Alan Cransberg became managing director of Alcoa of Australia in February this year following the retirement of Wayne Osborn. Alcoa of Australia is a significant component of the giant Alcoa corporation. It employs 6200 staff in Australia out of a worldwide workforce of 107,000. Alcoa of Australia last year achieved revenue of $4.49 billion and a profit of $1.8 billion.
Cransberg began his career with Alcoa in WA following graduation when he worked with the Alcoa Bauxite Mining Group in alumina refining in various business analysis, planning and managerial roles from 1981 to 1997.
He was appointed Pinjarra Alumina Refinery location manager in 1998 and in 2001 moved to the US as location manager of Alcoa’s Texas alumina and chemicals complex. Some years later he moved to Alcoa’s New York head office where he coordinated the firm’s activities in mining, refining and smelting. He became a vice-president of Alcoa in 2006 and returned to WA this year.
close

“Although oil prices have more than doubled in the past 12 months, adding about $1.5 billion to our cost base, Qantas’ growth continues and the company is now double the size it was seven years ago,” Leigh Clifford told Engineers Australia.
In August the airline will take delivery of its first A380, followed later by the first delivery of a Boeing 787.
“More than $30 billion worth of aircraft will be coming on stream,” he said.
Clifford was appointed chairman of the Qantas Board last November.
In 2006/2007 Qantas’ revenue was $15.2 billion. This labour-intensive operation supports more than 34,000 people.
Prior to his Qantas appointment, Clifford was chief executive of Rio Tinto, from April 2000 to April 2007.
Earlier this year, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.

close

Wesfarmers took over the Coles Group last November, increasing the staff of the multi-faceted Wesfarmers from 30,000 to 200,000. Its revenue in 2006/2007 was $9.7 billion and while this will greatly increase with the Coles acquisition, profits are expected to be modest initially. Trevor Eastwood said that Wesfarmers expects it will take about five years before the return on the Coles investment will justify its purchase price.
He said the Coles acquisition was the largest in the history of the Australian Stock Exchange and Wesfarmers’ now huge staff accounts for about 2% of the Australian workforce.
Eastwood started his career with the then Westralian Farmers Cooperative in 1963 and held a number of management positions including his final eight years as managing director of Wesfarmers. He was appointed chairman of Wesfarmers in 2002.

close

NSW state-owned Macquarie Generation, which is the largest electricity producer in Australia, employs about 600 people, more than 100 of whom have engineering qualifications. The corporation, which has about 4640MW of installed capacity, is currently part of the NSW government’s planned industry restructure and sale process. In 2006/07 the corporation’s revenue was more than $1 billion.
“During the past 12 months Macquarie Generation has increased production, while at the same time having its water supply threatened by a record drought. In the year ahead new water infrastructure within the Hunter Valley powerstations and on the Hunter River exceeding $100 million in value, will be commissioned, further cushioning the corporation and electricity consumers from future drought,” Grant Every-Burns told Engineers Australia.
He said managing Macquarie Generation through the restructuring process and the introduction of the Australian Emissions Trading Scheme are emerging challenges.
Every-Burns was appointed as Macquarie Generation chief executive in 1996. He is currently a director of the Energy Supply Association of Australia, and the National Generators Forum.

close

Kathryn Fagg has responsibility for all of BlueScope Steel’s businesses in Asia – including China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. BlueScope is Australia’s largest direct investor in these countries with steel coating and roll-forming facilities.
BlueScope’s revenue in Asia in 2006/2007 was $1.7 billion and it employs more than 4000 people in the region, with about half this number in China. Tata BlueScope Steel is a 50/50 joint venture with the India-based Tata Steel. About 750 people work for this company.
Fagg said that she enjoys being part of the dynamic of Asia, particularly in witnessing the growth of China and India.
She also has an executive responsibility for BlueScope Lysaght Australia, a lead provider of steel building products to the local market. This firm has about 40 manufacturing facilities and more than 1300 employees.

close

ResMed Inc is a dual-listed Australian-US firm and is a leader in researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing devices for diagnosing, treating and managing of sleep-disordered breathing.
ResMed has about 3300 staff, up 300 since June last year. The firm’s revenue in 2006/2007 was nearly US$720 million.
“Our current run rate is US$850million and our pro forma net profit after tax is about US$130million,” Dr Peter Farrell told Engineers Australia.
Farrell, who holds a masters degree in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as a PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Washington, formed ResMed in 1986. The firm manufactures continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) devices for treating sleep apnea.
ResMed is regarded by industry and academia alike as the yardstick of how entrepreneurial spirit can transform the fruits of research and development into a highly successful commercial enterprise.

