SPEE3D Appoints Bryan O'Connor as Global CEO as US Push Accelerates

SPEE3D has appointed Bryan O'Connor as its Global Chief Executive Officer. The move splits the top job from co-founder Byron Kennedy, who will relocate to the United States to lead the company's American expansion directly.

O'Connor brings more than 30 years in aerospace, defence and industrial automation, with senior roles at Moog and Apple across Australia and Ireland. He was Moog's General Manager for Asia-Pacific Defence and Managing Director of Moog Australia, where he grew the company's regional defence business and contributed to programs including the F-35 and GMLRS.

Kennedy co-founded SPEE3D and built it from an Australian start-up into a company selling cold spray metal 3D printing systems to militaries and industrial customers across Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. His relocation to the US reflects how central that market has become to the company's growth strategy.

What Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing Does

SPEE3D's process builds metal parts at high speed without melting the feedstock. Cold spray additive manufacturing fires metal powder at a substrate at supersonic speeds, bonding particles together through kinetic energy rather than heat.

The result is a metal part built quickly, without the thermal distortion that comes with welding or melting. SPEE3D's systems are designed to operate at the point of need, whether that is a forward operating base, a ship at sea or a remote industrial site.

The company's CriticalSPEE3D system can produce replacement metal parts in hours instead of waiting weeks for a shipment from a supply depot. That capability has attracted defence customers. The technology appears on the U.S. Air Force Technology Roadmap, and SPEE3D has demonstrated its systems at exercises including RIMPAC 2026.

Why Separate the Roles

Giving Kennedy a dedicated US focus while installing O'Connor as global CEO is a signal about scale. The United States is SPEE3D's biggest growth market, and the company believes it needs a co-founder's full-time attention there. At the same time, operations in Australia, the UK and other markets still need a global leader.

Kennedy described the appointment as a key milestone in SPEE3D's journey. O'Connor's background in defence exports, sovereign capability and international business development fits what the company needs as it expands beyond its Australian roots.

Cold spray metal 3D printing remains a niche within additive manufacturing, but SPEE3D's focus on expeditionary manufacturing and defence logistics gives it a clear use case that traditional manufacturing cannot easily replicate. Better leadership across its two biggest regions is a practical step toward wider adoption.