, Olivier was deployed multiple times around the globe.
Olivier was also head of a Research and Development cell for SOF and Ground Liaison Officer within a F-16 Squadron
 

Mr Qaim Jaffarson

Technical Caseworker for Army batteries in DALO (DANISH MINISTRY OF DEFENCE ACQUISITION AND LOGISTICS ORGANISATION).
Previous work include vehicle ECM-systems, Frigate SMART-L radar and commercial airline technician.
 

Mr Sebastian Miekley

• 44 yrs, from Bremen Germany
• 1999 – 2013 Federal Armed Forces Germany (14 years, ret. Captain Parachute Regiment)
• Diploma in Electrical Engineering (Information Technology) & Certified Systems Engineer
• Joined Rheinmetall in 2014
• Technical Project Manager / Lead Engineer for Soldier & C4I Systems (7 years)
• Head of System Engineering Team for Soldier & Platform Systems (7 years)Business Segment Management for Digitalized Land Forces since 2024
   

Mr Tony White

Based at Ultra PCS for the last 23 years, Tony defines the strategic direction of the Land Systems part of the PCS business.

Covering Vehicles, Soldiers and Bases, Tony has worked on all of the UK Generic Architecture standards and more recently, has been exploring the next generation of wearable technology for the war fighter.
 

Mr Wilhelm Sahlen

Ms Anna Dowle

Ms Ilse Kroesen

Ms Lauren Russell

Currently Cyber Security Advisor in the British Army supporting Secure by Design and Supply Chain Analysis across the D Progs Directorate. Recently completed an MSc in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics at Portsmouth University. Previously worked within CAT A Projects, Programmes and Portfolios within Army Headquarters before pursuing a career within the Cyber domain.

Ms Susie Bloodworth-Race

Studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath, then joined Defence Equipment and Support in 2017. Completed the Explosive Ordnance Engineering MSc Cranfield Defence and Security in 2019, where my thesis formed the basis of the research for my PhD. During this time I have moved into the Defence Ordnance Safety Group (DOSG) now Weapons Technical Services (WTS) where my field of study encompasses both Human Vulnerability and Lethality to a plethora of threats and insults, and the equipment, materials, and techniques necessary to protect against them.

Victoria Ayuso