close

Nino Ficca has been the managing director of SP AusNet since 2005. The company forecasts its 2008/09 revenue to be $1.1 billion with capital expenditure of $420 million.
The company has 510,000 customers in the gas industry and operates a 8800km distribution network with 183 gas pipelines.
In the electrical industry it operates 6500km of transmission lines and owns the Victorian distribution network serving 580,000 customers.
Ficca is a director of SP PowerGrid in Singapore, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of the National Electricity Market Operations Committee.
He previously held senior management positions with SPI/GPU PowerNet and was responsible for engineering, asset management and operation of field services.
He has an honours degree in electrical engineering and a graduate diploma in management, both from Deakin University.

close

Dr Jim Gill has been CEO of the WA Water Corporation since it was corporatised in 1996. Since then he has overseen a continuing major water and wastewater capital development program, the most significant element of which was delivering last year a $385 million 144ML/d desalination plant to supply about 17% of Perth’s drinking water. This large, complex, alliance project was recently given the 2008 Construction Achievement Award by the Australian Constructors Association and Engineers Australia.
Now he has been charged with delivering a second desalination plant. Both plants are part of a water security program where all water sources have been optimised against a background in recent decades of a drying climate where catchment streamflow into dams has declined by about two thirds.
The Water Corporation of WA employs 2400 people, has $12 billion worth of assets and last year generated revenue of $1.6 billion.
In 2006 Gill was Engineers Australia’s Civil Engineer of the Year.

close

Part of one of the world’s oldest and largest electrical engineering groups, Siemens Australia and New Zealand had a turnover of $1.65 billion in 2006/2007. It has 3400 staff.
The company is diverse, spanning water, energy, environment, healthcare, productivity, mobility, safety and security sectors. Some of its recent projects range from supplying 62 wind turbines for a New Zealand wind farm, and supplying overhead electrification and traction power systems to the Perth to Mandurah railway, to delivering state-of-the-art equipment for diagnosing and treating cardiovascular patients at Brisbane’s Mater Private Hospital.
Albert Goller was appointed to his present position in 2002. He started his career as an electronics engineer with Siemens in Germany in 1973.
Goller is a keen sportsman and enjoys running, tennis, golf and windsurfing.

close

Richard Goodmanson’s current responsibilities at the multinational chemicals and health care company DuPont include leading its operational functions worldwide, with a specific focus on growth in emerging economies and transformational productivity programs.
DuPont currently has 60,000 staff achieving in 2006/2007 revenue of US$27.4 billion.
“More than $30 billion worth of aircraft will be coming on stream,” he said.
Prior to joining DuPont in 1999 Goodmanson was president and CEO of America West Airlines. During his time there, the airline achieved the highest rate of growth of any hub and spoke major carrier in North America, won the JD Power award for customer service twice and achieved the highest EPS results in the company’s history.
Goodmanson was born in Australia and received most of his education here. As well as his engineering qualification, he holds degrees in commerce and economics from the University of Queensland and an MBA from Columbia University in the US.

close

WorleyParsons is one of the star performers among Australian public companies, having increased its revenue in 2006/2007 to $3.5 billion, a 43% increase on the previous year and just five years since listing on the Australian Stock Exchange. The interim result for December 2007 gives a figure of nearly $2.4 billion, so the annual revenue this financial year is likely to approach $5 billion.
The firm provides professional services to the energy, resources and complex process industries and is divided into four divisions for serving customers – hydrocarbons, minerals and metals, infrastructure and power. It has more than 105 offices in 34 countries and employs about 27,700 staff.
John Grill started his career with Esso in 1968. In 1971 he helped establish the structural engineering consultancy Wholohan Grill and Partners in Sydney. Worley was established in the US in the 1960s and expanded to the Asia Pacific region in the 1970s. In 1987, Wholohan Grill and Partners purchased Worley Engineering (Australia) and the company changed its name to Worley. In 2004 Worley acquired the US power and processing plant consultant Parsons E&C Corporation to become WorleyParsons.

