Control Bionics has announced that Professor Nicholas Opie has joined the company as a Non-Executive Director and strategic advisor, a move the board says will sharpen the business as it advances its neuroelectric signal platform.
Opie arrives with a global reputation in brain computer interfaces and medical device translation, and his appointment is intended to strengthen the company’s technical, clinical and commercialisation capabilities across assistive communication, rehabilitation, sports performance and wider neurotechnology markets.
Opie is best known for co-founding Synchron and for leading work on the Stentrode, an endovascular brain-computer interface designed to help people with paralysis control digital devices. He also co-founded Ultra Bionics, which is developing minimally invasive ultrasonic deep brain neuromodulation, and he heads the Vascular Bionics Laboratory at the University of Melbourne. His record includes more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and an extensive patent portfolio covering neural interfaces, endovascular sensing and stimulation, and closed-loop neuromodulation systems.
Control Bionics chairman Stephen Rix said Opie’s decision to join reflected confidence in the company’s science and the breadth of its potential applications, and that Opie would work closely with the board, management and technical teams to develop the next stage of the company’s technology and market opportunities. Opie said he was excited to support the team as it advances Australian-developed assistive communication, rehabilitation, sports performance and broader neurotechnology applications for global markets.
The company also confirmed the retirement of Non-Executive Director Dr Stephanie Phillips, effective 14 May 2026, and thanked her for her medical, academic and governance contributions. As part of the terms of Opie’s engagement, the board has resolved to seek shareholder approval to issue him 1.25 million options at the company’s 2026 annual general meeting, with the options vesting in equal tranches over four years and expiring in May 2031.
Control Bionics continues to commercialise its NeuroNode and NeuroStrip platforms. The NeuroNode is a patented wearable that captures minute EMG signals and, when combined with eye gaze and touch, enables faster and less fatiguing communication for people with severe movement limitations. The smaller NeuroStrip opens potential new markets in diagnostics, sports performance and rehabilitation as the company expands in North America, Australia, Europe and Japan.