Recent News

James_Shaw,_2014 Ministers article on web NZM

Ministers to meet world energy leaders at premier Wellington event

Government Ministers and energy sector leaders from around the Asia Pacific will meet at a Summit in Wellington later this month. The BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) and World Energy Council (WEC) will host their second Asia Pacific Energy Leaders’ Summit from October 31 to November 1 at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa. New Zealand Minister of Energy and Innovation the Hon Megan Woods and Minister of Climate Change the Hon James Shaw (pictured) will host a Gala Lunch and Networking Event to discuss the economic transition faced by countries that are moving to decarbonise their economies. The event will also feature Prime Minister of the Cook Islands the Hon Henry Puna. The New Zealand Government is attracting international attention for its ambitious climate change goals, says WEC Secretary-General Dr Christoph Frei. The targets – 100pc renewable electricity, in a normal hydrological year, by 2035 and a net zero emissions economy by 2050 – commit New Zealand to a long-term transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy. “Climate change is a global issue, and one that necessitates leadership and collaboration between countries if action is to be effective,” Dr Frei says. “The Summit is an opportunity to showcase our respective country capabilities in the provision of renewable energy and to demonstrate leadership on climate change action.” The programme features international speakers from Amazon, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Daikin, Uber and innovators from Silicon Valley. They will share insights on how to accelerate innovation, design new customer-centric business models at a time of rapid change, and create the future rather than predicting it. “The 3D vision – New Energy Perspectives Summit is a must-attend event for those who want to be better equipped to understand and deal with the changing energy landscape,” says BEC Chair David Caygill. “The […]

‘ED’ the Chatbot Joins the DunedinNZ Team

DunedinNZ.com has welcomed ‘ED’ the chatbot as the newest member of its customer service team, the first destination marketing organisation in New Zealand to adopt this form of Artificial Intelligence technology. ED will act as an extension of the iSITE visitor centre by assisting website visitors with questions, serving the most relevant information and helping visitors plan their visit. John Christie Director Enterprise Dunedin said the project was another step towards enhancing the user experience and providing a comprehensive and intuitive customer service in the growing online marketplace. “A good experience during online travel research is a golden opportunity to convert ‘dreamers’ and ‘planners’ into visitors to our city. With ED, we wanted to evoke the welcoming spirit and helpful nature of Dunedin’s people, which is a key part of our identity. “The process of finding the right ‘on brand’ persona for ED posed some interesting challenges for the marketing team, but we are really pleased with the result,” he said. Developed by international web technology company Squiz, ED runs on existing DCC web platform, powered by Google’s machine learning and natural language processing. “We know that a percentage of intending visitors prefer to source information using a virtual customer assistant (VCA), and this will grow as VCAs such as chatbots become more common and people get familiar with using them,” Squiz NZ Managing Director Patrick FitzGerald said. “By adopting this emerging technology early, Enterprise Dunedin and Dunedin City Council will gain learnings relevant to further improving customer experience for visitors as well as residents, and to applying Artificial Intelligence more broadly in council services online” Research firm Gartner recently predicted that 25% of customer service and support operations will integrate virtual customer assistant (VCA) or chatbot technology across engagement channels by 2020.

Women in Engineering: Helen Trappitt, Lewis Bradford, Christchurch

Why do you do what you do and do you enjoy it? I currently work in three main areas of structural engineering for different reasons. Seismic strengthening of heritage buildings is satisfying and challenging. I’m motivated to work on these projects as they are key to getting Christchurch back on its feet. I have also been involved with complex residential insurance claims following the Canterbury and Kaikoura Earthquakes. This work is not at all glamorous when compared to other structural projects, but it is vitally important to the homeowners who have been in limbo for many years. My other area of work does not feel like work. I lead a team at Lewis Bradford that help local creative groups with their structural engineering needs, usually pro bono. This ranges from the structural design of large scale permanent sculptures to assisting with the Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA), where the installations conceived by architecture students from around Australia and New Zealand are displayed for one night only. I enjoy the variety of work I do and in particular the ability engineers have to make a positive impact on society. Greatest challenges? The greatest challenges I have faced both professionally and personally occurred in 2011. It was a tough year for any engineer in Christchurch. I learnt that natural disasters don’t stop all the other stuff that happens in life. Most exciting project worked on? In 2012 I approached sculptor Neil Dawson about designing a temporary sculpture for Christchurch. This project was exciting as we had no client or budget. The structural design and fabrication was challenging. We brought together about twenty local companies to donate services and materials ‘in kind’. The resulting work named ‘Spires’ is currently installed in Latimer Square. Where did you study? University of Canterbury, School of […]

James Hardie appoints Jack Truong as CEO

Louis Gries and Dr. Jack Truong. James Hardie has announced that Dr Jack Truong, currently the Company’s President – International since April 2017, will succeed long-standing CEO Louis Gries as the incoming CEO of James Hardie Industries. Dr Truong who continues to be based out of North America, will be formally appointed to the CEO role toward the end of the company’s 2019 fiscal year, at which time Mr Gries will step down as CEO and from the Board. The Board has determined that a structured transition is in the best interest of shareholders and an approximate six-month handover period has been established, during which time Mr Gries will remain in the CEO role and Dr Truong will become President and Chief Operating Officer with the responsibility of running the Group’s global business. He currently has responsibility for the operations of the Asia Pacific Fibre Cement business and the Europe Building Products business. Jack Truong offers the ideal combination of commercial expertise, operational excellence, and leadership in order to continue to grow the business and maintain the industry-leading performance, across multiple geographies, established by Louis Gries over a long period. Louis Gries joined James Hardie in 1991, becoming CEO in February 2005. During this time James Hardie delivered strong top-line growth and differentiated returns while increasing the market capitalisation from less than A$3.0 billion to A$9.21 billion.

