About – WaveX

renewable energy from the other 50% of the planet

About us

Wavex was started by a bunch of offshore engineers, who wanted to make a difference and transfer their existing skills into the emerging green economy.

Since then we have completed a number of scale model tests which are backed by our numerical simulator which verifies the performance of our floating structure. We are now moving out of the tank and to a large scale prototype as we approach pre-commercialisation.

Leadership Team

Matt Allen

Director

Tracie Clark

Director

Simon Renwick

Managing Director

Advisory Team

Danielle Eaton

Legal and IP

Peter Byrne

Electrical and Control Systems

Dr Matt Keys

Offshore Structures

Tony Mizzi

Intangible Asset Specialist

Graham Prentice

Commercial and Supply Chain Management

Phil Jefferys

Business Strategy and Stakeholder Engagement

Mike Watkins

Project Management and Engineering

We will be the home for a dedicated team of professionals seeking to transfer their skillset from existing industries to the new global green economy.

Our core values

Respect for people

Do what we say we will do

Judge by what we leave behind

Measure twice, cut once

Return to community

Graham Prentice

BSc.(QS), MCIPS

Commercial and Supply Chain Management

Graham has 30 years’ experience in various commercial management roles mainly on large oil and gas, resource and renewable industry EPCI infrastructure projects for both owners and contractors alike, including BP, Santos, Talisman Energy, Technip and DOF Subsea. Most recently Graham has held an advisory role with renewable energy start-up Protean Energy and a regional directorship for OGCS Global, a commercial, contracts and project controls consultancy business.

Graham’s key strengths are market and economic analysis, commercial / contract strategy development, implementation, negotiation and claims management as well as strategic sourcing and supply chain management. Graham also played a key role in the development of a strategic joint venture in AP between Technip and Subsea7.

Tracie Clark

Director

Tracie is a renowned advisor and investment professional with over 23 years of experience in investment management, financial services, accounting and business strategy.

She has founded two successful financial services businesses, worked in senior leadership teams and as a consultant. Tracie is heavily involved in the start-up community and has a passion for supporting innovation and mentoring future entrepreneurs.

Tracie holds a bachelor of commerce in Accounting and Business Law, is a Certified Practising Accountant, and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Tracie’s skillsets are an exceptional compliment to WaveX’ engineering and projects background, and her governance and strategic credentials will help ensure WaveX remains on-track on its pathway to commercialisation.

Dr Matt Keys

BEng Civil (hons), PhD

Offshore Structures

Matt is the Global Technical Authority for Offshore Structures at Kent, a leader in the design, building and maintenance of energy assets with more than 13,000 people in over 34 countries – involvement in over 60% of the worlds fixed and floating offshore Oil & Gas and Offshore Wind assets.

He has worked as a Structural Engineer and Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) specialist in other wave energy start-ups, before moving to Atkins and now Kent. Matt has a PhD from the University of Western Australia in CFD simulation of dynamic structures and is currently the Deputy Chair of the Australian Standards committee responsible for developing International Standards in the Oil & Gas and Low Carbon Energy industries. Matt has been involved with the technology at WaveX for several years and his academic guidance combined with industry leading experience has been pivotal to driving the technology to where it is today.

Peter Byrne

BEng (Electrical)

Electrical and Control Systems

Peter has over 30 years of experience in the mining, energy and resources industry with extensive experience in power generation and distribution. He has managed all stages of the electrical project lifecycle including studies, design, execution and commissioning.

Optimisation of plants, fault finding and solving difficult issues with innovative design is his speciality. Peter combines his theoretical knowledge with hands-on practical experience – having led large commissioning teams where advanced knowledge of the electrical, mechanical and controls systems and their interfaces is essential. Peter’s decades of experience is directly related to integrating and managing our onboard Power Take-Off (PTO) and control systems, including instrumentation and communications facilities.

Tony Mizzi

Intangible Asset Specialist

With over 30 years in the industry, Tony has extensive experience across every aspect of invention protection. His unrivalled experience in the prosecution of Australian and foreign patent applications gives him a wide view of the underlying commercial value of patents. He knows that IP protection is only valuable to the extent it aligns with your business objectives.

