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Mike Pivac, the co-founder of robotic technology company FBR Limited (ASX: FBR), has resigned as CEO after 10 years in the role, making way for cousin and fellow-co-founder Mark Pivac to step into the position in the wake of a setback in the US for the Perth-based company earlier this year.
Mark Pivac, an aeronautical and mechanical engineer who is the primary inventor of FBR’s automated bricklaying technology, will assume the CEO’s position from this Thursday, 17 April.
In the role, Mark Pivac, the current chief technical officer, plans to pursue commercialisation of FBR’s Hadrian X bricklaying robot and its associated DST technology while continuing to provide technical leadership to the team.
The leadership transition at FBR is part of a broader strategy to cut costs at the company after announcing in February that US-based construction materials suppler CRH Ventures opted out of a potentially lucrative joint venture following a successful year-long demonstration program of the Hadrian X system.
Along with Mike Pivac’s retirement as CEO and managing director, Glenn Cooper will also retire as a non-executive director of FBR.
This will reduce the FBR board to a team of four, including three non-executive directors – all of whom have agreed to a revised base salary of $50,000 per annum each effective from 14th April 2025.
FBR says the revised board structure and remuneration follows an announcement in March this year of a cost-cutting program as the company seeks to accelerate revenue generation through paid research and development (R&D) work and the monetisation of intellectual property.
FBR says it continues to engage with “several strategic partners” regarding commercial projects for Hadrian X and the use of FBR’s technology in adjacent use cases.
The Hadrian X robot has the capacity to lay 300 blocks per minute and the recent demonstration program in the US successfully completed 10 houses in Florida in 2024.
The company says it is currently progressing opportunities in the steel, mining, energy, construction and other industries with respect to potential robotic solutions using FBR’s technology and its R&D capability.
“I look forward to commercialising the DST and long boom delivery technology that FBR has developed,” says incoming CEO Mark Pivac.
“With the Hadrian X now at a commercial point of its development, FBR is working on adjacent applications in the shipbuilding, steel and energy industries.
“DST enables accurate work by robots over large distances and in ever changing environments. We have exciting developments in these fields and our earlier Hadrian machines are now being used to develop those technologies.”
Pivac says FBR has “a unique ability” to design, analyse, prototype, program, commission, test and produce complex mechatronic systems in house “very rapidly”.
“FBR produces complex machined parts, and can laser cut, bend and weld large fabrications and machine long components and then paint and assemble them, which positions us well to execute on the next stage of our corporate strategy,” he says.
“FBR is a world leader in developing large scale robotic solutions for large scale tasks. We are now offering these services and products to customers to benefit from our skills and IP.
“I look forward to providing regular updates over the coming months as we progress our corporate strategy.”
As CEO, Pivac will see the current $460,000 annual fixed remuneration for the position reduced to $322,539 to 30 September 2025 following a 30 per cent salary reduction as part of the cost-cutting program.
FBR secured $6.3 million via a share placement in March to provide additional working capital and to fund restructuring and development costs.
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