Peter Beck Peter Beck founded Rocket Lab in 2006 following a decade and a half of propulsion research and market development in the international space community. Beck has since established the company in both New Zealand and the US as a premier institute for innovative space systems. As the head visionary and chief engineer behind Rocket Lab, Beck led the development and launch of Atea 1, the first rocket to reach space from the Southern Hemisphere in 2009. Noting a need for launch services focused on the growing small satellite industry, Beck initiated the Electron programme in 2012. To date Beck has been acclaimed by the industry as a scientist and engineer. This status has been enhanced by his being awarded the meritorious medal from the Royal Aeronautical Society for service of an exceptional nature and the Cooper Medal from the Royal Society New Zealand. The Royal Society New Zealand awards the Cooper Medal biannually to those deemed to have published the best single account of research in physics and engineering. In addition he was awarded ‘New Zealander of the Year’ for innovation in 2015 and and recognised as ‘New Zealand EY Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2016. 24 Annual Directory 2017 Richard Frew Richard Frew moved to Patience & Nicholson - now Sutton Tools - in 2000 after completing his NZCE followed by an apprenticeship as a fitter/welder at McAlpines Engineering in Rangiora. The move to Patience & Nicholson saw him join the engineering team responsible for the maintenance of factory machinery. In this role Frew first encountered CNC machines when parent company Sutton Tools’ main plant in Australia asked Patience & Nicholson’s engineering team to retrofit an existing machine with CNC controls. Frew’s natural ability concerning all things computer related stood him in good stead. This resulted in him becoming a valued member of the team when the company made the decision to build its own CNC machines. Currently Frew helps to oversee much of the project planning, costing and budgeting in addition to design, assembly and programming work. Frew and the rest of team now have 15 new CNC grinding machines under their belt, spread as far as Australia, the US and China as well as at the Kaiapoi plant. Richard Little Richard Little is chief technology officer at Rex Bionics. Originally from Scotland, Little formed Rex Bionics in 2007 with childhood friend and engineer Robert Irving with the intent to develop innovative medical robotic technology that would bring newfound mobility to thousands of users worldwide. They started working on the concept of a robotic exoskeleton in 2003 after Irving was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system. In 2012, Little and Irving won the ‘New Zealand Engineering Innovator of the Year’ award. This award recognises engineers who have shown an ongoing commitment to innovation in New Zealand. With an extensive career including marine engineering, research and development, contract programme management and information technology, Little has held senior leadership roles in medical technology, automotive and military industries. These include a programme management role for Navman, finance manager for BAE Systems and group technical director for Taisun (CIMC Raffles) in Singapore, responsible for transitioning four manufacturing companies to Asia and technical leadership for the group. Roland Auret On time zero defects. In the field of hi-tech engineering there are many out there that can easily say the words ‘on time with zero defects’ but not so many that can follow through. This is according to Christchurch-based Contour Engineering owner Roland Auret. The company specialises in a variety of fields that require exactitude from medical and surgical to aerospace, defence, aviation and avionics, carbon fibre mould tooling, digital navigation, automation work cell building and automated equipment. The challenge, according to Auret, is not just adhering to the aforementioned but doing so while simultaneously providing a professional customer service. He says that he started Contour with an ambitious vision. Rohan Hill Rohan Hill, lead engineer at Synthstrom Audible, has been tinkering away with computers, electronics and music since a young age. In 2011 he completed a bachelor of science in computer science at Victoria University of Wellington. As a musician performing solo and in several bands, Hill began to apply his technology background by creating hardware for use in his own musical projects, seeing new possibilities in technology as an aid to the live performer. In 2014, one ambitious idea began consuming more and more of Hill’s time, and before long it became clear that the concept was worthy of development as a commercial product. Over the following years, through a process of tireless development, experimentation and learning, that product materialised as the Deluge, leading Hill to found Synthstrom Audible as a vehicle for his vision of innovative music technology. Though formally trained in software development, Hill was forced to teach himself when it came to hardware. Through his work at Synthstrom Audible, he has learned to implement high-end microcontrollers with little community support and design PCBs and metalwork for manufacture - all in the space of two years while developing a product which is now generating a buzz internationally. “I wanted to support New Zealand companies that were manufacturing high-value products via precision engineering. And I wanted to deliver that precision engineering service not just once but every single time.” To Auret, improving the quality of engineering services for New Zealand manufacturers is a major key in growing the country’s manufacture export of hi-tech products beyond the current $1.43 billion. He underscores though that “it starts with the machinery required to build the components”. “The absolute underlying factor of high-precision CNC machining is hi-tech manufacturing, streamlined manufacturing processes, good design for manufacture, and hiring quality people,” he concludes. WHO'S WHO
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