She flew the KC-10 for six years at Barksdale Air Force Base as an Air Force co-pilot, aircraft commander and instructor pilot. Colonel Melroy is a veteran of Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, with more than 200 combat and combat support hours. After attending the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Colonel Melroy was assigned to the C-17 Combined Test Force, where she served as a test pilot until her selection for the Astronaut Program. She has logged more than 6,000 hours flight time in more than 50 different aircraft. Colonel Melroy was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in March 1995.

After NASA, she served as Deputy Program manager for the Lockheed Martin Orion Space Exploration Initiatives program and as Director of Field Operations and acting Deputy Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration. She went on to serve as Deputy Director, Tactical Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where she executed a large air and space technology development portfolio. Colonel Melroy is now an independent consultant.

David co-founded SOS Business, a not-for-profit initiative to help cafes and other small businesses during COVID-19. It quickly became a huge hit and to date has sold over $2 million in vouchers for over 2,500 small businesses.

David released a new book, Silver Linings, in March 2021, and continues to act as a consultant for government and industry, as well as a director on a number of boards. David is now CEO of The New Zealand Story, an ambitious organisation marketing New Zealand to the world.

During her time at Wisk, the company expanded its international footprint and Anna was recognised as one of the eVTOL industry’s most influential people globally for her achievements and leadership in building cultural and business connections and learnings.

Prior to Wisk, Anna established her own businesses, worked in Government and advised and implemented go-to-market strategies, regulatory engagement, brand building and community-led development across a range of organisations.

 Anna is currently the independent Chair of the Electricity Retailers’ Association of New Zealand (ERANZ), Chair of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and Hillary Institute, is on the board of Kea Aerospace, and advises companies in the New Zealand aerospace sector. Anna was a Commonwealth Foundation Emerging Pacific Leader and has a master’s degree from Northwestern University, Chicago.

She has led significant pieces of regulatory reform and supported their effective implementation.

Bronwyn has a strong background in regulatory policy with a particular interest in regulatory stewardship and effective regulatory design.

Emily comes from a long line of aviators, most notably is her great-great-grandfather, who contributed to one of the world’s first Commercial Flights in 1911 London. Emily herself has been flying since 12 years old, is an active inventor, and serial entrepreneur. Through all her work, Emily shows a strong commitment to lifting the standards for our environmental sustainability, working towards a mission to leave our world in a better place than we found it.

Emily is currently a Future Director on the board of Spidertracks, Committee Member at the National Aerospace Executive Committee and was nominated as a Semi-Finalist for the New Zealand Innovator of the Year.

Prior to joining Nova Systems in 2019, Jude was the CEO of a New Zealand based, CAA certified, aircraft manufacturing company, a role he entered into following 18 years’ service in the Royal Air Force and 5 years in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as an Engineering Officer. Throughout his military career, he supported the introduction and operation of a wide range of aircraft types and equipment in programme management and leadership roles.

Prior to taking on the GM role for Nova Systems, Jude was embedded within the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment as the Programme Manager for New Zealand’s Airspace Integration Trials Programme – leading a cross-agency programme to integrate a range of Unmanned Aircraft technologies into NZ’s existing aviation regulation regimes.

Prior to working for BVNZ, Kate spent 17 years’ serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, where she had a varied engineering career, from managing the maintenance of aircraft flying Antarctic resupply missions, to leading a team of engineers developing the airborne mission system for surveillance and reconnaissance.

He is also a leader in the Government Regulatory Practice Initiative which supports the professionalisation of regulators and regulatory practice in central and local government in New Zealand.  

Prior to Civil Aviation and Maritime NZ Keith was in NZ Police (1977-89), and has worked at senior levels in the Commerce Commission (competition and fair trading law enforcement), Ministry of Consumer Affairs (consumer policy, information and education; trade measurement; electricity and gas safety), Department of Internal Affairs (gambling, censorship, anti money laundering, anti spam, identity and civil defence), Ministry of Social Development (benefit fraud, debt collection and data matching), and the Real Estate Agents Authority (licensing and compliance).

She is an experienced director and senior executive, having worked for public and private sector, and Iwi organisations. Linda has also served as a strategic advisor to several boards and chief executives.

The diversity of Linda’s experience is evidence of the innovation and adaptability that she brings to everything she does. Linda has a values-led approach, an entrepreneurial spirit, a real knack for building enduring partnerships, and getting things done!

Niamh relocated to New Zealand four years ago and is passionate about supporting founders and helping startups build sustainable businesses. 

