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Women leading the way in software engineering

Three women form most of the University of Waikato delegation to the Engineering Interactive Computing Systems conference (EICS) to be held in Lisbon, Portugal from 26-29 June. Software engineering doctoral students Jessica Turner and Sapna Jaidka, and lecturers Dr Judy Bowen and Professor Steve Reeves, will be presenting papers at this specialised international engineering conference. The University team is strongly focused on the methods, techniques and tools to improve safety-critical devices (which are mainly used in the medical field). About 100 attendees are anticipated at the conference which covers all engineering aspects in the design, development, deployment, verification and validation of interactive systems.

Jericho Walker Sheetmetal Install Ermaksan 220T – 7 Axis Pressbrake

Established sheetmetal and fabrication engineers Jericho Walker Sheetmetal have installed the latest Ermaksan Speedbend Pro 220T 7 Axis CNC Pressbrake. This advanced Pressbrake is equipped with the latest Delem DA66T touchscreen pressbrake control that provides fast and efficient programming and quick job setup. Business owner Robert Jackson says “the Ermaksan is a strong, accurate, and fast pressbrake that fits our requirements for Jobbing work and also high production rate accurate folding”. Although this is a large pressbrake machine it is very fast in operation with servo amplifier systems on all axis. This servo drive system is superior in speed and positioning accuracy to conventional AC induction motors with variable speed AC drives that are common on lower cost or older NC and CNC machines. Ermaksan has an excellent reputation for durable and strong machine tools with over 100 machines installed in New Zealand and full technical support and spare parts backup NZ wide from their NZ agent, Revolution Precision Machinery. As part of the Jericho Walker Sheetmetal production expansion CADCAM software from European software developer ALMA will be installed and supported by Revolution Precision Machinery. This software automates the combined process of sheetmetal profiling, punching, folding, and job quoting and will increase the productivity available from their new and existing Laser, Turret punch, and Pressbrake cnc machines. The software will increase productivity because job setup, progress, and information storage can be determined offline before the work starts. Job costing and quoting are also done by the Alma CADCAM software from the information entered by the programmer. Machinetool operation and job progress-pricing can be determined directly from the drawing files that are commonly sent as part of the pricing and quoting process for a sheetmetal and fabrication business. Revolution Precision Machinery engineers have the skills and experience to provide full technical […]

The Evolution of the NZ Steel Industry: Innovation dinosaur or drosophila?

“Apple hasn’t so much invented new as they have innovated (to converge technologies into well-built and -designed packages).” David Reiss, Spark Digital. Dr Troy Coyle, Manager of Innovation & Product Development at NZ Steel. We have an image problem. In experimental evolution, Drosophila (the humble fruit fly) is often used to demonstrate evolutionary processes. It is used because genetic changes for the fruit fly can be observed very quickly in response to natural selection. In business, the equivalent of the fruit fly is the IT or information technology company, such as Xero or the Wynyard Group. IT companies form the bulk of case studies in management texts and innovation case studies because they are quick to respond to changing market conditions, and also quick to demonstrate these changes in the market. They are perfect examples of rapid innovation. In contrast, the steel industry is perceived to be traditional, slow to innovate and slow to respond to changing market conditions. We’re not rolled out as case studies for innovation and we are often relegated to the categories of at worst ploddingly ‘low-tech’, or at best masters of ‘incremental innovation’. We’re not attractive for Government funding either because we aren’t exciting in terms of being able to demonstrate rapid change, hi-tech outcomes or capturing public imagination. In other words, we’re “innovation dinosaurs”. The most public excitement we generate is speculation on whether or not we will die out or find a way to survive in the new world. There is no doubt that the world is changing and so we need to adapt and quickly. However, we are not going to turn into hi-tech, fast innovating firms any time soon. The question is how do we show the world we are adapting in a way that is meaningful and be excited about […]

Innovators need more encouragement and collaboration

New Zealand innovation desperately needs more encouragement and collaboration, says the New Zealand Innovation Council CEO, Louise Webster. Speaking in defence of Rocket Lab founder, and 2014 Innovators Award-winner Peter Beck and his proposal to locate a launch site for his rocket business in remote Canterbury, Ms Webster says Kiwis’ need to get behind Peter’s efforts and support local companies. “What Peter is doing is exciting and game changing for our country – and the world. Organisations like Peters, and entrepreneurs like him, put New Zealand on the map and help us all to be more ambitious, more driven, and to have more hope for the future and for our future generations. We are creating new technologies and serving them up to the world in style. Ms Webster says while we are a nation of idea generators, we need to get better at making these ideas a reality. “It’s people like Peter who show us that anything is possible.” The New Zealand Innovators Awards 2015 are open for entries and looking for the next wave of innovators, innovations and organisations that have invested in developing new products, services and ventures, as well as improving the performance of their people and teams. “Our awards are a breeding ground for ingenious individuals and their ideas,” says Ms Webster. “Regardless of size or stage of growth, the New Zealand Innovation Awards wants to hear about all contributions to Kiwi innovation. We can help you put yourself on a national stage, profile your business success and get connected to networks to help you develop and grow. “Collaboration across industries and sectors is key to growth and development for our country. We need both local and international partnerships and investors to help us test and develop global technologies – that is key to helping the […]

