Representing the three key elements – users, industry and academia - of the Undersea Defence community, the event's technical planning committee provides unique advice to organisers regarding the needs of their constituency and the upcoming trends being explored across the research base.

The committee assist in shaping the content of the conference ensuring it is relevant and fulfils the expectations of the wider community. Learn more about current members of the committee below.

Committee Chair

2024/25 Committee Chair

Dr. Olav Holberg

Senior Advisor & Deputy Director

Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI)

Norway

Committee Members

Jon Pentreath

Committee Member

Jon Pentreath CB OBE

Advisor, UDT

Committee Member

Dr. S.P. (Peter) Beerens

Senior Scientist

TNO

The Netherlands

Committee Member

Aymeric Bonnaud

Scientific Director

NAVAL GROUP

Committee Member

Dr. Simon Colby

Technical Authority

BAE Systems

Committee Member

Capt RN (Rtd) Iain Breckenridge

Key Account Manager Maritime

Leonardo

United Kingdom

Committee Member

Eur Ing Peter Don-Duncan

Director

Advansys Solutions

Committee Member

Dr Jeffrey Cipolla Ph.D.

Key Account Manager Maritime

Leonardo

United Kingdom

Committee Member

Matthew Gleed

Consultant Architect - Royal Navy

Underwater Battlespace

Committee Member

Gebhard (Hardy) Heizmann-Bartels

Head of Product Management Submarines 

Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems

Committee Member

Dr. Jörg Hurka

Senior Systems Engineer

Atlas Elektronik GmbH

Committee Member

Dr. Alain Maguer

Head, Engineering and Information Technology

Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE)

NATO Science and Technology Organisation (STO)

Committee Member

Jeff Owen

Director

AtebTec Ltd

Adrian Pierce

Committee Member

Adrian Pierce

Naval Advisor 

Clarion Events

Committee Member

Jim Kelly

Chief Technology Officer, Sensors and Processing

ATLAS ELEKTRONIK UK Ltd

Committee Member

Nigel Whybrow

Future Submarines & Technology Director

Babcock International Group

Committee Member

Hannah Rose

Acoustic Specialist

Thales UK

Committee Member

Ivan Stace

In Water Engineering Programme Lead

Babcock Nuclear 

Committee Member

Tim Vickery

Senior Principal Scientist

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory – UK Ministry of Defence