ABOUT

Engineer first. Everything else followed.

I have spent over 30 years working in telecommunications, networking, and management roles, having had the privilege to be CTO, Technical Director and CEO — and I have been instrumental in helping businesses grow.

In 2013 I started an e-commerce business called SJW Gems that let me combine my love for technology with my interest in gemstones, built to give me the freedom to travel and work from anywhere. I also serve as a council member for GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group), providing strategic insights and consulting in telecommunications, Internet, and technology to organizations worldwide.

Beyond work, I'm committed to giving back: I've volunteered as an SME mentor, served as Treasurer for Friends of the Western Ground Parrot, and earned a Graduate Gemologist certification from the Gemological Institute of America. I thrive on challenges and am driven by a passion for innovation and excellence.

Perth, Western Australia CTO · CEO · Director · Founder GIA Graduate Gemologist GLG Council Member

A history of firsts

1990 — TODAY

Innovation isn't a buzzword when you can date-stamp it. A selection of things I built before they had names.

1990 First Distributed LAN (later called collapsed backbone) using Lattisnet/Synoptics — Davey Mckey Pacific

1992 High speed LAN for Dept. of Nuclear Medicine, Monash Medical & Sir Charles Gardiner Hospitals — Health

1994 Largest geographic coverage ISP in Australia — TPG Internet

1995 Ubiquitous, affordable Internet at $1/hour Australia-wide — TPG Internet

1996 2Mbps CBD very low cost WAN solution — TPG

1997 2nd largest ISP in Australia — One.Net / One.Tel

1997 Commercial grade VoIP and telco "bypass" — One.Tel

1998 First 1Gbps backbone / 100Mbps-to-desktop multimedia campus network in Australia — One.Tel

1999 2nd largest wholesale IP backbone provider, hybrid satellite/terrestrial — Paradox Digital

2001 Intrinsically safe service station forecourt multimedia solution — Cap Gemini Ernst & Young

2002 First commercial MPLS WAN/MAN in Australia — Swiftel

2003 Remote storage (now called Cloud) solutions — Swiftel

2004 Lowest cost producer ISP — Exetel

2005 Bandwidth management automation integrating SQL/Cisco IOS — Exetel

2006 Regional 4G distance 20km+ extension — Exetel

2007 Integrated "one office" international office solutions — Exetel

2008 Staff training / career progression / goal setting system — Exetel

2009 Customer service AI initiative — Exetel

2010 Datacentre cost reduction "ambient cooling" design — Exetel

2011 Internship and scholarship initiative in Sri Lanka — Exetel

2013 Fully integrated, mostly automated international business model — SJW Gems

2015 Automated site-wide price updates for corundum — SJW Gems

2017 Colour and grading system for gold sheen sapphire — SJW Gems