Tony specialises in the patenting of mechanical, electrical, mining, oil and gas, renewables and general engineering-related inventions in Australia and abroad. In particular, Tony has noteworthy skills in drilling equipment, fluid motors, agricultural machines, heavy haul rail and road transport, oil and gas equipment and infrastructure.

Tony has been trusted by returning clients for more than 30 years, which is a testament to his knowledge, integrity and excellence.

Mike Watkins

BEng (Civil)

Project Management and Engineering

Over 30 years in the Oil and Gas Industry with particular expertise in delivery of major offshore projects. Experience includes Concept Select, FEED, Front End Loading, contracting strategy preparation and contract management, management of engineering, fabrication, offshore installation and HUC. Over 5 years of this time was spent as General Manager of a global contracting company.

Phil Jefferys

MBA, BSc/BE, Grad Dip Applied Finance and Investment.

Business Strategy and Stakeholder Engagement

A resources industry leader with over 20 years experience in Australia, Asia, Africa and South America. Substantial experience leading global companies across mining (BHP), Consulting (BCG), and Engineering (Worley).

Specialties: Strategy development, business planning, financial analysis and valuation, project delivery.

Danielle Eaton

BA, LLB (Distinction), MAICD

Legal and IP

Danielle has 20 years’ experience in commercial litigation with King & Wood Mallesons and most recently, Quinn Emanuel, the largest law firm in the world devoted solely to business litigation and arbitration. Danielle specialised in handling disputes for corporates and individuals across the finance, industrial and resources industries including an ASX 20 listed company. Successful in partnering with business teams to deliver commercial objectives while mitigating legal risks. Effective at building trusted relationships across an organisation. Experienced in evaluating legal risks in the commercial context, providing strategic and pragmatic legal advice and managing the legal function to ensure efficient use of resources and to align with strategic and operational plans.

Danielle’s key strengths are strategic and commercial advice and the ability to identify innovative ways to deliver stakeholder value.

Simon Renwick

BEng (Civil), MSc (Renewable Energy)

Managing Director

More than 25 years as an engineer and manager of large scale offshore, industrial projects. In the wave energy space, Simon has previously worked for Energetech, Pelamis Wave Power and consulted on Carnegie Clean Energy technology. In oil and gas, Simon has been a team leader for scopes across some of the largest and most innovative projects in the world, including Gorgon (US$50B), Prelude (US$20B) and NRB (US$5B) encompassing engineering design, procurement, construction and commissioning.

Following his UWA honours project in 1998 – “hydrodynamic motion of spar buoys”, it wasn’t after completion of his work in Europe with Pelamis, that the concept for the WaveX technology was borne – looking to bring together lessons learned from his wave energy experience, uniquely combined with his knowledge from the oil and gas industry. Over the years, this led to collaboration with the University of Western Australia to move through TRL 1-5.

Simon has been a founding Director of a number of SME’s including an offshore engineering consultancy, subsea construction company, offshore personnel access services provider, and a solar farm O&M business.

He “quit his job” in October 2022 to pursue the vision of WaveX on a full time basis and is using his extensive professional network to ensure the commercialisation of this technology.

Matt Allen

GAICD, EMBA, BEng (Nav Arch), BTech (Marine)

Director

ECO Magazine Top 10 Ocean Influencer 2019. Blue economy start-up founder and successful exit to ASX listed business in 2022. As a Company Director and Marine Engineer, Matt brings 30 years delivering projects for tier one offshore energy companies. His strengths in strategic planning, project execution and corporate governance combine with an extensive network as a leader in the blue economy.

Culminating in 2020, Matt successfully led a team to patent and then globally license the IP for an underwater stabilisation technology, a team which included Shell in The Hague and The Oceans Graduate School at UWA in Perth.

Matt has an excellent understanding of both the challenges and the opportunities facing the wave energy and the blue economy and is uniquely placed to realise the commercial development of the WaveX technology.