22 Annual Directory 2017 Le Hang Le Hang is a senior structural engineer at Opus International Consultants. After completing her master of engineering at National University and master of international construction at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore she enjoyed an interesting and varied career before being appointed senior structural engineer at Opus. Her job responsibilities at Opus include providing structural schematic designs, detailed development designs, structural peer reviews and seismic assessments and strengthening for residential projects across the country. Before her position at Opus she held positions such as senior structural engineer at ARUP and WorleyParsons in Singapore. She says a project that really stands out for her was designing one of the 34-storey grade-A office towers and basement for the iconic South Beach Development on Beach Rd in Singapore’s central business district, which was completed for service last year. She attributes her current vocation to the influence of her engineer uncle who spent quite some time chatting to her on his engineering projects when she was younger, which she found fascinating. As to being in a male dominated profession, Hang says for the most part it’s “enjoyable and fun to be part of a unique team but also serious”. Jürgen Thiele Jürgen Thiele, Calibre Consulting’s business unit leader for waste recovery, has 38 years of experience in biogas process biochemistry, biotechnology, and process design and implementation (wastewater treatment plants and waste to energy projects). Thiele applies this expertise to achieve improved energy efficiency in municipal wastewater treatment, innovation in biogas, bioenergy project development, value recovery from organic waste, biogas digester efficiency upgrades and rapid digester process startup. In the past he enjoyed close involvement in the design and implementation of regional waste to energy facilities in New Zealand, Australia and Asia, including the Camellia biomass project in Parramatta, the commissioning of new thermophilic digesters at the Christchurch Waste Water Treatment Plant, and the Palmerston North sludge digester plant upgrade to digestion of fatty waste. Recent successes include the design and implementation of innovative ways to upgrade cost-effective digester capacity in the municipal wastewater industry. A recent example is the digester process optimisation of the existing sludge digesters in Palmerston North and Hamilton to improved biogas production capacity. Additionally, the retrofit of the Palmerston North City Council municipal sludge digesters to trade waste digestion has achieved quadruped biogas output without the construction of new digesters. Kevin Halsall Ogo Technology’s founder Kevin Halsall created the Ogo after his friend Marcus ended up a paraplegic following a ski accident on Mt Ruapehu. They were both staunch field archery Kim Pickering Pioneering research at Waikato University is looking at everyday applications of 3D printing using sustainable materials such as hemp and harakeke (flax). Waikato University professor of fans and their Otaki club offered some challenging terrain. Halsall watched Marcus struggle to make the most of life in a wheelchair. This inspired him to begin investigating what could be achieved by bringing balance wheel technology to the solution. Working directly with Marcus, Halsall was able to find the key elements needed to make the idea both useful and safe for someone with reduced mobility. The challenge was to create a machine that is more than just a seat on top of a pair of balance wheels. And it wasn’t just about the technology; Halsall’s specialist skill in product design for rotational moulding was a major asset. From the day the first Ogo video went on social media in August 2015, Ogo Technology has been inundated with positive feedback. However, most important for Halsall is the personal validation from everyone who has given the Ogo a try. After four years of development and many iterations of the Ogo, Halsall is confident he has the ultimate machine to bring to market. materials Kim Pickering and engineering students have been experimenting with waste material to reinforce plastic filaments that are then fed through a 3D printer. Pickering and her students focus has been fused deposition modelling (FDM). In this regard Pickering envisages a time when every home will have its own easy-to-use 3D printer and when FDM will be an affordable option, catering to individual specification. To date student research projects have been advised by the Hamilton City Council and Waikato Regional Council on materials that should be diverted from landfill and some students have even been sponsored by the council to carry out work incorporating building waste into a 3D printing filament. These efforts are also receiving strong support from the commercial sector and consumers who are becoming more focused on preserving the environment. Pickering concludes by pointing out that a 3D machine and filaments could be used to create bespoke products or “anything anywhere”. This effectively translates into a consumer having to look no further than a 3D filament printer to replace a missing gadget, as an example. Katalin Csikasz In a career that spans some 21 years in a male dominated industry engineer Katalin Csikasz has flourished. Her bent to engineering manifested in her early desire to dismantle her sewing machine rather than use it under the guiding influence of her mechanical engineer father. This saw her go on to complete a masters degree in engineering and to dedicate a lot of her energy to pass on knowledge and enthusiasm to students. Following this she gained a position as a field engineer for Hilti International. On moving to New Zealand she held roles with James Hardie and Fletchers as part of CSP Pacific. Gradually she developed a reputation for problem solving based on perception, emotional quotient and intuition combined with practical rationalism, intelligence and ability. This assisted her greatly in her various roles which have seen her implement training programmes and develop strong relationships with manufacturers to improve quality and performance, product compliance, product safety, product/process design and risk management. Out of this she has successfully brought into being her own company TechPro Plus, which has been inundated with positive feedback for helping companies become market leaders. Of many interesting projects, TechPro Plus conducted an audit of Steel Rollformed Products’ product compliance and technical documentation. The technical foundation that Steel Rollformed Products received from TechPro Plus enabled it to grow massively. For further information visit: www.techproplus.co.nz WHO'S WHO
EN-Dir2017-EMAG
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