Following a successful business development visit to Eurosatory in Paris in June, Mineseeker  CEO Edward Cross shall be attending the Farnborough Air Show which starts on 19th July.  Farnborough Air Show attracts thousands of exhibitors and visitors from the private, commercial, civil and military aerospace sectors, and is the premier European showcase for emerging technologies.

“Some excellent business and partner opportunities were discovered at Eurosatory in Paris” said Edward Cross, “and Farnborough is the perfect forum to progress these.  Attending Farnborough not only allows Mineseeker Operations to stay right up to date with current and future technology, but it also gives us the opportunity to network and develop business strategies with potential customers and partners”.

Edward Cross has a brief to foster relationships with companies at the forefront of aerial systems innovation, in order to keep Mineseeker Operations at the leading edge of industry developments, with particular emphasis on opportunities to work with remotely operated aircraft and UAVs. He is also holding a watching brief for Quasar on potential breakthrough products in the aerial- and ground-based surveillance market.

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Mineseeker Operations has announced detailed information about the ground-breaking technology it is to implement shortly in a concerted effort to rid war-torn areas globally of landmines.

The existing Mineseeker GPSAR compact portable sensor can record data from more than 500 acres per hour, utilising a carrier-phase differential GPS (global position system) for precise geo-positioning. The radar, developed by a USA supplier and extensively tested, has been enhanced by the addition of new Multi Spectral Imaging (MSI) technology developed by a UK company. This highly sophisticated visual thermal, infra-red and geo-referenced imaging system will be fused with the radar imagery to provide a complete picture of ground surveyed from the air.

The Multi Spectral Imaging (MSI) Process

Mineseeker will utilise helicopters and light aircraft to operate the systems in the field.

Edward Cross, CEO of Mineseeker Operations said “The GPSAR will show surface and sub-surface indications, with a ground breaking geo-referenced visual mosaic layer giving a detailed view of the area and the thermal image and infra-red layers will provide crucial additional information, allowing end users to have access to the maximum amount of essential information.’’

“The combination of such advanced and accurate systems will, for the first time, provide a total picture of landmine sites and enable highly effective mapping which will, in turn, support rapid mine clearance efforts.’’

“Mineseeker’s approach heralds a new era in landmine clearance, one in which areas riddled with mines and other unexploded ordnance will be subject to complete scrutiny and subsequently cleared for release to agricultural purposes.’’

“For the people living in countries affected by the landmine scourge, this is life-changing.”

Mineseeker Operations is planning to demonstrate the combined GPSAR and Multi Spectral Imaging system in Croatia.

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Mineseeker Operations has appointed two new key members within its strategic management team.

Chief Executive Edward Cross and Commercial Director Mark Dorey will be at the forefront of Mineseeker Operations’ global business development.

“We are planning definitive demonstrations of the unique Mineseeker landmine detection technology, which will save thousands of lives and return war-torn land to much-needed agricultural use,” said Mineseeker Operations Executive Chairman Mike Kendrick.

“Mineseeker will meet humanitarian needs across the world and to this end we are delighted to have made such significant appointments – it is these people who will ensure we offer our customers the very best landmine detection programmes available.”

“I am delighted that Edward has joined us as Chief Executive Officer, as he brings a superb combination of commercial and operational expertise,” said Mike Kendrick.

“Not only has he secured numerous multi-million pound contracts for previous companies, but he has also deployed and managed complex operations in remote, extreme and post-conflict environments in Europe, India, the Middle and Far East and many African countries.”

Edward Cross, who lives in Pershore, Worcestershire, trained as a British Army officer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the Staffordshire Regiment and was posted on operational tour, during which he led counter-insurgency operations in hostile environments.

On leaving the army, Edward pursued a successful sales and business development career in the IT industry, before joining a leading commercial mine clearance and oil services company as head of business development.

He then took a new mine clearance company to market and within six months the company had secured its first contract, with seismic survey company Western Geco, followed by a multi-million pound contract with the United Nations. During the time Edward was in charge, the company doubled revenue year on year for four successive years.

Mark Dorey, from Market Drayton, Shropshire, graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc in Economics and Finance and subsequently trained as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers).

He worked as Group Financial Controller for a listed marketing services group, before moving to PepsiCo as an international accountant working in both Spain and Turkey.

Mark joined the Virgin Group where he worked with Mike Kendrick for almost 10 years, holding a number of directorships within Virgin’s aerial advertising and marketing services division and acting as Chief Operating Officer of The Lightship Group, managing the largest fleet of commercial airships ever operated.

During his time at Virgin, Mark negotiated a number of multi-million dollar, international contracts with blue chip clients such as Goodyear, Sanyo and Blockbuster Entertainment as well as setting up businesses in Singapore and Brazil. He was also a founding director of Mineseeker and involved in negotiating the original agreements with DERA (now QinetiQ).

“Mark has extensive international business experience and an ability to deliver commercial solutions in complex environments,” commented Mike Kendrick. “I am delighted to be working with him again.”

