Our People

Goran founded Rubicon in 2015 and provides ongoing direction and leadership to the team.

He is a professional engineer (mechanical/marine/naval architect) with 30 years of experience across a wide range of industries including shipbuilding and ship repair (both commercial and Defence), oil and gas, mining, and aerospace.

Goran’s vast international experience has seen him work on numerous Defence and Commercial ship/marine structures covering design, integration, construction, installation, and repair projects. He has led several multidisciplinary teams internationally in delivering EPCM shipbuilding/marine structure projects.

Goran is a Chartered Engineer (Australia & UK) and Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects.

Ben Hemphill leads our Cairns Team in the role of Business Development and Office Manager. 

Ben is returning (almost) full circle as a former Australian Naval Officer, where he was employed for 13 years, fulfilling postings in a Destroyer, Frigate, and later Patrol Boats. Ben was elevated in his career with the Navy to the position of Executive Officer, with responsibility for leading an armed team and training new officers. His last posting was to the Marshall Islands, where he managed the Pacific Patrol Boat Project.  

After leaving the Navy, Ben has worked across various sectors including sea freight services, air traffic control and traffic management services, as well as building and construction products – as Regional Manager for Stramit and Laminex. 

In his spare time, Ben has been a volunteer Coast Guard (for 10 years) and is current Director and Treasurer of the RSL Cairns Sub Branch. 

With his professional IT background, skills in leadership, sales and business development, office management, staff training and development, Ben will be sure to keep us engineers in line! 

Malcolm has over 30 years of experience holding senior management positions in the marine (shipbuilding and ship-repair), heavy engineering (SMP) and offshore oil and gas industries in Australia, and South Africa. 

During his extensive career, he has gained exposure and broad in-depth experience in the fields of production/project management, commercial/business development, contracts/bid proposals, strategic and change management, as well as general management.  

He has been responsible for projects in both the Defence and Commercial industry in the billion-dollar value range.  

Malcolm holds an MBA (Technology Management) from Deakin University and has original qualifications in Naval Architecture gained in the UK.

Ian Cruickshank’s career spans 38 years in marine engineering, and project and engineering management in the Defence and Commercial sectors.

Ian has fulfilled roles such as ILS Manager during the Collins Class submarine acquisition contract, Engineering Manager & Test & Trials Manager for the Huon Class Minehunter ship design, build and in-service program; Project Engineering Manager and Navy’s Principal Engineer for the SEA 1654-3 AOR for both the Capability, and the Sustainment development and implementation; as well as other roles within the Department of Defence, FISSO and CASG. He has also provided program assurance services for the Anzac ship project.

Outside of Defence, Ian has worked as an Engineering Manager in rail with experience in design through to disposal of locomotives and rolling stock.

Ian’s role supports Rubicon Associates’ business process across all programs to ensure client best outcomes.

Sebastian is a Mechanical (Marine) Engineer with 6+ years of experience in the design, build and delivery of mechanical systems. He has been involved in various design and build projects across many Royal Australian Navy and Australian Border Force vessels, including ANZACs, HMAS CHOULES, Cape Class Patrol Boats, Bay Class Patrol Boats, Hydrographic Survey Ships and commercial superyachts.

Sebastian also draws on his experience as a Ship’s Engineer at sea. This includes time as the Owners’ representative, 3rd Engineer on a new build superyacht project at Lürssen Kröger Werft Shipyard, North Germany, as well as serving time on the Offshore Service Vessels in the North Sea.

Sebastian’s role as Design and Engineering Manager provides leadership to the Design team in meeting our company strategic objectives, fulfilling operational plans, and supporting proposal and project management delivery.  He also oversees the monitoring and delivery of all Design Delivery activities.

As well, Sebastian is the Lead Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) Engineer at Rubicon Associates, and is currently undertaking his Master’s degree in Systems and Reliability Engineering at UNSW.

Ivan is an experienced Mechanical Systems Engineer, ILS Manager and Project Manager with over 20 years’ experience within the Defence industry.

Ivan has worked for Defence primes Transfield Services, Thales and BAE Systems (Tenix Group) and was previously the Senior Regional Project Support Services Manager for Broadspectrum, overseeing Victoria and Tasmanian Defence Assets. He has worked on a number of RAN platforms, including the ANZAC Class Frigates, Armadale Class Patrol Boats and HMAS Sirius.

He also spent four years working in the commercial maritime sector as the International In-service Support Manager for the BIGA Group Ltd.

Ivan contributes his expertise across Rubicon Associates’ portfolio of projects.