Our laser safety experts

Reduce the risk of accidents with professional laser safety training. Opticum provides expert laser safety consulting and training across Australia to ensure you are prepared for appropriate laser operation. Based in Canberra, our professionals work with clients across industries to ensure that your employees understand laser safety. 

Dr Trevor Wheatley

Dr Trevor Wheatley holds a BE (hons) in electrical engineering and a PhD on quantum optics. He is a Senior Member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (SMIEEE), a life member of the Laser Institute of America (LIA) and an LIA Board of Laser Safety Certified Laser Safety Officer (CLSO). In 2020, he was appointed by the Minister to the ARPANSA Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council. From 2007 he has been the Head of the Australian delegation on International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Committee 76, where he is currently co-convener WG 7 (high power lasers) and secretary of WG 8 (development and maintenance of basic standards). He is the Chair of the Standards Australia SF-019 Committee and serves on the ANSI Accredited Standards Committee z136. For the last 15 years he has been the Director of Opticum Pty Ltd where he has taught and consulted in laser safety for defence, industry, and academia both in Australia and Internationally. In addition to having written and reviewed numerous ADF laser safety papers, he has published peer reviewed journal and conference papers.

Trevor wheatley

Trevor’s Experience

Trevor chairs the Standards Australia SF-019 Committee on laser safety, which publishes the AS/NZS laser safety standards. He is the head of the Australian delegation on IEC TC 76, the body that writes and maintains International laser safety standards. He has been teaching and consulting to Industry, Academia and Defence in both Australia & New Zealand for more than a decade. In recognition of his contributions to his profession over the last decade, Trevor was elevated to Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (SMIEEE).

International Electrotechnical Commission 1906 Award

Dr Andrew Lambert


Associate Professor Dr Andrew Lambert from the UNSW Canberra at ADFA has been involved in providing laser safety short courses to Department of Defence and industry personnel for more than two decades. He is an internationally renowned researcher in optical signal processing and adaptive optics. Andrew serves with Trevor Wheatley on the ANSI Accredited Standards Committee Z136 for laser safety.

Dr Geoffrey Cochrane

(in memoriam 1936-2017)

Dr Geoffrey Cochrane's contribution to laser safety in Australia was significant, where he published numerous papers, contributed to Standardisation and developed and taught Australia's premier laser safety course to defence and industry from 1987 - 2006. Geoff served for around 20 years on the Standards Australia committee SF019, which he also chaired and represented Australia on IEC TC76 between 1995 and 2006. Geoff contributed to international laser safety standardisation significantly and was active in TC 76 working groups. Geoff's active involvement in this work stopped when he retired and passed the flame to Trevor in 2006 but he continued in a mentoring role until 2010. Thank you for your great contributions Geoff, RIP.

Learn more about our safety training. Call +61251174551.