Who We Are

Following a three-decade-long-career in the Australian Army and Navy, Dean Commons leads a hybrid Australia-US team delivering innovative, mission-focused solutions to MITRE’s support of Australian defence and intelligence missions. They are focused on strengthening regional stability, enhancing coalition interoperability, and countering emerging threats in the Indo-Pacific.

Formerly as the Royal Australian Navy’s senior-most intelligence officer, Dean was Vice J2/Vice Director for Intelligence at INDOPACOM. He also worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Border Force. A recognised expert in intelligence and domain awareness, he was instrumental in establishing Australia’s Joint All Domain Awareness Centre.

Kathryn Aitkenhead is MITRE Australia’s Deputy Managing Director and Senior Manager for Mission Integration. Kathryn provides cross-cutting leadership across MITRE Australia’s work program with a focus on strengthening national and international security by applying innovative systems engineering.

Kathryn has served in progressively challenging leadership roles across MITRE with a mission focus on national security. Over her 20 years with MITRE, she has added positive and enduring value to a diverse range of MITRE customers, achieving complex outcomes across four continents and in a total of 34 countries.

Melissa “Mel” Tipton is the Senior Manager of International Program Management and Operations at MITRE Corporation, where she also serves on the International and Australia leadership teams. She directs MITRE Australia in creating and implementing systems, controls, processes, and managing financial operations.

Mel is a Project Management Professional and PMI Agile Certified Practitioner. Prior to joining MITRE, she spent nearly two decades at Lockheed Martin in various roles, including Program Management Manager, Program Planner Staff, and Cost Engineer Staff. She is also a member of the Project Management Institute.

Jonathon Wotton leads Australia’s premier inter-applied research center, the Centre for Information Integrity & Defence, located at Lot Fourteen in Adelaide, South Australia. In this role, Jonathon collaborates with government, academia, not-for-profits, and industry partners to uplift Australia’s sovereign capabilities through applied research projects.

Prior to commencing with MITRE, Jonathon was Senior Adviser to the Premier of South Australia responsible for innovation, cyber security, diplomatic relations, defence industries, and trade and investment.