N E W S
Wayne Driver
www.engineeringnews.co.nz 11
Toi Ohomai engineering student Mandela Petersen has spent his summer break on a design project at
Surtees Boats near Whakatane.
Engineering skills put to test in summer
design project
Before December, Mandela Petersen
knew very little about boats. Ask him
now about component weights, pivot
points and gravity points and he could
rattle off enough figures and equations
to leave most of us baffled.
Mandela, who is an engineering student
at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology,
has recently completed a research project
with Surtees Boats near Whakatane.
He was tasked with studying the weight
and balance of the company’s existing
vessel range. The work has assisted
Surtees to deepen its design knowledge
in the manufacture of high performing
boats, aimed primarily at fishing
enthusiasts.
Initially Mandela conducted a full weight
study on the most popular models manufactured
by Surtees.
“Measuring and weighing the different
components was a critical part of the
project so I could model them in CAD
and work out the centre of gravity and
balance points of each part,” he says.
“By building the boat on screen I could
then experiment by shifting weights and
different aspects to see how it would
trim in the water.”
Surtees engineer Garry Jolliffe says as
more and more customers choose to
install extra fishing equipment – which
can add up to 150kg to a 5-7 metre boat
– and the information is critical to understand
how extra weight impacts a boat’s
performance.
“Getting the balance right between
weight and trim is one of the most critical
things in boat design,” says Garry.
“If the balance of the boat is wrong, this
can greatly reduce the ride quality. So,
as we continue to increase the list of
equipment fitted to our designs, Mandela’s
work will help to ensure the boats
continue to trim nicely and perform well
with added weight.
“CAD software has come a long way and
young people going through engineering
courses are clued up in how to use
it. Mandela has done an excellent job
in helping us to move forward with our
designs.”
The company was founded in 1993 by
Neil Surtees, who designed and built
a boat with a deep V-shaped hull that
could easily and smoothly get across
the Whakatane bar on a rough day. He
also developed a water ballast stability
system to lower the centre of gravity
when the boat was at rest. His designs
have produced high performance boats
which are in demand both in New Zealand
and internationally.
Now back at Toi Ohomai’s Tauranga
campus to complete his Diploma in
Mechanical Engineering, Mandela, 23,
says the summer project was an amazing
opportunity to put his engineering
knowledge and CAD design skills into
practice in a commercial application.
“Up until starting this project, I’d never
had any experience or knowledge about
boats but have learnt so much. I’m really
grateful I’ll be able to take these skills
into a range of industries so I’m excited
for what the future holds. I also want to
complete a Bachelor of Engineering degree.”
In the meantime, Mandela’s work will
soon be put to the test when they check
whether the on screen boat model lines
up with what actually happens on water.
He’s quietly confident, but regardless
of the results, he has already decided
boats will play a much bigger role in his
life.
“I now have a dream to design and own
a boat someday, so I’ve been trying to
soak in as much information as I can.”
Pilz Australia announces new md
Twain Drewett has been appointed as
managing director, Pilz, Australia and
New Zealand, following the untimely
passing of Scott Moffat.
Mr Drewett’s 20-year professional career
has been spent in the information
solutions, automation, and the electrical
controls business. His broad ranging
contributions include driving client satisfaction
through the forging of deep
partnerships, superior business management,
and excellence in product,
project and aftermarket service delivery.
He sees his key focus to increase Pilz’s
value proposition to existing and new
customers through the careful application
of its broad product and services
portfolio, and assisting customers to
significantly improve productivity and
safety within their facilities.
SMC makes the
grade in Forbes
Global 2000
Japanese automation firm, SMC,
has been listed in the Forbes
Global 2000 as one of the world’s
largest public companies.
Ranking is based on a composite
score from equally-weighted
measures of revenue, profits,
assets and market value.
The 2017 list features public
companies from 58 countries that
together account for $US35.3
trillion in revenue, $2.5 trillion in
profit, $169.1 trillion of assets,
and have a combined market
value of $48.8 trillion. All four
metrics are up from the 2016
ranking, with market capitalisation
up 10% from last year.
Wayne Driver from SMC Australia/
New Zealand says: “SMC is
delighted to be listed alongside
such prestigious international
businesses. It is recognition of
our leading positioning as one
of the world’s most successful
automation providers, on which
we have built a reputation as a
solid and reliable partner."
GST Calculator
launched by
MoneyHub
Responding to the needs of small
business owners, MoneyHub
has launched a one-click
GST calculator on its website,
compatible with desktops, tablets
and phones.
MoneyHub’s senior researcher
Christopher Walsh said “We’re
delighted to have developed
what we see as the premier GST
calculator in New Zealand. We’ve
invested in developing a secure,
functional and user-friendly
experience which is free to use.
Best of all, it works on any device
and calculates immediately”.
“We identified the need for a really
simple GST calculator, which
covers all the bases. We’ve also
and added a section on filing and
payment due dates”.
/www.engineeringnews.co.nz