Robert J. Furness
Senior VP Information Technology and Management Systems

A graduate of the Defense College of Aeronautical Engineering with qualifications in avionics and electronics, Rob is a decorated war veteran who served in the Royal Air Force from 1992-2005. He is a skilled professional, committed to operational causes focusing on sustainability and regenerative processes that share the global focus to improve the planet and its resources assuring today and tomorrow’s youth a quality of enjoyable life with clean resources protecting human, animal, fish, plant and all natural living resources.

When he left the military, Rob worked in the oil and gas industry as a pilot on manned submersibles and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV's), utilizing the transferrable skills learned from his formative military years. He continued learning and working for the best companies in the offshore world, leading construction projects from pipeline surveys to full oil rig platform installations. In 2010 Rob was a co-founder and COO of Rovision Ltd in Scotland where he was instrumental in bringing drones into the market, teaching himself Linux to program the onboard navigation systems for route planning and fault diagnosis and working directly with representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority where he helped formulate current regulations for drone operations and maintenance requirements; and, then on to Hawai’i where he engaged extensively in protecting the coral and fauna for which the Islands are well known.

During the next few years and after carrying out one salvage job earlier in his career he found himself at the forefront of ultradeep salvage operations on a variety of shipwrecks from many different times, galleons from the 1700’s or sunken WWII vessels some as deep or deeper than four thousand meters (or over 13,000ft) leading many of the project teams, while developing effective new methods for recovery operations in a highly stressful environment. As a result of Covid, Rob pivoted his focus to include operational skillsets of graphic design and video production, expanding his already extensive I/T strengths to join Custom Enzymes and Beststar Holdings in their global quest and support of UN SDGs that are focused on helping to repair the damage mankind has done to the planet