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About.

Nucleate is an independent, Australian-sovereign advisory firm specialising in nuclear technical services.

Our team of engineers and scientists work with defence, government and civil nuclear clients across the full program lifecycle.

Nuclear technical advice that enables delivery.

Nuclear technical
advice that enables delivery.

Jonathan Armstrong

Profile

Jonathan is Founder and Director of Nucleate Pty Ltd. With over 20 years of civil and naval nuclear experience in the UK and Australia, he combines deep technical expertise with executive leadership. He has held Design Authority responsibility for nuclear fuel and reactor safety analysis and delivered complex nuclear safety case programmes. Jonathan has established and scaled three specialist organisations, led teams of more than 100 professionals, and served on the Executive Leadership Team of a 1000-strong global consultancy. A strategic thinker, he has helped senior leaders build nuclear capability, frameworks and processes.

Jonathan holds a First-Class Physics degree and is a Companion and Engineering Executive of Engineers Australia. He founded Nucleate to create a new sovereign, independent, and trusted source of expertise to help Australia deliver its nuclear ambitions.

Dr Ian Watson

Profile

Ian is Founder and Director of Nucleate Pty Ltd. With more than 20 years’ international experience in systems engineering, engineering management and technical leadership, he has built and led high-performing engineering teams delivering complex projects across the defence, nuclear, infrastructure and transport sectors. Since moving to Australia in 2011, Ian has established and grown a successful engineering consultancy, supporting government and industry clients on some of Australia’s most complex and highly regulated programs. His expertise spans engineering strategy, governance, requirements management, technical assurance and organisational capability development.

A Chartered Professional Engineer and Fellow of Engineers Australia, Ian founded Nucleate to bring together experienced practitioners committed to technical excellence, trusted advice and the development of Australia’s sovereign engineering capability.

Damien Farrell OAM

Profile

Damien Farrell, OAM, is Founder and Director of Nucleate Pty Ltd. He has more than 30 years’ Defence experience, both with the ADF delivering complex capability programs, and with Industry as a consultancy leader in Australia and the UK. He brings deep systems engineering experience and has led multi-disciplinary teams on major naval, space, surveillance and land domain programs. Across complex stakeholder environments, he has established requirements frameworks that drive traceability, accountability and sound investment decisions.

Damien holds a Masters of Engineering Science and is a Chartered Engineer, Engineering Executive and Fellow of Engineers Australia. He was awarded an OAM for meritorious service in space surveillance whilst in Defence, testament to his commitment to delivering sovereign capability for Australia.

Our values

Care

“what do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?”

George Eliot

I’m often asked, “what’s the silver bullet that makes a great advisory firm?” My answer can disappoint. There is no one thing. Rather, success comes from doing many things well – big and small. Getting the strategy right, getting the details right. Taking time to truly understand. What ties it all together is care. Care for our clients, care for our people, care for the impact of the work we do.

Jonathan, Founder

Trust

“without trust, we cannot stand”

Confucius

Covey wrote, “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” I agree. We earn trust through keeping commitments, handling information with care, and showing up consistently. The hardest problems rarely have clear answers. Trust in our people gives clients confidence to begin anyway, and belief we will find the best path together.

Ian, Founder

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