close

“During the past year Gresham has achieved a number of important milestones – as joint lead financial adviser to BHP Billiton in its offer for Rio Tinto; as adviser to Wesfarmers on its $20 billion acquisition of the Coles group and its appointment by BG Group from the UK in its $13 billion proposal to acquire Origin Energy,” James Graham told Engineers Australia.
In its private equity business in the past year it acquired hard rock mining contractor Barminco and transport investment firm Silk Logistics.
Gresham currently has total committed funds under its management of more than $900 million.
Graham has been the managing director of Gresham Partners group since its establishment in 1985. Gresham Partners is a private locally-owned independent investment bank focusing on financial advisory services, private equity funds and property investment funds.
Earlier this year, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.Graham started his career as a chemical engineer with Dow Chemicals before becoming a merchant banker.

Since last September Ray Horsburgh has been chairman of Toll Holdings. He was a nonexecutive director since 2004.
Toll Holdings earned $7.5 billion in revenue in 2006/2007. A labour-intensive transport and logistics organisation, it employs about 30,000 staff. The firm is active on several fronts having just agreed to purchase WA freight company Courier Australia and United Carriers of New Zealand. It is also selling its stake in the New Zealand rail and ferry business back to the government for NZ$665 million.
Horsburgh’s aspirations for Toll in 2008/2009 are to “remain an employer of choice and to grow as a leading global logistics operation”.
Horsburgh developed his career over three decades with then Australian Consolidated Industries, including becoming CEO of the ACI Glass Group where he was responsible for operations in Australia, New Zealand, UK, Indonesia, Malaysia and China.
He was the CEO of Smorgon Steel Group prior to its merger with OneSteel about 18 months ago.

close

Colin Isaac assumed his current position in January last year, four months after the British firm BOC became part of the German Linde Group, now the world’s largest industrial gases conglomerate. BOC South Pacific provides services from retailing gas, and gas and safety equipment, to major industrial gas supply projects.
The South Pacific arm includes Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, a region which employs nearly 3000 people. Its revenue in 2006/2007 was $1.9 billion.
Isaac has been with BOC more than 20 years, more recently as head of the North Asia branch of the company, based in Shanghai.
He has also held senior management positions in Southeast Asia and South Africa and served on the boards of several listed and non-listed companies in the region.

close

Since 1995 Gordon Jardine has been the chief executive of Powerlink Queensland, the largest and fastest growing transmission network service provider in Australia’s National Electricity Market.
Powerlink controls a $3.9 billion network, from Cairns in the north to the NSW border. It has a staff base of more than 900 people and annual revenue of almost $600 million.
Jardine pointed out that Queensland’s electricity demand is growing rapidly in response to economic growth being propelled by the resources boom, industrial development and continued migration. He said to meet this demand, Powerlink has a capital investment program of $2.9 billion over the next five years.
Jardine is also the chairman of Grid Australia, the organisation which represents the owners of Australia’s electricity transmission networks in the National Electricity Market and Western Australia.
Before joining Powerlink, he held senior management positions in the US and Australia with one of Australia’s largest computer software companies, Mincom. His early career was spent in the mining industry in Western Australia and Queensland.

close

With a full-year revenue to December 2007 of $1 billion and 3700 staff, Thales Australia is one of the country’s largest defence contractors. It is also a major regional provider of air traffic management systems. Its capabilities include sonar systems, command and control systems, communications and mission management systems, electronic warfare, training simulators, munitions and specialised vehicles such as the mine-resistant Bushmaster infantry mobility vehicle, as well as shipbuilding and ship repair services.
Chris Jenkins said the skills shortage is one of the biggest challenges facing the company.
“We offer access to a vast range of technologies and are always looking for engineers who want to enhance their careers by exposure to fascinating projects in both the civil and defence sectors,” he said.
Jenkins was appointed managing director of Thales Australia last January. Prior to this he was vice-president for operations and an executive director on the Thales Australia board.

