After a brief career in the UK Merchant Navy as a radio/electronics Officer, Roland came to New Zealand and joined Tait Electronics in a manufacturing support role. This developed into setting up and running the test engineering department at Swichtec where after 10 years Roland had risen to the role of General Manager for the systems division. For the last 9 years Roland has been General Manager at TE Connectivity. He holds an HNC in Radio and Radar, HND in Electronics, an MBA and is PMP accredited.

Jude is the New Zealand General Manager for Nova Systems, a global engineering services and technology solutions company, partnering with clients to keep our nations and people safe and secure. An experienced and customer focused aerospace professional with over 25 years’ experience of leading operations in safety critical environments, Jude is passionate about supporting the growth of New Zealand’s aerospace sector

Mark has been involved in aerospace-related roles for over 30 years, both here in New Zealand as well as overseas – having been based in Australia, Europe and the Middle East. His aviation experience includes: military pilot and qualified flying instructor; aeronautical satellite communications; aerospace and defence investment management; and he has been a director on the boards of three aviation companies. He is currently Head of Commercial at Airways and was an advisor to the Aerospace Christchurch Committee from January 2021 to September 2021, prior to becoming a Committee Member.

Dr Sarah Kessans is a lecturer in the UC College of Engineering’s School of Product Design. As a biochemist and synthetic biologist with a passion for space exploration, Sarah is working to create solutions for sustaining life both on and off Earth, as well as developing technology that will make this possible. As a committee member of Aerospace Christchurch, Sarah is committed to facilitating relationships between the aerospace industry and the tertiary education sector, ensuring a progression of qualified talent into the ecosystem as it expands.

Shaun is a senior aerospace professional, who has held a number of technical and leadership roles across the New Zealand Defence and civil aviation sectors over the past 32 years. Shaun served as an Engineering Officer with the Royal New Zealand Air Force for 27 years. He then led the aircraft, product and organisational certification teams at the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand. In 2005, Shaun was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and current President of the New Zealand branch, and is CEO of Merlin Labs NZ Ltd.

Robert has been part of the aerospace industry for over 30 years and 20 years in aviation leadership roles.  Aviation experience has been from maintenance, modification of commercial aircraft through to the building aircraft interior products for Boeing and Airbus.  Robert has had extensive experience working with customers, regulators and manufacturers and has previously held CAA NZ and EASA design delegations as well as working in the FAA regulatory system on both commercial and private jets.  As a committee member of Aerospace Christchurch, his interest is how to support the growth of the aerospace industry in Aotearoa.

Victoria has over 7 years experience working in the areas of development, project management and events management within the tertiary sector in Melbourne. After moving to Christchurch in 2019, Victoria joined Aerospace Christchurch as the Communications and Events Manager to support the successful development of the aerospace community in Christchurch. In June 2022, Victoria took on the position of Operations Manager, facilitating corporate sponsorships, strategic partnerships and leading project implementation. 

Rushil has significant experience in technology, working as a computer technician previously with experience in Python, C#, HTML and CSS. He is currently in his first year of studying a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours, specialising in Mechatronics Engineering, at the University of Canterbury. Combining his passions for Aerospace and Technology, he joined Aerospace Christchurch as the Technical Coordinator, managing the Aerospace Christchurch website, associations and related technical media.