About us
Board of Directors
Our leaders live the values and are accountable for overseeing the company’s operations.
Peter Hood AO
Peter Hood AO, Independent Non-Executive Chairman
Peter Hood AO is a qualified Chemical Engineer with over 50 years experience in senior management and project development in the mining, oil and gas, and chemical industries.
Peter was previously the CEO of Coogee Resources Ltd, a company involved in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the Timor Sea. Prior to this he was the CEO of Coogee Chemicals Pty Ltd where he oversaw a period of significant growth in the company’s market capitalisation.
Peter is currently a Non-Executive Director of De Grey Mining Ltd, GR Engineering Ltd and Cue Energy Resources Ltd and Chairman of MAK Industrial Water Systems Pty Ltd. Previously, he was the President of the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and also Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Australia. He was also Chairman of Apollo Gas Ltd and Vice-Chairman of the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA).
In the Australia Day 2020 honours list Peter received an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia. The citation associated with the award was “For distinguished service to business and commerce at the state, national and international level and to the resources sector”.
Education
- Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical), Melbourne University, Melbourne, 1970
- Graduate Diploma of Administration, Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University of Technology), Perth, 1974
- Advanced Management Program, Harvard Business School, 1997
Memberships/Committees
- Fellow-Australian Institute of Company Directors
- Fellow-Institute of Chemical Engineers
- Member-Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Aaron Begley
Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer
Aaron Begley has over 20 years of experience in developing, commercialising, manufacturing and internationally marketing engineered products for the Oil & Gas, Defence and Resources Sectors. Experienced in Management, Strategy, Industrial Marketing, Export Marketing and Distribution, Product Development, Research and Development and Advanced Manufacturing, Aaron has also accumulated significant experience in the commercialisation and production of engineered products manufactured from advanced materials to a state of the art global standard.
Prior to his current role as Chief Executive Officer, Aaron held various positions within Matrix Composites & Engineering since starting with the company in 1993, including Managing Director and Marketing Manager. Throughout his tenure, Aaron has taken the company from a local heavy engineering firm to a global market leader in the manufacture of engineered products and advanced materials.
Education
- Post Graduate Diploma of Management, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, 2002
- Bachelor of Economics, University of Western Australia, Perth, 1993
Memberships
- Australian Institute of Company Directors
- Australian Innovation Research Group
- Society of Petroleum Engineers
- International Association of Drilling Contractors
- Young Presidents Organisation
Steven Cole
Independent Non-Executive Director
Steven Cole has over 40 years legal, business, corporate and directorial experience. Mr. Cole is the Managing Director of Cole Corporate, a boutique corporate and governance consultancy firm. Prior to this role he operated a corporate and financial legal practice as a senior equity partner with Allens Arthur Robinson, a leading national and Asian law firm.
His extensive boardroom and board sub-committee experience encompasses ASX listed companies in the resources, professional services, agribusiness, property management and industrial sectors, as well as a number of public sector and charitable/not for profit (NFP) appointments.
Mr Cole currently Chairs ASX listed Neometals Ltd (lithium, vanadium, battery recycling), Perth Markets Group Limited (WA fresh produce markets), QE11 Medical Centre Trust (statutory authority) as well as two proprietary investment trusts. Previously, Mr Cole was also WA State President and national board member of AICD and Vice President of CCIWA.
Education
- Bachelor of Laws (Hons), University of Western Australia, 1972
- Barristers’ Board Examinations, Western Australia, 1973
- Wharton Business School – Corporate Governance Program, 2010
- Harvard – Corporate Governance Program, 2015
Craig Duncan
Independent Non-Executive Director
Craig Duncan has more than 35 years’ experience in the petroleum and mining industries in Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He was previously a Drilling Superintendent at Apache Energy for 12 years and was responsible for managing well construction operations. Prior to this role, Craig was involved in manufacturing specialised equipment for the gold mining industry.
Education
- Graduate Diploma in Petroleum Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2005
Chris Sutherland
Independent Non-Executive Director
Chris is an experienced executive who has held senior management positions in various engineering, maintenance and contracting businesses with operations in Australia, Asia, Europe and the USA.
For 20 years, Chris was in various engineering and management roles with leading engineering companies including Clough and WorleyParsons, and had significiant involvement with the construction and maintenance of major oil and gas facilities on the North West Shelf, and in the Timor Sea and South East Asia. In 2006 Chris was appointed CEO of Integrated Group, an ASX listed company that was subsequently acquired by Programmed in 2007.
Chris was then appointed Managing Director and Group CEO of Programmed from January 2008 until his retirement September 2019. Programmed was a major public listed ASX company until October 2017 when it was acquired (for an enterprise value of $1 Billion) by the major Japanese company Persol who are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Programmed is a leading staffing, maintenance and facility management services provider with revenue in excess of $2.4 Billion and more than 25,000 employees across Australia and New Zealand.
Chris was a member on the Board for 4 years (2012-2016) of the Australian OHS Education Accreditation Board. Chris was also a co-founder and Chair of a Perth-based group CEOs for Gender Equity. In November 2017 Chris was awarded the Australian Human Resources Institute CEO Diversity Champion Award (AHRI).
Chris has now commenced a non-executive director career as well as pursuing a number of private business interests.
Chris currently is a non executive Director of Matrix, a public ASX listed company and Chairman of three unlisted emerging companies, Remsense (technology), Stelect (medical device) and Copper Search Australia (mineral exploration).
Education
- Bachelor of Engineering (UWA)
- Advanced Mangement Program (Harvard Business School)