About Us

Mark Thiele joined Base Air as Managing Director in August 2021.

Mark has spent forty-five years working in the transport industry, the past twenty of which he held the position of National Procurement Manager for the Toll Group.

Mark has a deep appreciation for heavy-vehicle stability, enabling Toll’s Mining & Resources sector to transport the most volatile of substances for the past twelve years, ranging from Hot Ammoniate Nitrate, to Cyanide and Sulphuric Acid. Clients such as BHP Billiton, South32, Santos, Orica and Dyno Nobel have relied on Mark’s ability to spec any heavy-vehicle combination, while maintaining the highest standards of safety and efficiency.

Mark maintains close relations with truck manufacturers including PACCAR, Volvo-Mack, Daimler, and Scania, as well as trailer OEMs MaxiTRANS, GTE, BRE, RoadWest, Vawdrey, Kruger and Hammar. Mark is also responsible for Base Air’s continued support and cooperation from Suspension and Axle OEMs Hendrickson, BPW, and SAF-HOLLAND.

Mark states his achievements could not have been possible without the support of wife Susanne, who passed away in October 2020, after 41 years of marriage. Well-known and respected in the transport fraternity, Susanne is survived by Mark and their two daughters Alicia and Kerri-Ann.

Mark is also a strong advocate of Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, and Donate Life, with 326 Plasma donations to date (and counting).

Ray has been a journalist for Australian print and television media since 1965.

After serving for a decade as the ABC’s North American correspondent, he joined the Nine Network in 1978, launching the Australian 60 Minutes with Ian Leslie and George Negus. For thirty years, Ray was the face of Nine, hosting Midday, A Current Affair, and Carols by Candlelight, along with federal and state election coverage. In fifty years of journalism, Ray has won five Gold and over twenty Silver Logie Awards – unmatched in Australian television. He has been Chairman of both the Fred Hollows Foundation and the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF). Ray is also Patron of The Humpty Dumpty Foundation, and a Non- Executive Director of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Football Club. In 2011, Ray was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to indigenous Australians, charities, and the media. In 2017, he received a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) from the University of Sydney, celebrating excellence in Australian journalism.

Ray has been an ardent supporter of Base Air since 2008, aiding the company’s mission of improving the safety of heavy vehicles on Australian roads.

Dr. Harston is a partner at the law firm of Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck.

He has handled well over a thousand patent applications in chemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and mechanical fields and handled numerous IP diligence projects including multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company acquisitions and other asset purchase transactions. Dr. Harston has built numerous global patent portfolios covering pharmaceutical, medical device, and mechanical systems and products and has been recognised for his work as a Martindale-Hubbell Client Champion Gold (2018-2020) and a Washington, DC Super Lawyers “Rising Star” (2017-2020). Aydin has participated in litigation teams representing companies in U.S. Federal district courts and at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Dr. Harston has also represented clients in inter partes review, post grant review, appeal, and re-examination proceedings before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Aydin is Co-Chair of the Biotechnology, Healthcare Technology, and Medical Devices Committee of the ABA’s Science & Technology Law Section, and also serves as an editor of BiosimilarsIP.com and Rfemerge.com