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BOB HOOD
Principal Consultant

Bob has over 40 years’ engineering experience within the RAAF and Australian Industry in the fields of structural integrity management, design and analysis, and aircraft manufacturing on civil and military aircraft types. He provides an advisory role for company engineers and is currently Vice President of the Vertical Flight Society Australian Chapter where he coordinates the biannual international conference and reviews submission papers for technical and presentation content.

His experience in structural integrity management was gained as a RAAF Engineering Officer on C130 aircraft wing refurbishment, as well as airworthiness management of Mirage and Macchi aircraft. He planned, supervised, and managed extensive modification and structural enhancement programs of these aircraft types.

Specific knowledge gained on how to manage continued airworthiness using inspection processes. Further application of knowledge was applied during full scale fatigue testing programs of these aircraft by defence funded industry programs and when manager of the development program for the Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) for the F/A-18 aircraft.

He has developed extensive practical and analytical skills in classical stress analysis of metallics and composites, fatigue and damage tolerance analysis methods and material testing to recognised standards. Analysis skills cover knowledge of approved fracture analysis software and extensive experience of where to examine an aircraft for possible structural integrity failure sites.

Bob spent time at RMIT University where he participated in research activities as a key research leader for the AMRL, Centre of Expertise in Aerodynamic Loading supervising research into aircraft loads and data analysis. He supervised two PhD students in these areas and was commended for the innovation of the PhD work presented.

He has lectured and conducted workshops on aircraft design and analysis at the company and at Universities in Australia and overseas. He was an approved CAR 35 engineer and is familiar with the CASA processes and documentation required for aircraft certification and continuing airworthiness.

STEVEN KARAKOSTAS
Operations Director

Steven is an Aerospace Engineer with over 17 years’ experience working with leading aerospace organisations including Boeing Defence Australia, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, GippsAero, Spirit AeroSystems, Gulfstream, GKN, as well as a number of Australian Department of Defence agencies.

He is experienced in managing static and F&DT projects and teams, running both technical and Project Management components. His skills include classical static stress analysis, as well as linear static, non-linear static and random vibration finite element analysis. Steven also has experience in fatigue and damage tolerance analysis, focusing on life estimation for design, certification, and in-service support. Throughout this time, he has held internal and customer delegated engineering authority.

While with Quartek, Steven has worked supporting Australia’s defence industry on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft platforms.

Steven has a proven history in leading and managing the successful delivery of both military and civil projects. He is passionate about engaging with project stakeholders to enable successful execution of projects from inception to delivery.

Steven has a Bachelor’s (Hons) degree in Aerospace Engineering, an Advanced Diploma of Engineering (Aerospace Mechanical), as well as an Associate Diploma of Engineering (Aerospace Systems). He enjoys travelling with his growing family, is a keen AFL fan and enjoys watching his beloved Blues.

PAUL DONALD
General Manager Consulting

Paul is a veteran, business leader and engineer with over 35 years of worldwide experience in defence gained with the Royal Air Force, Australian SMEs and global corporates.

In the RAF he was deployed worldwide, including a 4-year secondment to NATO (Munich) and 3 years in the Middle East. A native Scot and proud Australian he has led professional consulting services organisations and business growth in international defence companies.

Paul has great respect for defence personnel and passionately believes our forces deserve the best support and equipment. Most recently he pursued and set up Australian support for the F-35 and is a keen follower of defence technology and strategy. At NATO Paul led international aircraft sustainment teams. In Australia he won and delivered multiple sustainment programs and upgrades across aerospace, land and rail.

Paul has an BSc in Engineering and holds a Masters of Defence Administration from Cranfield University (MBA) and is committed to a program of lifelong learning. He enjoys everything with gourmet in the description, supports North Melbourne and spends odd times of the night watching European football.

FRANK CORICA
Commercial Director

Frank is an Aerospace Engineer and project manager with over 17 years’ experience in the aviation industry, working with clients on projects within both the commercial and defence sectors. This includes Boeing Defence Australia, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, GKN, Gulfstream and Honeywell, as well as a number of Australian Department of Defence agencies.

