About Us — CAPE Bionics

Our team

The team behind CAPE.

Dr James Waldie

CEO & Co-Founder

PhD (RMIT), Postdoc (MIT). NASA and ESA consultant. Fellow of Engineers Australia. 25 years designing compression garments across multiple aerospace and health sectors.

James Turner

CCO & Co-Founder

MBA (Exec) AGSM. Founder, director, investor and advisor to multiple start-ups. 25+ years in technology businesses.

Jesse Holwell

Head of Software Engineering

Full-stack engineer with broad experience in web development, PC and mobile applications, and process automation. Previous experience working on medical device development.

Abby Rudakov

Head of Production

Masters in compression textile design (RMIT, 2023). Bachelor of Engineering and Computer Science, with a lifelong interest in fashion and dressmaking.

Marcus Milne

AutoTailor Software Engineer

Detailed knowledge in 3D image capture and manipulation. Experience in Python, C/C++, cloud computing, enterprise software, web and app development.

Lachlan Hogan

Deep Vision Software Engineer

Senior software engineer specialised in computer vision, deep learning, GPU programming and high-performance computing.

Jackson Hayes

AutoTailor Software Engineer

Bachelor of Engineering, Adv. Manufacturing & Mechatronics (RMIT). Dux 2015. Experience in AI/ML and advanced manufacturing.

Ruth Bunford

Product Manager

Patternmaker with 20 years' experience across the UK and Australia, including NASA. PhD candidate at RMIT focused on enhancing compression function, comfort and mobility.

Dr Annette Eastwood

Sports Physiologist

Senior Physiologist for 15 years at AIS & the Olympic Triathlon High Performance Program to 2017. Asst Adjunct Prof at Bond University.

Dr Lindsay Trimmings

Sports Physiologist

Previously with Swim England, the National Governing Body for Aquatic sport in England — Head of Coaching, leading the strategic plan for aquatics coaching in England.

Marijn Kortekaas

Allied Health Advisory

20+ years' experience in physio and health applications. VP of Growth at Vald (sports/health), GM Asia Pacific at Physitrack (successful IPO).

Boden Westover

Marketing Director

10+ years' experience in marketing, working with companies including Catapult, Mr Yum and Heidi Health.

CAPE story

In Dr Waldie's own words.

“

I have worked on advanced compression technology within the aerospace and medical industries for over 20 years. Earning my PhD developing new spacesuits to reduce astronaut deconditioning in microgravity, I was then a Postdoctoral Fellow in Astronautics at MIT for 2.5 years, developing a variety of compression garments to augment human physiology. I was also a consultant at NASA on injury and bioastronautics, and a Principal Investigator with the European Space Agency to deploy my compression suits on the International Space Station in 2015 and 2017.

What did I learn? Compression works, but it must be accurate. Standard size garments are a lottery, but custom-fit garments provide genuine and consistent benefit. Unfortunately the process of measuring and tailoring a bespoke product meant it was unavailable for most.

I founded CAPE so everyone had access to professional medical compression delivering optimum benefits. We can do that through our revolutionary scanning and sizing technologies born from the space programme, and the latest pressure regimes. Easy, proven and affordable custom-fit is the new chapter in compression therapy, available to all.

Dr James Waldie CEO & Founder, CAPE Bionics

Development Milestones

From the ISS to the clinic.

2015

Andreas Mogensen wears Waldie compression suit on space station.

ESA

2017

Thomas Pesquet wears Waldie compression suit on space station.

ESA

2019

Essendon Football Club finds their recovery is 20% faster using CAPE.

AFL

2021

CAPE released in the USA, worn by NFL, NBA and NHL players.

USA

2023

Official compression supplier to the QAS. CAPE released in Europe, worn by EPL and Series A players.

QASEurope

2024

CAPE first introduced into Allied Healthcare in Australia.

Health

From spacesuit to garment

An aerospace lineage.

In 2008, Dr Waldie was selected as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), developing his own space skinsuit design with the European Space Agency (ESA). He was also a consultant at the NASA Johnson Space Center to reduce astronaut injury from spacesuits.

In order for the compression to function effectively, the skinsuit required extreme precision and custom sizing. New processes and algorithms were developed by Dr Waldie that would tailor the stretch of the garment in both vertical and horizontal directions to be bespoke to each subject.

Today, CAPE uses a patented evolution of this technology, which rapidly automates the custom design of each garment. Ultrasound testing has shown CAPE calf sleeves significantly improve arterial inflow and venous return throughout the entire leg.

Hyper-accurate compression

AutoTailor: born from the spacesuit.

CAPE has developed a proprietary software package called AutoTailor based on our spacesuit sizing method. Previously, custom-fit compression garments were made by using a tailor's tape to measure the circumference at select locations, and then designing a garment based on those measurements.

The shape of the limb between those measurement locations was guessed, and the process was laborious. AutoTailor slices up the 3D scan and designs the garment for each slice using the material properties and desired compression regime. This means the garment is designed for each point on the limb, not just the locations measured. The process is faster, easier, cheaper, much more accurate and therefore more effective than anything previously possible.