Flight Design’s CEO wins AIDN 2022 Young Achiever Award

Australian Industry & Defence Network

The Australian Industry & Defence Network Inc. (AIDN) is the premier Australian industry association representing Defence Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). AIDN has grown from humble beginnings to represent in excess of 800 member companies across Australia. In November 2021 at the AIDN NSW state dinner our CEO, Jason Brand, won the NSW Young Achiever Award 2021. He was the youngest ever to win the award at the age of 19. You can see our post on that award https://flightdesign.com.au/flight-design-ceo-wins-aidn-nsw-young-achiever-award/ The award was open to those under 30 in SMEs with under 200 employees.

AIDN National Gala Dinner – Canberra Feb 2022

Winning the NSW Young Achiever Award made him eligible to represent NSW in the National Young Achiever Award 2022. Representatives from each state were at the Dinner as well as the top people in Defence and industry representatives. 350 people were at the dinner and 150 more wanted to attend but no additional seats were available. Jason Brand, CEO of Flight Design and Robert Brand R&D Manager travelled to Canberra for the Dinner. They sat at the table with other state award winners. Although SMEs, these companies at the dinner were serious players in the Defence world.

The Award is the highlight of the night and is the only award presented. It was a black tie event. It was our CEO’s first tuxedo! He also did not get his hair trimmed before the night with his heavy schedule. Listen to his acceptance speech on the video below for his take on this. This makes him the youngest winner of the National award at age 19.

Jason with other state winners AIDN National Young Achiever Award 2022
Jason, 3rd from left, with other state winners AIDN National Young Achiever Award 2022
Jason Brand AIDN National Young Achiever Award 2022
Jason Brand AIDN National Young Achiever Award 2022

Video of the Award Winner – Jason Brand

Jason AIDN National Young Achiever Award 2022
Jason AIDN National Young Achiever Award 2022
Jason Award AIDN National Young Achiever Award 2022
Jason Award AIDN National Young Achiever Award 2022

Award Presentation

The award was presented by two of the top Defence representatives:

General Angus John Campbell, AO, DSC is a senior officer in the Australian Army, serving as the Chief of the Defence Force since 6 July 2018

Gregory Laurence Moriarty is a senior Australian public servant and diplomat, and the current Secretary of the Department of Defence since 4 September 2017.

Networking

The rest of the evening was spent networking and it is expected that some of those opportunities will be turned into ongoing business. Jason proved his ability to “work a room” and I expect that Flight Design will have a sound public speaker with his natural ability to calmly address the audience.

Images