Frank’s career highlights include working on new major design projects such as the Lockheed Martin F35 JSF, Airbus A350, AirbusA400M military transport and Gulfstream G250, performing engineering analysis on a range of metallic and composite primary and secondary structures. Throughout this time, he has held various levels of internal and customer delegated engineering authority, responsible for ensuring engineering quality and process compliance.

As a project manager, Frank has a successful track record delivering on numerous international projects to meet project KPIs and delivering customer satisfaction. He is passionate about developing strong business relationships, built on trust and integrity, and creating value through continuous engineering development and engineering automation.

At Quartek, Frank has developed and established the company’s ISO9001 Accredited QMS and remains the quality focal for the company. He is currently providing engineering support to Australia’s defence industry on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.

Frank has a Bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Aerospace Engineering (RMIT), during which time he also obtained his Private Pilot’s Licence. He enjoys spending time at the beach with his family and restoring his dad’s 1968 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super.

ELLIOTT HAWTHORNE
Engineering Director

Elliott is an Aerospace Engineer with over 15 years’ experience working on aerospace structures, specialising in composite structures. This experience includes working onsite within Australia in Sydney and Newcastle and internationally in Malaysia, China, USA and UK with customers and suppliers.

Throughout this time, he has worked on the JSF program, COMAC C919, single aisle Airbus family jets, A400M military transport and A380 Superjumbo jet on a range of composite and metallic primary and secondary structures.

During his time at Quartek, Elliott has worked supporting Australia’s defence industry on transport and surveillance platforms. This has included designing and supporting the manufacture of ground support equipment, aircraft structures and mechanical systems.

Elliott has been a technical specialist and team lead on projects involving in excess of twenty engineers, managing customer communication and team members and the delivery of engineering solutions and documentation. He has held various levels of internal and customer delegated engineering authority, responsible for ensuring engineering quality and rigor.

Elliott strongly believes in the philosophy of working smarter not harder, by taking advantage of computer aided processing to streamline repetitive processes and to best make use of individual time and expertise.

Elliott has a Bachelors (F.C. Hons) degree in Aerospace Engineering. He is a long time Melbourne Victory member and a passionate motorsport fan.

BRETT THOMPSON
Senior Engineer

Brett is an aerospace engineer with over 15 years’ experience, split between commercial and defence industries, working with new aircraft developed by Boeing, Gulfstream Aerospace, Lockheed Martin and Airbus. He has also supported several significant engineering programs for the Australian Defence Department.

During his time in industry Brett has developed significant skills and capabilities enabling him to undertake all facets of stress analysis including the practical application of Finite Element Methods in combination with classical analysis methods, as well as fatigue and damage tolerance analysis of aircraft structures.

A highlight of his career thus far has been working with Gulfstream Aerospace on the development and implementation of full scale structural certification testing on the G500 and G600 aircraft.

Brett has a bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Aerospace Engineering (RMIT). He is also a dedicated martial artist, currently training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and enjoys spending his down time with his young family.

MATTHEW GOLDSTRAW
Managing Director

Matthew is an Aerospace Structures Engineer with over 25 years in program / project management, client facing, team lead and technical roles working with global industry leaders, tier one suppliers, government organisations and SME’s.

He is experienced with managing international clients, stakeholders and projects, maintaining budgets, controlling deliverables and leading technical teams.

Matthew is highly regarded within the industry both in Australia, the US and Europe as an experienced leader, project manager and technical specialist. His career spans the aerospace, defence and automotive sectors, including four years working at Airbus in Germany and Fokker in the Netherlands.

Matthew strongly believes that Australian engineers are world class and is a passionate advocate of this. He helped found Quartek to establish a new way of promoting their skills, recognising their abilities and fostering their talents in an environment built on trust.

Matthew has both a Master’s and Bachelor’s (Hons) degree in Aerospace Engineering, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance. He enjoys spending time with his family, follows the Hawks and is a keen surfer.