Gary Sinclair, CD, BA(Econ), MBA – SEA5000 Program Director

Gary joined Gibbs And Cox Australia in 2019 and is the Program Director for SEA5000. Prior to joining Gibbs & Cox Australia he held senior roles in several major combat ship acquisition programs and submarine In-Service-Support Sustainment. Gary’s technical roles have included the Canadian Surface Combatant Program’s Project Integration Manager, and the Australian Air Warfare Destroyer Program’s Technical Baseline Manager and Combat System Change Manager. As a senior program manager, he led the Collins Submarine Combat System Integrated Product Team as it transitioned into the role of Combat System Integrator. He has used his experience as a retired RCN and RAN Principal Warfare Officer to develop the AWD Design Reference Mission, contribute to the associated Crewing Study, be the lead industry participant for the Operations Room Design IPT and chair the Bridge Working group. Gary holds an MBA (Logistics and Supply Chain Management) from the Australian Institute of Business and a BA in Economics from the Royal Military College of Canada.

Richard Burnham, BASc (Mech Eng), PCSC, PEO – Senior Engineer

Richard joined Gibbs & Cox in 2017 as a senior engineer providing combat systems engineering expertise in support of requirements decomposition and definition. Richard has been a Professional Engineer for 45 years.  With a 25-year military career as a Combat Systems Engineer covering a wide range of engineering, shipbuilding and management positions, Richard has a wealth of in-depth experience in the field of complex international program management. Richard also possesses 20 years commercial experience in managing weapon system design, acquisition and support with knowledge of Canadian, United States and Australian navy acquisition and program management. His extensive experience has seen him managing complex programs, including international partners, with demonstrated ability to manage resources, develop plans and documentation, and communicate plans to superiors either written or verbally in a concise and effective manner. His academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Applied Science, Mechanical Engineering, graduate level military courses in leadership, command and decision-making, international security, foreign policy, and joint operational planning.

Simon Fleisher, MBA, MEng, CPEng, FEngNZ, CEng, FIMechE – Principal Mechanical Engineer

Simon joined Gibbs and Cox (Australia) as a Principal Mechanical Engineer in January 2021. Prior to joining Gibbs & Cox, he held senior roles as a General Manager and Non-Executive Director in New Zealand and the UK in defence, public transport, emergency management and the electricity supply industry. He is a Marine Engineer by background and served over 20 years in the Royal Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy in a variety of operational, acquisition, sustainment and staff roles before joining Meridian Energy as a Programme Manager for wind farm and hydro-electric development and construction. His RN career included roles as the Marine Engineering Officer of a Type 23 Frigate and supporting the Type 45 Destroyer programme (aviation facilities and ship survivability). In the RNZN, his credits include Project Protector, the ANZAC Platform System Upgrade and development work on the RNZN future tanker (now HMNZS AOTEAROA). Subsequent roles after leaving the RNZN included Project Management, General Management, Emergency Management and Non-Executive Director positions with Energy For Industry, Wellington Cable Car, Wellington City Council and The Lines Company. In 2019, he joined Strategic Sourcing Consultancy as a consultant working for the NZDF on the Future Maritime Support Construct and the ANZAC Frigate Systems Upgrade programmes. Simon holds an MBA from Victoria University of Wellington and is a graduate of the NZDF Joint Staff Course. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer and a Fellow of Engineering New Zealand and the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Andrew Osborne, IEng, MSOE, MBES – Integrated Logistic Support Engineer

Andrew joined Gibbs and Cox Australia as a Principal Engineer in Integrated Logistic Support in December 2019.  Andrew has developed a deep level of understanding through his 11 years working in the Integrated Logistic Support environment during both the build phase and in-service support of UK RN warships. He gained experience of dataset management and integration of the Logistic Support Analysis Record (LSAR), Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), Initial Provisioning (IP) and the associated technical manuals in S1000d format.  His work included the management of design change and obsolescence into datasets, as well as the co-ordination and delivery of ships maintenance and their associated technical documentation contained within the Interactive Electronic Technical Publications (IETP).  Andrew gained an HNC in Mechanical Engineering from Oxford Brookes University whilst serving in the Royal Air Force in 2001.

David Smith, CEng, MRINA, RCNC – Principal Systems Engineer

David joined Gibbs and Cox Australia in February 2020 as a Principal Systems Engineer.  With 22 years’ experience working for the UK Ministry of Defence in the Maritime Domain, David has held a variety of roles in Surface Ship, Submarine and Nuclear Propulsion Project Teams throughout project lifecycle phases. He has extensive Systems, Safety and Nuclear engineering experience acquired from a combination of roles ranging from technical practitioner level through to senior management level.  David’s unique expertise makes him a versatile and capable engineering professional.  He holds a BEng (Honours) in Marine Technology from the University of Plymouth and an MSc in Naval Architecture from University College London (UCL). He was awarded Chartered Engineer status by RINA in 2010.

Peter Blackwood, Eur Eng, CEng, MIMarEST – Principal Naval Architect

Peter joined Gibbs and Cox (Australia) as a Principal Naval Architect in February 2020.  He has wide ranging experience in the maritime industry, in defence and commercial shipping. Peter has developed deep specialism in ship stability, structures and survivability.  Peter’s expertise was founded through working on a variety of projects in a commercial consultancy firm specialising in gathering and creating technical evidence for large ship design and upgrade programs, expert witnessing, and litigation.  Latterly in his career, Peter developed defence experience through managing a Survivability team, and has had continued responsibility for managing a group of teams in the defence industry across survivability, air and maritime structural assessment and management, and artificial ageing and evaluation of stores.  Peter gained his Master’s Degree (with merit) in Naval Architecture from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland in 2005.