The Interview – Jill Cooper
From December issue of NZ Manufacturer www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz Tell readers what you do? My expertise is in high temperature materials and processes. When I left full time work at BlueScope NZ Steel to care for my premature baby, I found it difficult to fit back into the workforce. I expect it’s improved now but employers were not at all flexible with regards to family responsibilities, so I have been doing consulting work on whatever comes up; reline quality assurance and incident investigation for Ballance at their ammonia plant, process and containment for CarbonScape are two examples. I also formed my own company – Advanced Materials Technologies – NZ Limited – which was a collaboration with an ex colleague based in Queensland, Australia to supply Australian and New Zealand with materials sourced from Harbison Walker International, a US company renowned internationally for the quality of its products. Most recently, I am interested in the technologies which can be utilised to slash the (extremely high) CO2 emissions generated by the steelmaking industry and, have been advising and assisting Helios with their novel sodium-based reduction process. This has been a very fruitful relationship, unfortunately disrupted by the war that has broken out there. When I am not working, I am often out wingfoiling on the Manukau and Waitamata harbours. What has been your involvement in green steel making? I’ve been promoting the possibility of low emissions iron and steelmaking to whoever will listen for many years, including the outgoing Climate Change Minister, Hon James Shaw who has been politely listening to my representations since he became co-leader of Green Party. Although, numerous commentators have been claiming that the steelmaking sector would be hard to abate, there has been a small group of dedicated scientists and engineers working on alternative, non carbon, reductants for decades. […]