Finalist for Defence Innovator of the Year

Chelly Litster has been appointed acting Managing Director for BMT’s Australian Defence and Security Business, the company announced on 12 October.

Based in Adelaide, Litster takes over the reins from Peter Behrendt, as he moves into his new role as BMT’s Global Strategy Director. Chelly is a seasoned business director with a strong focus on capability and has a breadth of experience managing and running companies across multiple disciplines. She joined BMT in 2018 and will now oversee the company’s defence and security operations in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

BMT has been listed as a finalist in the category of Defence Innovator of the Year in the 2020 Defence Connect Awards for the industry-leading Discrete Event Simulation software that supports Defence with managing major fleet lifecycle requirements. In addition, the company has been recognised for a digital defence training solution, ‘Warships 101 e-learning,’ that allows industry stakeholders to collectively share their diverse experiences and skills via a secure, digital, game-based/simulation learning platform.

“Our powerful Discrete Event Simulation modelling allows us to test multiple project outcomes to see which one is going to be the most effective and efficient before you even start,” Litster commented. “In addition to our success with modelling, our newly-launched digital training environment, including Warships 101, has meant that we have been able to continue to upskill government and industry resources […] As Australia embarks on an unprecedented shipbuilding programme, BMT’s courses are an essential component of ensuring the domestic defence industry remains well trained and informed about the critical elements of ship and submarine design and management.”