close

Improving the company’s safety performance is a top priority for Caltex, according to its CEO Des King.
“In 2007 Caltex achieved its best safety performance on record, with the lowest lost time injury frequency rate to date and a substantial decrease in the number of motor vehicle and tanker truck accidents,” he said.
Caltex Australia, the only oil refining and marketing company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, employs 3252 staff in Australia. Last financial year its revenue was $19.1 billion.
Prior to his appointment at Caltex Australia two years ago, King was the general manager of the Chevron Corporation Pembroke refinery in Wales, UK.
He holds a PhD in chemical engineering from Cambridge University. His academic achievements include developing a method of calculating gas hold-up in turbulent fluidised beds (called the King equation). He also developed a method of estimating cyclone efficiencies in some fluidised bed applications.
He is a director of the Australian Institute of Petroleum.

close

Origin Energy’s annual revenue last year was $6.2 billion and it has $4 billion worth of net assets. The company and its subsidiaries employ 4300 staff across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, supplying natural gas, electricity and LP gas to more than 3.6 million business and retail customers.
Since listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2000, the firm has pursued a strategy as a fuel-integrated generator and retailer of energy. It has also established a lead in coal seam gas, is a leading provider of green energy products and is currently building the country’s biggest combined-cycle gas turbine plant on Queensland’s Darling Downs.
Grant King was appointed managing director of Origin Energy at the time of its demerger from Boral in February 2000.

close

Leighton Holdings is the parent company of Australia’s largest project development and contracting group including Thiess, John Holland, Leighton Properties, Leighton Contractors, Leighton International and Leighton Asia. These firms undertake work in telecommunications, engineering and infrastructure, building and property, mining and resources, and environmental services markets. Operations span projects in Australia, New Zealand, East and Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
“The Group’s outlook remains very positive and we see an excess of opportunities in resources, infrastructure and property, both in Australia and across Asia,” Wal King said.
The firm has 30,400 staff. Last financial year its turnover was $11.9 billion and work in hand currently stands at $28.1 billion. King is regarded as one of the most experienced and successful people in the construction industry, having been CEO of Leighton for 21 years. He is also president of the Australian Constructors Association. In 2004 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.

close

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest diversified resources company, recorded revenue of $40.3 billion in the 2006/2007 financial year. The company has 39,000 employees and some 60,000 contractors working for it in more than 100 operations in 25 countries.
Dr Marius Kloppers has been CEO of BHP Billiton since last October. He immediately embarked on one of the biggest take-over bids in mining by making an offer for Rio Tinto. While Rio Tinto’s response so far has been negative saying the offered price was too low, the take-over bid is still on the table.
Kloppers joined Billiton in 1993 and his career steps included chief marketing officer, chief commercial officer and group president for non-ferrous materials. He has extensive knowledge of the mining industry and of BHP Billiton’s operations.
In addition to his chemical engineering degree, Kloppers has a PhD in materials science from MIT, as well as an MBA.

close

Geoff Knox assumed the role as CEO and managing director of the Downer EDI Group in February this year. He was previously executive chairman of consulting firm Hatch Associates.
The Downer EDI Group is a specialised supplier of infrastructure, mining, energy and consulting services in the Asia Pacific Region and the UK. It has more than 23,000 employees and an annual turnover of about $5.5 billion.
Looking to the future for Downer EDI, Knox believes the intrinsic value of the company’s businesses can be unlocked further by concentrating on fundamentals.
Knox was president of the former BHP Engineering and vice-president of BHP Project Management. He has also held senior roles with Baulderstone Hornibrook, Costain Australia and White Industries.
Outside work he spends time with his family and enjoys sailing and fishing.

close

“In 2008/2009 United Group’s focus is to continue to strengthen its presence in its three key markets of infrastructure, resources and property services,” Richard Leupen told Engineers Australia.
“In particular we have increased spending in road and rail, power and water resources,” he said, adding that the firm is well placed for further growth.
Under Leupen’s leadership United achieved $2.5 billion revenue in 2006/2007, up from $2.2 billion in the previous year. Its interim revenue for December 2007 was $1.6 billion. The firm has about 27,000 staff and 11,000 subcontractors.
Leupen is also on the board of Protech Holdings (WA) and the Australian Constructors Association national executive. He is a member of the Business Council of Australia
He has 30 years experience in industry, working for GHD in Perth and Kaiser Engineers in Washington DC. He has also worked for BHP Port Kembla, Shell Australia and Simcoa Operations.