He also spent five years in a number of emergency management leadership positions with the Victorian state government, including in aviation, and flew as an aerial observer throughout the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.

Although born and raised in New Zealand, Richard began his career as an Officer in the British Army, with roles including leading unmanned aviation operations over Afghanistan and managing specialist aviation training in the UK, Germany, Canada and the Middle East.

After retirement from the RNZAF, Shaun 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.

Since founding the business in 2006, Peter has grown Rocket Lab to become a globally recognised industry leader in space, and a billion-dollar company employing hundreds of world-class engineers.

In addition to creating Electron, the world’s first fully carbon-fibre, orbital launch vehicle, Peter also oversaw the development of the world’s first and only private orbital launch range, located on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula. He played a crucial role in establishing international treaties and legislation to enable orbital launch capability from New Zealand.

Under Peter’s guidance, Rocket Lab will launch thousands of small satellites to orbit, enabling vital science, research and services from orbit including weather monitoring, communications, technology demonstrations, and Earth-observation.

Immediately before to joining Pacific Channel, Ashwath spent three years as a Senior Commercialisation Manager at Wellington UniVentures (the commercialisation company of Victoria University of Wellington) focussing on developing academic entrepreneurs and university spinouts. Prior to that, Ashwath was a strategy and technology advisor with Accenture and Google with significant expertise in the healthcare and energy industry.

Ashwath is passionate about early-stage deep technologies and businesses and is also a director of Vortex Power Systems (a Pacific Channel portfolio company). Ashwath holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and PhD in mechanical engineering from University of Canterbury and an MBA from INSEAD.

In her current role at Beca Applied Technologies, Jess helps organisations to understand and define their most critical problems, and to develop and deploy robust solutions to meet them.

Jess holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from University of California at Santa Barbara, and a Master of Science in Physics from California State University Long Beach.

Prior to working for BVNZ, Kate spent 17 years’ serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, where she had a varied engineering career, from managing the maintenance of aircraft flying Antarctic resupply missions, to leading a team of engineers developing the airborne mission system for surveillance and reconnaissance.

Lisa currently sits on multiple Aviation and Aerospace Medicine councils internationally and in New Zealand and is in the early stages of the development of the New Zealand Space Health Research Center.

Argo Navis Aerospace grew from Malcolm’s experimental work on engines and belief that engine development times and hardware complexity can be significantly reduced. Argo Navis is now redefining rocket propulsion with technology that performs beautifully, scales gracefully, and can be manufactured more cost-effectively and reliably than anything else on the market.

Previously, Malcolm worked in the biomedical industry while completing a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Canterbury (UC). His experimental work in rocketry led to a PhD in rocket flight dynamics in the Electrical Engineering Department at UC. Outside the aerospace industry, Malcolm sails an R-Class skiff, develops hydrofoils and flight control systems, and experiments with precision target shooting.

Previously, she held a senior research position at the University of Oxford from 2013-2020, where she developed computational models for cooling systems in modern jet engines, in collaboration with industry and academia, to reduce the environmental impact of aviation.

After retirement from the RNZAF, Shaun 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.

With over 13 years’ experience in technology and entrepreneurship spanning multiple diverse businesses and industries, Troy has developed a framework for supporting the growth of commercial solutions to humanity’s most difficult challenges. Moonshot’s model represents the world’s first international network of prestigious partners and industry pioneers, including the Aldrin Space Institute and Axiom Space, the company behind the world’s first commercial space station. Troy was ranked the 13th most influential global new space business leader of the sector in the NewSpace People Global Ranking Report for 2020.

With a practical and approachable interpretation of what constitutes space, Troy is able to translate the intangible into very real opportunities that have clear commercial application across industries, from health to telecommunications and business functions, such as supply chain. Satellite imagery, zero gravity manufacturing, robotics, drones and Artificial Intelligence are all technologies that are innovating and maturing with application in the space industry.  JigSpace, a company involved in Moonshot’s accelerator program, was showcased by Apple in the recent launch of the iPhone 12, to demonstrate the capability of technology convergence in spatial computing for more accurate and immersive Augmented Reality.

Acknowledged for his differentiated expertise, Troy is sought after globally as a speaker and advisor by organizations and Government on the space industry and the emerging technologies that are enabling commercial optimization for both countries and businesses. 

Troy has an extensive background in computer science and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering from The University of Melbourne. He was invited to participate as an Engineer in Residence at The University of Melbourne, coordinating a practical, final semester Master of Engineering course and sharing industry experience with over 100 students to ensure industry readiness for Melbourne School of Engineering graduates.