Our Mission

Robert is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Ocius.

Robert founded Ocius in 1999 and has guided its evolution from renewable-energy ferries to advanced uncrewed surface vessels used by defence and government agencies.

A passionate sailor and environmental innovator, he invented and patented the “solarsail” in 1996 and developed the first solarsailor prototype, which won the Advanced Technology Boat Race in Canberra in 1997. He subsequently established a company delivering award‑winning hybrid solar ferries before pivoting the technology to autonomous maritime systems.

Under his leadership, Ocius has secured contracts with organisations including the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Border Force and international partners, and expanded its operations significantly. His contributions have been recognised through awards such as the Australian Naval Institute McNeil Award and honours related to environmental innovation.

Andy serves in the senior finance leadership role at Ocius, contributing to the financial governance and scaling of the company’s defence and technology operations.

Andy’s background spans corporate finance within technology-driven businesses, with experience supporting growth in complex, internationally oriented organisations. He has held finance leadership roles in autonomous and defence technology sectors, providing expertise in financial strategy, investment planning and organisational performance.

His professional experience includes working across multiple geographic markets, supporting business expansion and operational efficiency. Andy holds advanced qualifications including executive education at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, reflecting a strong foundation in finance, leadership and strategic management aligned to high-growth technology environments.

Brian leads engineering at Ocius, overseeing the design, development and operational delivery of the company’s autonomous maritime systems.

He brings more than two decades of experience across high technology industries including autonomous systems, medical devices and advanced electronics, with a strong track record in both technical leadership and product innovation.

His career includes senior roles at Cochlear, RØDE Microphones, Advanced Navigation and Bionic Vision Technologies, where he led research, development and commercialisation of complex technologies.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Electronics and a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and Economics from the University of Sydney, along with an MBA from AGSM at UNSW, combining technical expertise with strategic business capability.

James oversees the operational delivery, logistics and execution of the company’s maritime systems programs. He plays a central role in the deployment, support and sustainment of Bluebottle USVs, ensuring operational performance consistently aligns with customer requirements.

With a background in operations management across technical and engineering‑led organisations, James has supported complex programs and field operations throughout his career. His role requires close coordination with engineering, manufacturing and field teams to deliver reliable Bluebottle missions and vessel operations.

Karl is Chief Manufacturing Officer at Ocius, where he leads production, supply chain, and the operational scale-up of the company’s autonomous vessels.

With more than 30 years of experience, he has worked across manufacturing, product design, supply chain, and logistics in industries such as defence, aerospace, consumer electronics, and autonomous tactical systems. His career includes senior leadership roles focused on scaling production and delivering complex engineered products, most recently leading production at Advanced Navigation before joining Ocius.

Karl’s expertise includes operational excellence, workforce development, and efficient manufacturing systems, supporting Ocius’s move to higher-volume production. He also has a strong background in industry leadership and management, including studies through the Australian Institute of Management.

Air Marshal Binskin was Chief of the Defence Force of Australia from 2014-2018, Vice Chief of the Defence Force (2011-2014) and Chief of Air Force (2008-2011). In 2020, he was Chair of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements. He is currently Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Pacific Security College Advisory Board, and is a Non-Executive Director at BAE Systems Australia and Nihon Cyber Defence.

As Chief of Defence, Air Chief Marshal Binskin (Ret’d) successfully led the Australian Defence Force, comprising 80,000 permanent and reserve personnel, to significantly improve capabilities and responses to major global events and championed organisational change across areas of national security, culture, diversity and leadership performance.

Peter leads product at Ocius, shaping the evolution of the company’s vessel, autonomy and payload capabilities to meet the needs of defence and government customers. He focuses on aligning product development with operational requirements and international partnerships.

Previously, as Chief Technology Officer, Peter worked with the engineering team to develop and operationalise the Bluebottle platform as a sovereign Australian ISR capability supporting maritime border surveillance. He joined Ocius in 2018 to work on autonomy command and control systems, following earlier work in UAV development. His broader career spans more than 25 years in systems and software engineering across defence, IT and medical device industries, including roles at GEC Marconi, Kelvin Hughes, IBM and ResMed.

Peter holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Engineering) from the University of Newcastle.

Rob leads business development and government relations at Ocius, covering defence and commercial sectors, positioning the company’s Bluebottle USV capabilities with domestic and international stakeholders and supporting growth into new markets and applications.

His professional background spans international business covering multiple regions of importance to Australia, as well as government, partnership and stakeholder engagement, with a focus on government and technology contexts.

Robert has a Bachelor of International Studies (Hons) from the University of Sydney, and a Master’s from the Japan National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.