close

Fletcher Building is one of the biggest building materials firms in Australasia. Last financial year it generated NZ$5.9 billion. Its interim revenue at the end of last year was NZ$3.5 billion The firm employs 20,000 people worldwide, of which about 14,000 are in New Zealand and Australia. Its principal activities are producing and distributing concrete, steel and building products. It also has interests in property and housing.
Last year Fletcher bought American Formica Corp, for close to NZ$1 billion, but returns have been sluggish due to a 10% drop in new US housing starts having an effect on laminate sales.
Jonathan Ling told investors early this year that Fletcher’s overall financial performance was pleasing “which reflects the group’s ability to deal with variable and sometimes difficult operating conditions. Across our businesses, commercial and infrastructure markets are still strong, which is best exemplified in New Zealand with a construction backlog of over NZ$1 billion”.

close

Shell Global Solutions International president Greg Lewin originally joined Shell Australia in 1975 before leaving the country in 1989 to work for Shell International. He was appointed to his current position in 2003.
Shell Global Solutions is one of Royal Dutch Shell’s technology-focused organisations. Employing approximately 5500 people globally, it provides business and operational consultancy, technical and project services, licensed technologies and research and development expertise to the energy and processing industries worldwide.
“At Shell, we express the global energy challenge as a set of hard truths – accelerating energy demand growth, lagging supplies of ‘easy oil’, and rising CO2 emissions – all of which need to be addressed in an integrated way,” Lewin said.
Lewin was the third Australian to become president of the UK-based international Institution of Chemical Engineers in 2006, after Dr Robin Batterham and Prof Rolf Prince.
Although he currently lives in the Netherlands, he frequently returns to Australia, where he has a country property outside Stawell, Victoria, and a family vineyard in Sunrasia.

close

Recently, Andrew Liveris was the winner of the 2007 Premier of Queensland Expatriate Achievement Award. Two years before he was awarded an honorary doctorate in science by the University of Queensland and named Alumnus of the Year.
Liveris leads the world’s second-largest chemical, plastics and agrosciences company, recording US$53.5 billion revenue in 2006/2007.
Liveris’ 30-year Dow career has spanned manufacturing, sales, marketing, new business development and management. He has spent the bulk of his career in Asia, where he was general manager for the company’s operations in Thailand, and later head of all Asia-Pacific operations. He began his Dow career in 1976 in Australia.
He has been a member of Dow’s Board of Directors since February 2004 and was elected as chairman of the Board in 2006.
Liveris also serves on the board of directors of Citigroup, one of the world’s leading financial services companies, and is a member of the US Climate Action Partnership. He is active in a number of chemical industry and business associations.

close

Energy Australia has more than 1.6 million network customers and operates the country’s largest electricity distribution network. Its revenue in 2006/2007 was $2.9 billion.
George Maltabarow said the utility’s current focus was on delivering its five-year $4.8 billion capital works program “to renew, improve and expand our electricity network to cater for growing demand”. Part of this work involves rolling out an “intelligent network” of fibre optic cable to substations and installing another 7000 smart meters, in addition to 400,000 such meters which have already been rolled out.

He said the company was named the best performing Australian company for 2007 in a recent Corporate Responsibility Index.
“We are proud of this award because it recognises that we are doing the right thing by the community and the environment,” he said.
Maltabarow, who also holds an economics degree from Macquarie University, was appointed EnergyAustralia managing director in 2005. close

Through its three principal businesses, CSR is a leading supplier of building products and sugar and holds an interest in the Tomago aluminium smelter. CSR has 7000 employees in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Last year its revenue was $3.1 billion.
Despite the firm’s profits being down last year due to depressed sugar prices, coupled with an unprecedented delay in the milling season due to unseasonable wet weather, the long-term outlook is sound, according to chief executive officer Jeremy Maycock. CSR has also recently increased earnings from its building products division by 75%.
Prior to becoming CEO of CSR in April last year, Maycock was managing director of Hastie Group, which he successfully restructured from private equity to public ownership over three years. Prior to that he had a 23-year career with the global construction materials firm Holcim.

close

Peter McMorrow was appointed managing director of Leighton Contractors in 2004. Since then, the company has diversified to include significant mining, industrial, telecommunications and investment activities and the number of employees has quadrupled to over 8000. Revenue in 2006/07 was $3.2 billion and work in hand currently exceeds $9 billion.
Current major projects for the company include the Gateway Upgrade and North South Bypass Tunnel joint ventures in Brisbane, the new Perth Bunbury Highway in Western Australia, the Kingsgrove to Revesby Rail Quadruplication in Sydney, and the Dynon Port Rail Link and Deer Park Bypass in Victoria. McMorrow has over 30 years experience in construction and infrastructure including 11 years with Leighton Asia where he held various positions including director and general manager for operations in Hong Kong, mainland China and the Philippines.
McMorrow believes safety, health and the environment are extremely important and that performance should be measured by actions and behaviours rather than just financial results.

