Insight Acumen was founded in February, 2010 by its current Managing Director, Mr Robert Brownie. The company makes use of its extensive industry knowledge across military and civil domains to provide solutions for its clients. These solutions are intended to provide enhanced business options to decision makers. IA is governed by a board of directors that focusses on the strategic development, corporate governance and sustainability of the company. Clients can thus be confident in the knowledge that they are dealing with a firm with a high level of commitment to corporate governance and ethical business behaviour.

Managing Director

Mr Robert Brownie

GradDipAppSc, GradCertSc, BSc, MIMC, AIMM

Chairman

Dr David Newman

MB, BS, DAvMed, PhD, MRAeS, FAICD, FAIM

Insight Acumen's Managing Director, Robert Brownie, has a unique set of skill sets and experiences, achieved during the only two jobs he has had in his life. He spent 21 years in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and five years at Boeing Defence Australia (BDA).

Rob's 21 years in the RAAF included:

• tour as a Navigator on the F-111C strike aircraft at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland

• tour as Navigator/Communicator and two tours as Tactical Coordinator (TACCO) on P-3C maritime patrol aircraft at RAAF Base Edinburgh, South Australia

• posting as Aviation Physiology Training Officer at the RAAF Institute of Aviation Medicine (AVMED)

• posting as P-3C projects desk officer in Capability Development Group, Russell Offices

Achievements in the RAAF included:

• award of the Australian Institute of Navigation prize for outstanding achievement by a Dux on RAAF Navigator Course

• TACCO on the Fincastle crew to represent Australia in Comox, Canada at the annual Commonwealth anti-submarine warfare (ASW) competition. The crew earned the right to represent Australia by winning the intra-squadron competition at 11 Squadron, followed by the 92 Wing inter-squadron Marconi ASW trophy fly-off. The crew finished equal 2nd overall in Comox.

• writing an aviation physiology paper during posting to AVMED published in Australia Defence Force's Flying Safety Spotlight, and subsequently reprinted in Nyala, the South African Air Force Aviation Safety Manual and Avmedia, the Journal of the Aeronautical Medical Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Rob's five years at BDA were spent as an operations analyst in the Systems Analysis Laboratory (SAL). The role included support for senior decision makers, in particular responsibility for air domain subject matter expertise, and three years involved with the virtual warfighting Joint Collaborative Experimentation - Boeing (JCEB) program. The transition into this role has been described as taking a warfighter and teaching them science. Boeing supported tertiary studies in the form of post-graduate programs in Operations Research and Statistics. Rob's job included extensive use of analysis, modelling, simulation and experimentation.

Achievements while at BDA included:

• internal award for exceptional service during 2008

• writing papers that were presented and published for Simulation Technology and Training (SimTecT) conference proceedings

• using a discrete event modelling software tool called ExtendSim to build a model of the Army Aviation Training and Training Support (AATTS) system. The model supported Global Services & Support division within Boeing Defence Australia and showed the impact of six concurrent aircrew courses on utilisation of flying instructors and aircraft. Other key metrics included throughput (students per year) and time to train.

Rob is a graduate of the University of Melbourne (BSc) and the University of New South Wales (GradDipAppSc, GradCertSc). He has also completed an international aerospace physiology course at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM), where a highlight was riding the centrifuge at Brooks AFB to 9G.

Rob is a member of several professional associations including the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) and Simulation Australia (formerly SIAA). He is a Certified Modelling and Simulation Professional (CMSP), and a Certified ExtendSim Consultant, one of only two entities in Australia to be granted that certification.

Rob has flown nearly 3,000 hours as aircrew in RAAF aircraft and holds a Commercial Pilots Licence, but faces the common challenge of finding the time to exercise the privileges of the licence.

Also see Rob's LinkedIn profile.

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Insight Acumen’s Chairman, David Newman, has over 20 years experience across a number of industries, including health, defence, aviation, tertiary education and strategic consulting.

He is currently the Managing Director of Flight Medicine Systems Pty Ltd, a company that provides highly specialised aviation medicine training, research, project management and consultancy services to the global aviation industry. He was previously an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force. He is also currently a chairman, director or member of several boards and committees in Australia and internationally, and is a consultant to various arms of the Australian Government.

David holds qualifications from a diverse range of institutions, such as Monash University (MB, BS), the Royal College of Physicians of London (DAvMed), and the University of Newcastle (PhD). He is also a Fellow of both the Australian Institute of Management and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

See David's LinkedIn profile for more detail.