University of Auckland welcomes world renowned 3D Printing researcher

Multi-award-winning product design developer and engineering researcher Professor Olaf Diegel will join the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Engineering in early 2019. The University is delighted to welcome Professor Diegel, its third appointee under the Government’s Entrepreneurial Universities programme. He is a New Zealander returning to take up a new role as head of the Creative Design and Additive Manufacturing Laboratory (the Lab) which aims to significantly change the way Additive Manufacturing (AM) is implemented in industry. AM uses a layer upon layer process rather than the conventional manufacturing processes which subtract material to carve out the finished product. Because of this, AM can produce parts that are infinitely more complex than is possible with conventional manufacturing and, if designed for, can be both cost effective while adding tremendous value to products by make them lighter, more efficient, customised, or adding to their functionality and sustainability. It has had an impact in a number of industries including aerospace, automotive, medical, fashion and has had some application in construction. Deputy-Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Jim Metson says the University is delighted to welcome Professor Diegel back to New Zealand to take up his new role. “Additive Manufacturing is one of the fastest moving areas in a sector that is increasingly important to the country. Securing his leading-edge expertise will enable research and industrial applications that are game changing.” Professor Diegel has been leading the product development department and AM lab (the third he has founded) at Lund University in Sweden since leaving New Zealand in 2014. During his career he has developed over 100 new products for companies in New Zealand and worldwide including several home health monitoring products, security and marine products and lighting products. These include the Spengler SCVL cardiovascular lab, a monitoring technology that gives a comprehensive picture of […]

Women in Engineering: Alisha Baddock, Beca, Christchurch

Why do you do what you do? I love being able to find a solution to a problem and create tangible ways to fix them. I’m a people person and what gets me up in the morning is being able to work with my team to provide new innovative solutions to building a better world. Do you enjoy it? I really enjoy what I do, I love being around people and working in a team. I love the life cycle of a project and the adrenaline you get from working on site and thinking on your feet to solve a problem. I have a love hate relationship with a project life cycle – the initial client consultation process, the design, stakeholder analysis, project team meetings, the different personalities, site work – the chaos. Greatest challenges? Engineering is a predominantly male dominated industry, as a young female it is at times challenging to be taken seriously. The biggest challenge I find is asserting myself and backing myself to demonstrate my knowledge, experience, ideas and thoughts. Most exciting project worked on? Canterbury Engineering the Future (CETF) – Refurbishment of the University of Canterbury Engineering Laboratories and shared spaces post-earthquake. The exciting part of the project was being able to provide a solution which satisfied the multitude of stakeholders involved. Where did you study? University of Auckland. First work experience was at The Ports of Auckland where I refurbished electric drive motors for straddle carriers Do you recommend this profession for young women? Yes definitely! It’s such an exciting profession filled with some great people and loads of laughs. It is a fulfilling job where at the end of a project you can see the tangible rewards of your hard work. Favourite Book? Pillars of the Earth Series – Ken Follet Greatest inspiration? […]

CSST taps Planet to spur economic growth in New Zealand

In an exciting new venture, Planet, an integrated aerospace and data analytics company, and New Zealand’s Centre for Space Science Technology (CSST) have announced a partnership to help drive regional economic growth by distributing Planet’s daily, global Earth observation data and analytics. CSST will act as the distribution hub and R&D partner for Planet in New Zealand, making sure a breadth of industries and government agencies get efficient access to Planet’s data and analytic products. Together, Planet and CSST will localise analytics from Planet and jointly develop new solutions to serve specific verticals, including agriculture, disaster management, defence and intelligence, forestry, and maritime. “CSST is an important partner for Planet as they understand the applications and use cases of daily global imagery, and can enable us to bring our products to New Zealand. They will be the frontline consultants for commercial businesses and government agencies at all levels who seek our imagery and analytics,” said Shankar Sivaprakasam, Vice President of APAC and Japan, at Planet. Planet’s global daily imagery and analytics will improve decision-making in key sectors of the New Zealand economy, including disaster preparedness and emergency management, agricultural monitoring, forestry and land use monitoring, water management, infrastructure monitoring, and intelligence gathering. “Earth observation data is becoming increasingly important in helping New Zealand address its biggest economic, environmental, and social challenges. The biggest advantage of Planet’s constellation is how frequently its satellites pass overhead, which is extremely important in the New Zealand context, particularly with disaster monitoring. For example, Planet imagery revealed close to 80,000 landslides in the wake of the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. Real-time disaster monitoring with Planet data will transform how governments and businesses target preparedness and relief efforts,” said Steve Cotter, CEO of CSST. Planet is an integrated aerospace and data analytics company that operates history’s largest […]