close

Amcor has more than 200 manufacturing sites in 34 countries and derives about 80% of its earnings from overseas. The firm employs 22,000 people and its annual revenue in 2006/2007 was $10.9 billion.
“Amcor is nearing the completion of a three to four year turnaround program, becoming leaner, repositioning its portfolio, exercising capital discipline and renewing its culture, emphasising customer service and environmental sustainability,” Ken MacKenzie told Engineers Australia.
He has been with Amcor for 16 years and has worked in all the major operating divisions of the company, including PET, flexibles, tobacco packaging and closures.
Prior to taking up his CEO’s position he was group managing director of the Amcor Rentsch and Closures business, based in Switzerland.

close

Andrew Michelmore became chief executive of Zinifex in February. In this role, he has overseen the expansion of the business, with a takeover of Allegiance Mining currently under way. The company has also entered into an agreement to merge with Oxiana, creating a new diversified metals mining company. Michelmore will become its chief executive.
Currently Zinifex has a turnover of some $4.6 billion and approximately 1350 staff.
Previously, Michelmore was the chief executive of EN+ Group, an energy and aluminium subsidiary of Basic Element. Basic Element is chaired by Oleg Deripaska, rated by Forbes magazine as Russia’s wealthiest man.
Between 2003 and 2005, Michelmore was chief executive of mining and fertiliser company WMC Resources. BHP Billiton acquired the company in 2005.
Michelmore said he enjoyed “meeting the talented and motivated team of people that I will be working with over the next few years.”

close

Gerry Moriarty began his career as a technician and is now the executive chair of Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group, a global infrastructure fund with five communications businesses located in Australia, the UK and the US. The group’s total revenue for the financial year ending June 2007 was over $1.4 billion and its operating companies employ more than 4000 staff.
Moriarty evaluates potential new acquisitions and is responsible for the overall performance of the fund and for each of the operating businesses which perform critical national projects.
He was recently involved in acquisitions in the UK of National Grid Wireless for £2.5 billion and Airwave for £2 billion.
The group is currently involved with rolling out digital terrestrial television across Australia and the UK.
Moriarty has a bachelor in telecommunications engineering with first class honours from Canterbury University. Outside work, he enjoys growing grapes, wine appreciation, cycling and bushwalking.

close

Ken Moss is the chair of construction materials supplier Boral which employs 16,194 staff. Last year, the company had an annual turnover of $4.9 billion with operations in 11 countries including Australia and the US.
In the past year, the company received state approval development for the final stage of the redevelopment of its Greystanes site in Sydney. The project, as a result of the company phasing out its Prospect Quarry operations, began around seven years ago.
The company also acquired the assets of two construction materials businesses in Oklahoma City for $76 million – Schwarz Readymix, a readymixed concrete and sand business, and the quarry assets of Davis Arbuckle Materials.
Moss is currently focusing on appropriate responses to the housing downturn in the US and the tightening of credit markets.
He is is also the chair of the Centennial Coal Company. A major highlight and challenge in the past year was the sale of Anvil Hill and Tahmoor mines for around $1 billion and returning that capital to the shareholders.

close

Dr John Mulcahy has been chief executive officer and managing director of Suncorp, a diversified financial services provider, since 2003.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $14 billion with more than seven million customers and 17,000 employees in Australia and New Zealand.
Mulcahy has continued to be involved with integrating the Promina businesses which it acquired last year for $8 billion.
A major challenge this year for the company has been maintaining business momentum and achieving underlying growth despite the global credit crunch, volatile financial markets, and a string of severe weather events.
Mulcahy obtained his civil engineering degree in 1974 and a PhD in engineering in 1981.