Mineseeker Operations plans to use a unique ground-penetrating radar system that can detect landmines from an aerial platform – a small plane or helicopter – combined with a GPS and video mosaic system that will accurately map minefields and produce detailed photographic images of affected areas.
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Mineseeker Operations Chief Executive Edward Cross and Commercial Director Mark Dorey

Prior to her work for Mineseeker Operations, she was practice lead for social media for OneAccord LLC, designing strategic web applications for organizations that pushed Web 2.0 technology to its limit.  These experiential web environments increased revenues and raised market position for enterprise companies, transferring real brand value to all web users.

In 2006, Sheri was the marketing and business-development lead for a sensor technology company in the defense industry. In this role she uncovered numerous additional commercial applications and alternative revenue opportunities in state and federal government programs and within $1B-$10B environmental firms which positioned the organization for exponential revenue growth.

Before this, she spent 15 years creating the product and marketing strategies for both enterprise products and services and the emerging technology groups within global technology companies, including Adobe Systems, Symantec, BroadVision and MicroFocus. Her experience includes product and service revenue responsibility approaching $500M.

She holds an MBA in Technology Management from Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business and Management and a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mark worked as Group Financial Controller for KLP Group Plc, a quoted marketing services group, in charge of mergers and acquisitions, where he also was responsible for turning round several underperforming subsidiaries and overseeing the restructuring of the group. Following this, he joined PepsiCo as an international accountant working in both Spain and Turkey. During this time Mark graduated with an advanced level Diploma in Spanish from the University of Salamanca.

On leaving PepsiCo he joined the Virgin Group, where he worked with Mike Kendrick for almost 10 years. Mark held a number of Directorships within Virgin’s aerial advertising and marketing services division, and was Chief Operating Officer of The Lightship Group, managing the largest fleet of commercial airships ever operated. During his time at Virgin, Mark was responsible for business strategy and planning and negotiated a number of multi-million dollar service contracts with blue chip clients such as Goodyear, Sanyo and Blockbuster Entertainment. He also established businesses in Brazil and Singapore, and handled joint venture and partnership negotiations in the USA, South Africa, and Asia. Mark was a founding Director of Mineseeker and involved in negotiating the original agreements with DERA (now QinetiQ), he also held the position as Responsible Officer in respect of the Civil Aviation Authority for UK operations.

Subsequently, Mark has acted as Managing Director of a number of companies in the media, marketing and events sector, successfully handling projects both in the UK and overseas.

Upon leaving the Army, Edward initially pursued a successful career in the IT industry, before joining a leading commercial mine clearance company as Head of Business Development. During his time there, he was directly responsible for doubling the turnover of the company, winning significant new business in Africa and Europe.

Edward’s key career achievement was to then take a new mine clearance company to market, from initial business plan, through seed financing, to securing initial contracts and floatation. Edward had overall responsibility for all commercial aspects of the company, including sales, marketing and finance. Within six months the company had secured its first contract, with seismic survey company Western Geco, followed by a multi-million pound contract with the United Nations. During the time Edward was in charge, the company doubled revenue year on year for four successive years.

An honours graduate in Maritime, Business and Law from Liverpool, Edward has also successfully completed an MBA at Birmingham University.

Mike held a number of executive positions in marketing and PR including, Managing Director and shareholder of Good Relations part of the largest PR Consultancy in the UK, which became the first company of its type to secure a public listing in 1972.

He formed a company called Lighter Than Air Ltd, essentially to commercialise the potential of hot air balloons and airships, and became well known in the UK for producing TV programmes on a local, national and international level.

In 1988 he formed the Virgin Airship and Balloon Company (VABC) which became the world’s largest aerial advertising agency, operating over seventy aircraft in more than twenty countries, for blue chip clients including Goodyear, Budweiser, Met Life, Sanyo, Blockbuster, Mazda and Orange.

The company employed in excess of 400 staff, including a team of aviation specialists. VABC was a highly technical and regulated business with the operating criteria of a commercial airline company.

He was also Project Director of all of Sir Richard Branson’s high profile world record attempts, responsible for all aspects of the projects including budgets, safety, technical assessment and media exposure.

Mike Kendrick was also a director and founder shareholder of several other Virgin companies including Virgin Projects, Vintage Airlines, and Virgin Blockbuster. He sold this interest in 2002.

He has held a commercial pilot’s license and has held several aviation world records.

This can also be coupled with video / photographic data and GPS data so that the output will be a human readable map showing clearly the location of UXO in relation to visual features as well as precise GPS co-ordinates.

Extensive trials in the USA are showing outcomes that take this technology into new areas of achievement, as far as results and images are concerned. The technology / equipment box can be carried by a variety of conventional aircraft.

Results of the latest technology demonstrations will be available within 30 days of completion.

The survey pictures have been delivered, along with a survey report for each site, to the MACC for entry into the IMSMA database. The radar trial clearly demonstrated ability to image surface laid and buried mines and UXO.”

Mineseeker airship performing field trials in Kosovo

Sample output from Kosovo Trial showing presence of anti tank mine