Your most interesting projects / accomplishments?

I have been fortunate to experience all aspects of the civil engineering industry, from being a site manager for a road construction company, project engineer for a company designing and constructing cooling towers for various power utilities, an engineer in a council and a consulting engineer. This has given me tremendous insights into the civil engineering industry as a whole and equipped me with a wealth of skills to deal with complex and interesting projects.

There are two accomplishments that I am extremely proud of.  The first was establishing my own civil engineering consultancy in partnership with my wife which we successfully ran for over 16 years in South Africa. We established a very good reputation in the land development space eventually having clients such as Investec, Standard Bank, Johannesburg Council (Water and Wasterwater) and Discovery Health utilising our services.

My second accomplishment which also rates up there is successfully moving across to New Zealand and integrating into the civil engineering industry here. It has been tremendously exciting meeting and dealing with the people in the civil engineering space here and learning and growing to a point where I can offer my engineering expertise and be of benefit to the community.

I have had experience in all manner of engineering projects in New Zealand including a number of subdivisions ranging in size from 2 lot subdivisions through to subdivisions well in excess of a 100 lot’s, industrial and warehouse developments, new build school sites, large apartment buildings as well commercial shopping complexes.

What you love most about your job?

Working with a team, solving problems and delivering a successful project to the client is extremely satisfying.

While enjoying solving technical issues, I really enjoy collaborating with people all working towards a common goal and seeing the final results when a project is successfully completed.

Why you followed this career path?

As a kid I was very involved in scouting and was exposed to problem solving, leadership and team work/building principles in an outdoor setting. I found the civil engineering field reflected all of those skills and values that I had acquired as a young scout and it was a natural fit.

You are challenged to learn and grow and push your boundaries throughout your career and especially now the civil engineering industry can have a massively positive effect on the environment by applying good engineering practises and sound principles to any project.

Your interests outside of work?

I have been doing karate since my younger school years and am actively involved training and learning karate. One is never too old to learn a new skill or move!

With my family we love being outdoors and take part in as many marathon’s, mountain biking and hiking events as we can.  We also try maintain our fitness levels by attending box fit classes a few times a week.

What or who motivates you?

The scout motto “Do your Best!”  is something that I try live my life by. 

Baden Powell the founder of scouting famously said:

"Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best."

Who do you love to work with?

I love working with all sorts of people, be they fellow engineers, developers, technical team members, planners and anyone who I get to deal with during the day. Everyone has something to teach me and I can only grow from any interaction I have with them.

However, I do really enjoy working with the young engineers and technical team members who are just starting on their career path. It is great to be able to transfer my knowledge and experience and see them growing and developing as young adults.