Cubic appoints Mike Twyman and Mike Knowles to key roles in defense segment

Cubic Corporation announced on July 30 two appointments aimed at strengthening its defense business unit worldwide.

Mike Twyman has been appointed senior vice president of the Communications and Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) division. Twyman is responsible for ensuring successful program and strategy execution across the product portfolio, developing leadership bench strength and ensuring the highest levels of customer satisfaction.

Mike Knowles has been appointed vice president and deputy general manager to lead the air ranges and Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) integrated training campaign. In this role, he will lead efforts to develop LVC strategies and roadmaps to support the growth of the business.

“Mike Knowles and Mike Twyman bring to Cubic a significant array of skills and experience gained in the industry, and together with the team in place we have created a group which is second to none,” said Dave Schmitz, president of Cubic Defense Systems. “These appointments are important for our future success as we expand our presence, enhance our customer engagement and bring a wider portfolio of capabilities to the market.”

Before joining Cubic, Twyman worked more than 30 years at Northrup Grumman in a variety of roles, including as senior vice president and general manager of the Defense Systems division, vice president of Integrated C3I Systems, vice president of Joint Network Systems and vice president of Communication and Information Systems.

Twyman has a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from California State University Long Beach and a master’s of business administration from George Mason University. He also attended the International Business Program at the Wilson Centre at Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge, England and the University of California, Los Angeles Executive Marketing program.

Knowles has more than 20 years of experience in the defense and aerospace sector, having worked in various government and commercial industry roles. He joins Cubic after 10 years at Rockwell Collins. Prior to that, he worked at Photon Research Associates and Northrop Grumman serving in a series of program management and engineering flight test roles. His earlier career was at the U.S. Navy where he served as a mission commander evaluator.
Knowles received a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. He later gained a master’s degree of business administration with honors from George Mason University