Ron Allum

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Ron Allum (born 22 March 1949 in New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian submarine designer, cave diver and inventor. He is widely regarded as one of the world’s most experienced cave divers. In 1983 he led a Cocklebiddy Cave expedition on the Nullarbor Plain, pushing about 6.24 kilometers into the cave—the world record at the time. He later collaborated with James Cameron on a Titanic wreck live broadcast in 2005, designing and building a 6-kilometer fiber-optic link to the surface. He designed the Deepsea Challenger submarine that took Cameron to the deepest point on Earth, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, about 11 kilometers below sea level, on 26 March 2012. He was a national finalist for Senior Australian of the Year in 2013. In 2019 he appeared as himself in Go Jetters, episode 17 of series 3, with an episode about exploring the Mariana Trench using the Deepsea Challenger. His company, Ron Allum Deepsea Services, has worked with Cellula Robotics to develop thruster and battery systems for the SeaWolf XL unmanned underwater vehicle. He is married to Yvette Allum and they have two children.