Profile: TimberLab Solutions: innovation, versatility and quality bring firsts

When two of New Zealand’s leading engineered timber design and manufacture companies, McIntosh Timber Laminates and TimberBond Industries, joined forces in November 2012, TimberLab Solutions Ltd was created. Now with a combined Auckland workforce of 35 staff operating out of the old McIntosh Timber Laminates 3500m2 plant in Bostock Place, and over 76 years of experience; TimberLab Solutions has the best of both worlds, combining McIntosh’s extensive experience in manufacturing structural laminated timber for commercial use and TimberBond’s expertise in residential use of glued laminated timber (Glulam). The result has been a “greater perspective towards ways in which structural timber can be applied to all building situations”, according to Owen Griffiths, TimberLab’s Sales and Marketing Director. TimberLab Solutions “aim to be the best provider of innovative, cost-effective and customised engineered timber solutions throughout New Zealand and to offshore markets”. They specialise in providing complete design-manufacture-installation packages for a wide range of timber projects, from small one-off sculptures to large industrial buildings. Being New Zealand’s largest and most experienced manufacturer of Glulam building systems, TimberLab’s Bostock Place premises showcase some of the capabilities on offer with Glulam portal frames, Glulam gantry beams, and reverse-curved Glulam beams featured throughout. TimberLab Solutions also have a high focus on quality, which would usually make it more difficult to provide cost-effective customised solutions as set out in their mission statement. However, they manage to achieve these objectives through careful design work and quality control from start to finish. “You can have two solutions for the same building, but because the designer is unfamiliar with the product and what it can do, they tend to be conservative in their design; therefore more expensive. Because we’ve had experience, we can provide a better value solution. “It’s a matter of being able to choose the right solution […]

The Interview: Stephen Snedden

New Zealand Manufacturer recently asked Stephen Snedden, the inventor, where he finds his inspiration and when it all began. NZM: When did you become an inventor? SS: As a young boy tinkering in my father’s shed with go carts and motor bikes and school projects. Dad was always working out solutions for problems as a self-employed electrician in his good old kiwi Shed. NZM: What was the first thing you made? SS: At high school doing workshop technology I was encouraged to do night school Jewellery class with Peter Hook. During the School C year we had to make a flint lock pistol, a knife, and pouch and brass cannon. It became a competition between all the class mates to do the best job. I managed to get top in my school for the School C year for workshop technology and technical drawing must say the ability to investment cast small parts helped a lot, NZM: What is your latest project? SS: My latest project is a rotational mould for a boat trailer body that can carry my boat but is also multi use as it can be used for a Jet Ski trailer or as a kids Slide on the water’s edge. It can float and be used as a floater to play with or for accessing boats on the water. It has 500 kg of flotation and can easily carry 3 paddlers, as a canoe. I have noticed after researching that no one’s supplying floating jet ski trailers worldwide so I’m going to see if I can make the market, NZM: What are you passionate about? SS: My family. I’m passionate about being able to create what we can dream of, being able to vision a product and draw it and then simply apply this to make it […]

Calibre Consulting increases capacity and innovation

The Christchurch rebuild and subsequent earthquake strengthening regulations, town planning and wider infrastructure projects have all placed huge demands on New Zealand’s surveying and engineering sector. To help meet that demand, one of New Zealand’s oldest engineering, project management and surveying consultancies has expanded its capacity. Rebranded as Calibre Consulting, the new business combines the former Spiire from New Zealand and Brown Consulting from Australia and Singapore, to produce a team of 600 professionals. In New Zealand Calibre Consulting’s Executive General Manager Mark Campbell heads up a team of 130 spread across eight offices. “Our team is firmly focussed on New Zealand first, but having our colleagues in Australia and Singapore means we have the resource and access to leading edge development from throughout the whole of the business,” Mr Campbell says. A former Royal Navy helicopter pilot who has an engineering degree and an MBA, Mr Campbell was a Lieutenant Commander and the chief operations officer for a 400 person naval squadron before he was entice back to his engineering roots. He was national Business Development and HSEQ manager for Brown Consulting in Australia before being seconded to New Zealand after Brown’s parent, Calibre Group, bought the former Spiire from Downer EDI earlier this year. ASX listed Calibre Group reported revenue of A$709 million for the year ended June 30, 2014, with net profit after tax (NPAT) of A$24.4 million. “The New Zealand business has a fantastic history, starting as Duffill Watts & King more than 65 years ago,” Mr Campbell says. “These days we have also developed some niche areas of expertise too, such as biological process design. Our waste technology, for example, has helped expand the lifespan of some New Zealand waste water plants, meaning some local government councils have been able to stretch their capital expenditure […]

