Board of Directors
Michael Sargent
Mike Sargent is a Director of MA Sargent and Associates, providing strategic corporate consulting services to industry, with a particular focus on the information technology, energy, environment and utilities sectors. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of Transfield Energy Group, and before that was Chief Executive Officer of ACTEW Corporation from November 1991. Mike has 40 years experience in the electricity industry in Australia, USA and Canada.
Mike Sargent has had a long involvement with innovation, being author of nearly one hundred papers covering technology, information technology, quality, and corporate management and leadership topics. He established the framework for the encouragement, management and commercialisation of innovation in SEQEB and ACTEW, a model widely copied in the public sector. Significant technologies commercialised through this process include:
- Automatic telephone answering destination routing (which subsequently became the basis of the Telstra 13.. number system)
- Advanced micro-controllers for SCADA systems,
- Advanced wastewater treatment system (CRANOS), and
- TRANSACT Communications FTTC broadband system.
Mike was also Chair of the organisation, which established the framework for advanced computing in Australia, now managed by APAC (Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing), and has been a member of strategic committees for a number of major research organisations such as the Australian Research Council and CSIRO.
Mike is an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. Currently he has a major assignment with the Brisbane City Council to establish the City of Brisbane as Australia's pre-eminent online city, a project involving development of advanced concepts in megaportal implementation, as well as innovative platforms for community and business development.
David Gaul
David Gaul is President and co-founder of CEA Technologies, a Canberra-based electronic system design company which commenced operations in August 1983.
After 18 years of operation, CEA now has offices in Adelaide, Melbourne and San Diego and a combined total workforce of more than 130 people. It develops leading edge technology in communications and radar systems, active and specialised antennas, sensor processing and modelling, systems integration and design, display software and data fusion. Forty per cent of income is generated by exports worldwide.
In 1991 CEA won the National and ACT Small Business of the Year Awards and the National Award in the Non-Manufacturing category. In 1993 it won the Canberra Times Employer of the Year Award for companies employing less than 50 staff. In 1994 it won the ACT Exporter of the Year Award and received a Highly Commended in the Defence Quality Awards. In October 1996 CEA won the Exporter of the Year Award in the Small to Medium Business category in the ACT and in October 2000 the Exporter of the Year Award in the Small to Medium Manufacturer category of the ACT Chief Minister’s Export Awards.
Before forming the Company with his co-director, Ian Croser, David spent 22 years in the Royal Australian Navy, where he gained extensive experience in naval operations, weapons, tactics, command and control, project management and administration.
David completed various business courses in order to launch into the small business world, including the Company Directors’ Diploma Course and the University of New England Small Business Management Course in 1983 and the inaugural ACT Enterprise Workshop in 1984. He has been associated ever since, serving as mentor to many teams over the years, acting as a Judge at trial presentations of the business plans, and in 1997 was invited to judge at the National Finals of the Enterprise Workshop and subsequently as Chairman of Judges in 1998.
David attended the Senior Executive Program at the London Business School from 26 April to 22 May 1998.
David is a Foundation Fellow of the AICD and has served as councillor of the ACT Division of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the ACT Division of the Australian Business Chamber. He is currently a member of the ACT Government’s Business Advisory and Regulatory Review Team (BARRT).
Other current business positions include Honorary Secretary of the ACT Entrepreneurship Centre Inc., board member of Epicorp Limited, Chairman of the Canberra Region Advanced Technology Manufacturers’ Association (CRATMA), board member of the Capital Region Employment Council (CREC) and board member of the Australian Science Festival Ltd. He is a member of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Manufacturing Committee, a member of the Cooperative Research Centre for Sensor Signal and Information Processing (CSSIP) board and a Governor of the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering.
He is also a member of the Defence Industry Advisory Council (DIAC) and the Australian Business Limited Defence Industry Committee of Council, as well as the ACT Government's Information Industries Development Board (IIDB).
David was born in Sydney in August 1946 and resides in Canberra with his wife and two of his three children. Interests other than his family include reading, music, ballet, woodworking, fishing and boating.
David O'Rourke
David O'Rourke is the former Managing Director of RICHARDSON:O'ROURKE, an award winning Company established in Canberra in 2002 and recognised as a Business Capability Partner in the fields of:
Project & Program Management;
Strategy & Business Improvement;
Enterprise Technology; and
Marketing & Communications
In September 2009, David moved-on from RICHARDSON:O'ROURKE to establish a new Canberra-based Company, Mantis Industries, which specialises in Independent Assurance, Value Management and Risk Management advisory for large-scale Projects and Programs. David is also involved in the development of a new Internet-based business which will launch globally in late 2009.
David grew-up in Canberra. He is an experienced civil engineering manager, with 11 years' service as an Army Officer within the Corps of Royal Australian Engineers and an accomplished ICT project and program manager who has earned a reputation for excellence in project/program delivery and project/program assurance for Government and commercial organisations. David has delivered projects and programs totalling over $100 million throughout his career and undertaken independent project reviews and assurance for Government and commercial projects totalling more than $3.0 billion.
David holds a Bachelor of Computer Science and a Master of Business & Technology from the UNSW. He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI), an active and vocal member of the ACT business community, and is an elected ACT Branch Committee Member of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA).
David is passionate about helping businesses and Government to deliver on their potential.
Ken Kroeger
Ken Kroeger is one of the founders of HealthCube, an Australian health services and technology company and of Catalyst Interactive, an internationally recognised supplier of technology based training and simulation systems.
A long career in business and computing has provided Ken with insight into diverse industry sectors and technologies. Prior to moving to Australia, Ken worked with Canada's federal government, the Canadian Royal Mounted Police and Southam News where he enjoyed roles in research and development, evaluating emerging technology and the design and implementation of new business, manufacturing and aviation related systems.
Ken currently serves on the board of directors for HealthCube and consults to both entrepreneurial firms and multinational organisations.
He is a keen, long time, competitive cyclist and spends his spare time with his young family or riding Canberra's surrounding roads and trails.
Ken studied business and systems analysis at Carleton University and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.