The board of Autonomous Robotics Ltd (ARL) has appointed Rear Admiral (retired) Jon Westbrook CBE and Commodore (retired) Phillip Titterton CBE as defence advisor to the board and defence consultant respectively.
Rear Admiral Westbrook retired in 2013 after a distinguished career in the Royal Navy, which culminated as Chief of Staff Allied Maritime Command Naples and Senior National Representative Italy. Since his retirement, Rear Admiral Westbrook has undertaken board level advisory roles in technologically advanced companies in the maritime and security sectors, including Advisory Board Member to Autonomous Surface Vehicles Ltd. He has also undertaken an independent review of a strategic level safety process on behalf of the MoD and been a member of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body, which makes recommendations on pay and allowances to the Prime Minister.
During his career in the Royal Navy, Commodore Titterton held a number of senior roles, including, most recently, Deputy Director Combined Joint Operations of the Sea Centre of Excellence, Norfolk, Virginia prior to his retirement in March 2018.
ARL is focused on the development of its autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and the board has also welcomed additional engineering staff to the company. Abhinav Bharti (lead software engineer) and Ella Richards (lead mechanical engineer) have joined the team led by Arran Holloway, ARL’s Engineering Director.
In addition to these appointments, the company informed that Rafael Albea has resigned from his position as CEO to pursue other opportunities.
Dave Grant , executive chairman of ARL, said: “We are delighted to have secured the services of Jon Westbrook and Phillip Titterton, both of whom bring a wealth of experience in the defence sector. We are also pleased that Abhinav Bharti and Ella Richards have chosen to join us which we anticipate will accelerate the development of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).”
“On behalf of the Company I would like to thank Rafael for his contribution during his time with ARL and wish him every success for the future.”