World’s first cloud-connected cable certification tool

Now with LinkWare Live, the Versiv family of certification testers lets cable installers upload, analyse and manage copper and fibre test results—anytime, anywhere. Fluke Networks has unveiled LinkWare Live, the first cloud-based service that lets contractors, cable installers and project managers using the Versiv family of certification testers to upload, manage, and analyse certification test results from cabling projects—anytime, anywhere. LinkWare Live works with DSX-5000, OptiFibre Pro, and CertiFibre Pro certification testers to optimise project management and safeguard contractor profitability by providing real-time access to testing results, extending support to technicians in the field, and eliminating costly truck rolls simply for tester transport back to the office. LinkWare Live is a free service available to all Versiv customers. According to recent Fluke Networks surveys of more than 1,000 cable installers (who had collectively installed approximately 1 million links in the previous month), poor test results management creates a significant drag on productivity and profitability: * eighty-three per cent reported having one or more test results management issues in the month prior to the survey * the average time contractors spent dealing with test result issues in a single month was 15.2 hours—nearly two full workdays, not including the hours required to get the test results back to the office for analysing and reporting * half of the respondents said it would be beneficial to access project status information from any location. Project managers struggle with manual, error-prone results management processes Collecting certification test results is a significant challenge because they are stored in testers that frequently move from one job site to another. These job sites can be hundreds of kilometres away from one another, as well as from headquarters. Accidentally erased or failed memory cards can negate several days’ worth of work, leading to costly truck rolls, lowered profit […]

Used cigarette butts offer energy solution

A group of scientists from South Korea have converted used-cigarette butts into a high-performing material that could be integrated into computers, handheld devices, electrical vehicles and wind turbines to store energy. The researchers have demonstrated the material’s superior performance compared to commercially available carbon, graphene and carbon nanotubes. It is hoped the material can be used to coat the electrodes of supercapacitors—electrochemical components that can store extremely large amounts of electrical energy—whilst also offering a solution to the growing environmental problem caused by used-cigarette filters. It is estimated that as many as 5.6 trillion used-cigarettes, or 766 571 metric tons, are deposited into the environment worldwide every year. Co-author of the study Professor Jongheop Yi, from Seoul National University, said: “Our study has shown that used-cigarette filters can be transformed into a high-performing carbon-based material using a simple one step process, which simultaneously offers a green solution to meeting the energy demands of society. “Numerous countries are developing strict regulations to avoid the trillions of toxic and non-biodegradable used-cigarette filters that are disposed of into the environment each year—our method is just one way of achieving this.” Carbon is the most popular material that supercapacitors are composed of, due to its low cost, high surface area, high electrical conductivity and long term stability. Scientists around the world are currently working towards improving the characteristics of supercapacitors—such as energy density, power density and cycle stability—whilst also trying to reduce production costs. In their study, the researchers demonstrated that the cellulose acetate fibres that cigarette filters are mostly composed of could be transformed into a carbon-based material using a simple, one-step burning technique called pyrolysis. As a result of this burning process, the resulting carbon-based material contained a number of tiny pores, increasing its performance as a supercapacitive material. “A high-performing supercapacitor material […]

Robust new Standards system a ‘must have’

“The review of Standards didn’t just happen to turn out ok, and the changes are not a done deal yet either.” By Bruce Goldsworthy The changes coming up to maintain and strengthen the development and delivery of New Zealand Standards were no accident. The review of Standards didn’t just happen to turn out ok, and the changes are not a done deal yet either. But when the details are put into law early next year we expect them to contain all the points that we at the Employers and Manufacturers Association and Business New Zealand recommended. Minister Craig Foss personally invited our comments on them in a letter earlier this month, and we responded emphasising a number of points we have previously made plain in this publication and elsewhere. The review of New Zealand’s Standards system began last year though behind the scenes the disquiet had been bubbling away for some time. A large number of parties reliant on Standards were not happy with how the organisation had been performing, and for its part Standards New Zealand had clearly been underfunded for years. Revenues it should have been getting were being siphoned off for causes unrelated to Standards development leaving the organisation less able to do its job than it wanted. The users of Standards were becoming more disgruntled. The standoff could not go on. Credit must go to the officials at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) for finding a way through the morass. The fundamentals of the Standards system have been retained throughout the review, which are to ensure New Zealand has an independent and sustainable standards system. As Minister Foss says: ‘Standards make an important contribution to a more productive and competitive economy – for building products, energy safety, health and disability, environmental management, […]

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