CHAIR

Kristian Howard is the Chief Product Officer for Penten

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.

DEPUTY CHAIR

Kylah Limmer is Head of Global Defence Office at Fujitsu

Kylah has proven experience in leading high performing sales and customer service teams to drive profitable growth and customer engagement.

Kylah enjoys highly regarded relationships that span the breadth and depth the Australian Defence Organisation and the Defence Industry Ecosystem.

Alongside Defence relationships, she is seen as a Defence Industry advocate holding several key leadership positions including Chair of ADIESA, the Industry Advisor for the ADF Cyber Skills Association, and is invited to speak at Defence conferences such as MilCIS, Defence Cyber Summit and the Space 2.0 Summit.

TREASURER

Brendan Hennessy is Sales Manager, DXC Technology and current ADIESA Board Member

Brendan Hennessy is a Sales Manager with DXC Technology Australia working across Defence and National Security. In 2022 Brendan was invited to become a non-executive board member for ADIESA and has actively participated to help the board achieve the ADIESA mission throughout 2023 and is looking forward to continuing his involvement in 2024.

Previously Brendan was a business development manager at Thales Australia, working to deliver mission critical information systems capability. His journey with Thales Australia started in 2012 as the Engineering Manager for the Generation 1 Deployable Local Area Network capability and other Command & Intelligence systems with his role transitioning over time into Program Management and subsequently into Business Development.

Brendan started his career in the information, cyber and electronic domain when he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 2002 as an Officer Cadet. He went on to serve 10 years in the RAAF as a Communications and Information Systems engineer with postings to No. 1 Combat Communications Squadron (1CCS), Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC) and with the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) on Project AIR5418. He deployed to the middle east on OP SLIPPER in 2007 as the Officer in Charge of Communications for Task Group 633.2.

Brendan holds an MBA from the International University of Bad Honnef, a Diploma of Project Management and a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) from UNSW.

SECRETARY

Ella Kell is the Chief Technology Officer for Defence & Intelligence at Dell Technologies Australia. 

Ella is driven by her belief that technology saves lives, particularly in Defence and National Security sectors. She works closely with partners in these areas to develop and realise strategies for edge compute through to cloud, secure data and infrastructure fabrics, AI and ML implementation, and cyber threats. Ella has held a range of engineering, enterprise software delivery, and business development positions across Research, Defence Industry, and National Security in Australia and Europe. Ella holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) (1st class), specialising in mechatronics and systems, and a Bachelor of Commerce from the Australian National University. She is passionate about encouraging participation in STEM from school students to young professionals, with an emphasis on Australia’s Defence and National Security domain.

EMERITUS CHAIR

Noel Borgas is a Campaign Manager with Lockheed Martin Australia.

Noel provides support to business development opportunities across the space and related domains.

Noel has during the course of his career held many different roles with large and small defence industry companies, and within defence itself. These include senior roles within campaigns to capture multi-billion dollar opportunities, program management roles with profit and loss responsibility, systems engineering roles within ground based radar sustainment and upgrade programs, and research and development roles within Defence Science and Technology Group. Career highlights include a stint working in the United Kingdom for Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (then Defence Material Division) in the mid 1990s and a posting as Defence Industry Fellow at the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies in 2011.

Noel holds a Mathematical Science degree and a Master of Business Administration, both from the University of Adelaide. He is married and lives in Canberra, ACT.

BOARD MEMBER

Colin Cooper is General Manager of Bravo Zulu Professional.

Colin has a unique breadth of experience in the Australian Defence and Defence Industry environment. His broad command, operational and staff experiences during a 25 year Naval career have been significantly augmented by senior executive roles in leadership positions in a number of large European, Japanese and US international Defence and ICT companies.

Mr. Cooper has a strong track record of leadership in defence and industry relationships and project, program, and organisational transformation and change management.

Mr. Cooper earned a BSc in Multidiscipline Physics, Computing and Electronics from Monash University, a Diploma of Applied Science in Maritime Studies from the University of NSW, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Satellite Communications from Melbourne University. He is also a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD).

BOARD MEMBER 

Mike Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer at Molico Group

During his career, Mike has developed a broad range of Defence and commercial experience, both in Australia and across the United States and Europe since 1992. Having been a pilot and executive at various businesses which support Defence operations and capability means Mike is aware of the fluidity of changing Defence needs as environments, technology and adversary capability advances.

Based in Canberra, Mike is passionate about supporting the Australian Defence industry and has undertaken studies in International Law and Business Administration.

BOARD MEMBER

Karissa Lancaster is a Business Development Manager at Boeing Defence Australia

Karissa Lancaster is a Business Development Manager at Boeing Defence Australia (BDA), where she leads teams to capture new business in support of BDA’s growth strategy across new and existing markets. Karissa joined BDA in 2018 initially as a Project Engineer in the Business Development and Strategy team, prior to moving into her current role in 2022.

Prior to joining Boeing, Karissa was a consultant at Nova Systems. As a consultant, Karissa worked as an avionics and systems engineer, primarily on Australian Defence acquisition projects. She supported the early capability definition phase of a number of programs including LAND2097 Ph4 (special operations helicopter), the both the CH-47F Chinook, and the P-8A Poseidon acquisitions.

Early in her career, Karissa held a number of technical positions at the Defence Materiel Organisation (now the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group or CASG) supporting various acquisition programs across the capability lifecycle. This foundation provided Karissa with a good understanding of high level Defence engineering policy and the acquisition of defence materiel.

Using her background in Defence acquisition, Karissa has recently led capture teams in Boeing’s Battlespace Communications Systems program to win subcontract work under Lockheed Martin’s AIR6500-1 Joint Air Battle Management System (JABMS) program and has submitted a competitive tender response for the LAND200-3 (now LAND4140 Battle Management System (BMS)) program, procuring a new Battle Management System for Army.

Karissa holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Aerospace Avionics, Hons) from the Queensland University of Technology and a Masters in Project Management from the University of New South Wales.

Karissa moved back to Brisbane (home) from Canberra in 2015 and has two young children with her husband Andrew.

BOARD MEMBER

Joe McCullagh is Co-Founder of Logikata

With a robust foundation in military service and business, Joe brings over a decade of mission-focused, outcome-driven experience in program leadership, technical design and execution. His military career included deployment on HMAS Newcastle to Op MANITOU, operational and strategic policy execution within Navy Capability Division and the Maritime Warfare Centre. This experience was formative both culturally and in knowledge for his future roles in industry.

Building on this military background, Joe transitioned seamlessly into roles where he could leverage his mission-oriented mindset. He has occupied various program execution and business development positions focused on the defence and wider public sector markets, always maintaining a strategic and results-oriented approach.

As an owner of Logikata, Joe's aim is to simplify market entry for complex technical solutions. He advises companies on technical strategy, data design, market entry and strategic growth, with a particular focus on Australian SMEs and public sector-focused businesses in AUKUS regions.

Previously, Joe held Defence and Intelligence-focused roles at Salesforce and Palantir Technologies, where he drove mission-critical solutions aligned with the strategic objectives predominately within National Security and Defence. His education in Engineering, Business Administration, and Management further enhances his ability to combine technical expertise with business acumen, delivering impactful solutions and strategic insights.