About the AMRF

Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin AC (Retd) is an experienced national security, aerospace and defence leader whose military career spanned more than 40 years. He served as Chief of the Defence Force from 2014 to 2018, leading 80,000 permanent and reserve personnel through significant cultural and technological change. He now contributes strategic governance and risk expertise to government advisory bodies and corporate boards.

Mark began his military career in 1978 as a Royal Australian Navy pilot flying A-4G Skyhawks and transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1984. He accumulated more than 3,500 flying hours in Mirage III and F/A-18 Hornet aircraft. During the 2003 Iraq conflict, he served as Chief of Staff at Headquarters Australian Theatre and later became the first non-United States Air Force Director of the US Central Air Force Combined Air and Space Operations Centre.

He subsequently served as Chief of Air Force from 2008 to 2011, Vice Chief of the Defence Force from 2011 to 2014 and Chief of the Defence Force from 2014 to 2018. As Chief of the Defence Force, he oversaw capital and equipment procurement programs valued at approximately $100 billion across the air, land, maritime and cyber domains.

Following his retirement from active service in 2018, Mark was appointed in 2020 to lead the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.

He is Chair of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority Board, Pacific Security College Advisory Board and Sir Richard Williams Foundation. He is also a Non-Executive Director of BAE Systems Australia and Nihon Cyber Defence, serves on the board of Invictus Australia and remains active in general aviation.

Mark is a Companion of the Order of Australia, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

Distinguished Professor Brian G. Falzon is an internationally recognised engineer specialising in the computational analysis, design, manufacture and testing of advanced composite structures. 

Ranked in the top one per cent in materials science, he has published more than 260 peer-reviewed papers, conference papers and book chapters, authored one book and edited four others. 

His research has informed composite aerostructure design, the United Kingdom’s Next Generation Composite Wing program and NASA’s Advanced Composites Project. He has also delivered projects with major aerospace, defence, advanced manufacturing and technology organisations.

Brian is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science at Western Sydney University. He previously served as Dean of its School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment. Earlier appointments included Distinguished Professor and Chair of Advanced Composite Materials and Aerospace Structures at RMIT University, leadership roles in its Space Industry Hub and cooperative research centres, Head of the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, and the Royal Academy of Engineering–Bombardier Chair in Aerospace Composites.

Brian previously held the Foundation Chair in Aerospace Engineering at Monash University and academic and research appointments at Imperial College London. He has held adjunct professorships at Queen’s University Belfast, Monash University and the University of New South Wales, and was a visiting researcher at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. He holds a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering, a Bachelor of Engineering in Aeronautical Engineering with first-class honours and a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Pure Mathematics from the University of Sydney.

His honours include three Royal Aeronautical Society awards and an Australian Leadership Award. He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Royal Society of NSW, and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Brian also co-founded Veryan Medical Limited, an Imperial College London spin-off that developed a vascular biomimetic stent for which he holds two patents.

Elisabeth (Lis) Mannes is an experienced non-executive director and committee chair with extensive general and operational management experience gained through an international career spanning the Consumer and Industrial sectors across Australasia and Europe. Her executive and board career reflects deep expertise in business strategy, governance, customer and operational excellence, finance, and risk management. She brings firsthand understanding of the evolving customer landscape and the complexities of the manufacturing and supply chains that underpin the Australian economy. 

Lis began her career with a solid technical foundation, earning a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering from Birmingham University, followed by an MBA from Warwick University. She is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Fellow of the UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE), combining sharp technical discipline with broad commercial acumen. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and completed the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD. 

Her executive career included senior leadership roles with CHEP Australia, Pact Group and George Weston Foods, where she held general management accountability as well as functional leadership roles across operations, supply chains and business development. She has led large, complex organisations through transformation, capability uplift and strategic growth.

Lis’ current non-executive board portfolio includes ASX-listed PeopleIN Limited, and she also advises a global operational consultancy. A committed advocate for leadership development, she was a founding board member of the NFP, National Association of Women in Operations (NAWO), and now mentors mid-career and senior executives, helping them build leadership capability and navigate their career ambitions.

Sam Matandos is an Australian engineering executive, manufacturing advocate and industry leader with more than three decades of practical and strategic experience. 

As Owner and Chair of Moxon Industries, a precision manufacturing and engineering company based in Sydney, he has led its growth into a technology-enabled, multi-state enterprise supplying high-tolerance components to the rail, defence, civil, food processing and pharmaceutical sectors.

A toolmaker by trade, Sam began his career as an apprentice and developed a strong technical foundation in precision machining before working with major industrial and transport organisations, including Downer. He later completed a Graduate Diploma in Rolling Stock Engineering at the University of Wollongong.

Sam led the digital transformation of Moxon Industries, replacing legacy systems with integrated, data-driven automation. This enabled the company to expand from its 3,000-square-metre Sydney headquarters into Queensland and Victoria and adopt advanced manufacturing methods, including lights-out production.

He is Deputy Chair of the Southern Strength Agile Manufacturing Network, supporting collaboration and growth across the manufacturing sector. As a Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility, he contributes practical industry insight on scaling advanced technology capabilities for small and medium enterprises.

Sam received the Hughes Community Award for Outstanding Business Achievement in recognition of his industry and community contribution, including training trade apprentices. He also works with government and industry organisations, including Investment NSW and the Australian Industry Group, to advocate for local production and sovereign industrial capability.

Dr David Skellern AO is a technology entrepreneur, researcher and company director with experience in radio astronomy, electronics, wireless networking and commercialisation. 

After 10 years in radio astronomy and 16 years teaching electronics at the University of Sydney and Macquarie University, he co-founded Radiata in 1997. Building on joint research by Macquarie University and CSIRO, Radiata demonstrated the world’s first chipset implementation of the 54 Mbit/s IEEE 802.11a high-speed wireless local area network standard. Cisco Systems acquired Radiata in 2001, and David served as Director, Technology in its Wireless Networking Business Unit until 2004.

David joined the Board of National ICT Australia in 2003 and served as Chief Executive Officer from 2005 to 2010.

He was a Non-Executive Director of the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre from 2004 to 2019 and Chair from 2013 to 2019. He subsequently chaired the RoZetta Institute from 2019 to 2022 and served as a Non-Executive Director of eight RoZetta Group companies.

David chairs Quasar Satellite Technologies, the Semiconductor Sector Service Bureau and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Trovio Group and the Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility, advises several early-stage technology companies, and holds visiting and adjunct professorships at Imperial College London and Macquarie University.

Ken Morrison is an experienced executive and non-executive director who has led complex government and for-purpose organisations, with a particular focus on cities, infrastructure and investment.

As Chief Executive Officer of the Bradfield Development Authority, Ken is responsible for delivering Australia’s first new city in 100 years and attracting investment to the Western Sydney Aerotropolis. These major city-building projects leverage a $29 billion government investment in Western Sydney International Airport, metro rail, roads and related infrastructure.

Ken is an ex officio Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility, a $300 million facility at Bradfield City established to accelerate innovation and productivity across the manufacturing sector.

He also chairs Metropolitan Memorial Parks, having previously served as its Ministerially appointed Administrator through a merger and a governance, organisational and strategic transition.

Ken is a member of the Executive Leadership Committee of the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure. He is also an Alternate Member of the Housing Delivery Authority and the Investment Delivery Authority, which support the accelerated assessment of major housing and investment projects.

He was previously Chief Executive of the Property Council of Australia and has served on a range of industry and government boards and advisory bodies.