Industry calls for plan for waste management

Workers and consumers will be paying the price of reforms which drive up the cost of doing business if we don’t have a balanced debate on the management of the country’s waste stream, says Packaging New Zealand – one it says needs to be founded in fact, not just emotion. Packaging New Zealand’s Executive Director Sharon Humphreys says the industry’s current challenges lie in halting the hysteria whipped up over such issues as plastics bags, which presents a very real threat of being extended to packaging generally. “We can all find and exploit examples of poor packaging, but these should not be permitted to overshadow the industry’s strong track record of responding innovatively to customer demands and regulatory requirements, while meeting its waste management needs. “New packaging technologies and materials can be disruptive, evidenced by the impact of 3D printing technology or printing electronics directly onto packaging material. However, the focus on continuous improvement and efficiency gains provides for gradual advances which can be equally transformative in impact, such as the significant reduction in the amount of packaging material through ‘light weighting’ or re-design. Humphreys says the packaging industry will continue to react to the changing dynamics of trade, and the scale and speed of that change will be driven by factors which are largely outside its control. “In this context there has never been a more urgent need for a balanced debate, because right now facts and evidence are coming a poor second to emotive images such as pictures of divers swimming through society’s detritus, and sea-life consuming plastic bags. “Our organisation has long advocated for a broader discussion about the role of packaging alongside waste management and recycling, so it is encouraging to see that some commentators are also now seeing the merits of a more comprehensive approach […]

NZ’s largest food manufacturing, technology and logistics Expo “Adding Value to NZ’s Food Chain”

More than 4,500 visiting industry professionals from both New Zealand and around the world will converge in Auckland to attend the sectors largest combined trade only industry event – Foodtech Packtech (FTPT) and the Materials Handling & Logistics Expo (MHL). Hosted at the ASB Showgrounds in September, this year’s event will be the largest show in decades – it’s certainly a must attend event for anyone in the food and beverage manufacturing and packaging or transport and logistics industries! Across the halls you will experience some 240+ exhibiting suppliers covering important capability issues – everything from food safety, processing and security technology through to industrial packaging and preservation solutions, and specialist product handling and logistics. Ngaio Diagnostics deliver the tools used to minimise any chance of microbial or allergen contamination. Their range offers simple, cost effective solutions suitable for companies of all sizes. In 2016, FTPT connected Ngaio to a major NZ company that was able to save them over 10% on their Gluten testing costs. Not only was Ngaio able to help with cost-effectiveness, but they were also able to implement a test with superior ease of use and accreditation, ultimately improving their entire food safety program. Integrated Packaging, a returning exhibitor in 2018, will tell you that “FTPT is the perfect platform to interact with groups of people from a variety of companies and be able to demonstrate first-hand what your company’s capabilities are”. At the 2016 show, Integrated Packing connected with a vast number of companies, saving one of them over $20,000 p.a. by improving their manufacturing processes. This year Integrated Packing will be showcasing a range of new solutions that are unique to this market. This will be of great appeal to companies including meat, poultry and small goods. With sustainability being such a hot topic, […]

ACA holds Corrosion Under Insulation workshop

The economic impact of corrosion and its degradation of infrastructure and assets is estimated to be 3 to 5 per cent of GDP, which for the New Zealand economy is more than $10B annually. Companies require effectively trained staff who have an understanding of the numerous types of corrosion that affect their industry, the impact of dangerous and expensive damage that corrosion causes to structures such as pipelines, towers, bridges, oil rigs, buildings, water systems, and the preventative and remediation technology available. The Australasian Corrosion Association (ACA) regularly hosts special technical events for members and others working in the corrosion management and prevention sector, designed to provide attendees with information and guidance about ways to combat and manage corrosion. As part of this program, the ACA ran a two day Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) workshop in New Plymouth at the end of last month. Presented by internationally renowned CUI consultant Peter Bock from Houston, USA, the workshop was dedicated to the design, specification and inspection of corrosion control systems to prevent CUI in new or aged equipment. Topics covered included causes of CUI, current state-of-the-art CUI coating systems, inspecting and evaluating aged CUI in the field, as well as suitable CUI repair coating systems. Bock has more than thirty years’ experience in elevated temperature coatings and CUI, and has published numerous articles on CUI issues. In addition, he has spoken at NACE, SSPC, ICC and other national and international conferences regarding CUI problems and solutions. Allied to this as CUI has an impact on durability, the ACA hosted a one-day seminar entitled ‘Designing for Durability in the Built Environment’ in July, in Parnell.. The seminar covered a range of topics including Fastener Durability in Timber Structures, the Role of Stainless Steels in Architecture and Using Metal as a Cladding Material. […]

«‹ 49 50 51 52 ›»

News Ticker

Recent News