Sydney, Australia.10 May 2022. Sentient Vision Systems is setting its sights on further international expansion close on the heels of a number of impressive contract and test wins including the US DOD’s Foreign Comparative Technology (FCT) test for the U.S. Marine Corps, Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard, European and Middle Eastern applications and its selection for the homegrown award from the Australian government to support domestic manufacturing.
According to founder and Managing Director, Dr Paul Boxer, the strength and depth provided by the senior executive team places Melbourne-headquartered Sentient in the best ever position to consolidate its pioneering role and further develop exciting product innovations, including ViDAR Surface.
“In this dynamic technology sector no one can afford to stand still. That’s why R&D will always be a key driver for us, and that demands an investment in top calibre people across the organisation,” he explained at INDO PACIFIC, the maritime expo held in Sydney 10-12 May. Sentient won the coveted SME Innovation Award ahead of the opening of the expo, itself days after Sentient was selected fora $2m Sovereign grant from the Australian government to manufacture ViDAR search and surveillance pods.
The company’s investment in some of the best brains in the multi domain markets comprises a hard to match line up of executives who are spearheading the ‘phenomenally ambitious growth trajectory’:
- The global expansion programme is led by Paul Harris, Director of Business Development who joined in February this year from Thales Australia where he was latterly Director Sales of Protected Vehicles. Previously a staff officer with the Australian Army, he saw service in Iraq and has experience of a range of programmes with the Australian Department of Defence including the formative ASLAV multi project defence acquisition programme.
- Mark Palmer, Chief Technology Officer, in post less than two years, joined from Ocean Software, where he introduced agile development for Airforce and training programs. Previously he held senior roles at Thales, and his early career started with BAE Systems Australia.
- Strategic depth is added with the appointment of Chris Williams as Advisory Board Member. Chris is well regarded throughout the Australian defence establishment. Starting out as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy, he has led a number of award-winning defence engineering businesses and has advised numerous bodies including AIDN (Australian Industry and Defence Network), NSW Defence Innovation Network, National Defence Council Executive and SADIG (Sydney Aerospace and Defence Interest Group).
“Sentient now has the opportunity to scale on a truly global basis and become a champion of Australian technology innovation. This is an exciting time to join this business and at a strategically important juncture for Australia across a spectrum of disruptive and innovative technology applications in defence and civilian markets,” added Paul Harris.