close

Bill Osborne is president of Ford Motor Company and in charge of the development, production, sale and distribution of Ford vehicles in the Australian and New Zealand markets.
The company has 5000 employees and had a net sales revenue in 2007 of $3.3 billion from having sold 108,071 vehicles.
One of Osborne’s main challenges is finding an engineering solution for cars to reduce carbon monoxide emissions.
He holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the GMI Engineering & Management Institute, now called Kettering University. He also has a master of science in mechanical engineering from Wayne State University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Initially, Osborne chose to study engineering as it seemed like a good way to combine his interests of maths and cars. He now draws upon the analytical and problem-solving skills to make business decisions.
To relax away from work, Osborne enjoys golf, cooking and riding motorcycles. He looking forward to receiving his G6E Turbo.

close

Mark Reuss was drawn to engineering through a passion for cars and a desire to design them. As chair and managing director of GM Holden, he is now responsible for 6500 employees and company operations including vehicle assembly, engines, product engineering, styling, purchasing, finance, marketing and the enterprise of producing, exporting, and engineering a complete vehicle and powertrain.
Reuss credits engineering with teaching him how to solve problems with many undefined variables, quickly distilling the important elements, and focusing on what is important – a skill he finds valuable in business managment.
One of the challenges he now faces is meeting the industry’s increased focus on fuel diversity and the new market it will create.
Outside work, he enjoys spending time with his family, three kids and restoring his recently-purchased 1952 FX Holden.

close

Doug Rathbone is managing director and chief executive officer of Nufarm, a crop protection company based in Melbourne. He joined the company in 1973 as a contract engineer.
The company employs 2692 people and had a global sales revenue in the 12 months to July 2007 of over $1.7 billion.
Last year, Rathbone was appointed to the board of the CSIRO and was awarded the 2007 Chemeca Medal from the Australasian Federation of Chemical Engineers.
He is the president of the Children’s Cancer Centre Foundation at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
His interests in the family wine business include Victorian wineries Yering Station in the Yarra Valley, Mount Langi Ghiran in the Grampians, Parker Coonawarra Estates in South Australia and Xanadu Winery in Western Australia.

close

Christopher Roberts is president and CEO of Cochlear, which has more than 1600 employees. Last year, its annual revenue was $559.4 million with almost half of that coming from the US.
The company develops implantable hearing technology and it spends 12% of its sales revenue on research and development.
“Leading a company is like designing it for the future. You can analyse the past but you must design the future – drawing upon the relevant skills of engineering such as systems thinking, boundary conditions, constraints, trade-offs and such,” he said.
The company is working with Macquarie University to relocate its head office and research and manufacturing facilities to a $100 million site on the university campus. There will also be an opportunity to create a hearing precinct.

close

David Saxelby was appointed as the managing director of Thiess last year, after working for the company for 14 years.
The company forecasts revenue of $5 billion for this year and has more than 16,000 employees and 8000 subcontractors working in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and India.
The company was recently part of the winning consortium for the $4 billion airport link and northern busway project in Brisbane.
Saxelby continues to develop the company’s mining presence with the recent win of a $1 billion coal mining contract in Jharkhand, India.
He has been involved with the expansion of the services division which covers waste management, utilities and facilities management.
He is a director of the Minerals Council of Australia and the Australian Constructors Association.

close

John Schubert has been the chair of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia since 2004. The bank has some 38,000 staff. Last year, it reported a net profit after tax of $4.6 billion for the year ending 30 June 2007.
Schubert is currently on the boards of BHP Billiton and Qantas Airways. He is also the chair of G2 Therapies Limited.
He performs community work as chair of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation where he focuses on raising funding for research to protect the reef from coral bleaching and ocean acidification.
Schubert’s engineering career spanned the petroleum, mining and building materials industries. He was managing director and CEO of Pioneer International and managing director and chair of Esso Australia.

close

As global chief operating officer of Lend Lease, Ross Taylor is responsible for 11,500 staff. He oversees the company’s operating businesses around the world which include investment management, property development and construction. Last year, the company’s annual revenue was $14.3 billion.
Taylor said a major challenge has been moving fast enough to keep the businesses ahead of the implications of the global credit squeeze triggered by the subprime issues in the US. “We have been successful in doing this,” he said.
In the past year, the company launched a Singapore development fund, was the preferred bidder on the athletes village for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London and grew its military housing privatisation business in the US to over 40,000 homes.
Recently, Taylor enjoyed surfing the outer atolls of the Maldives. “My friends and I were surfing the most perfect six to eight foot crystal clear barrelling waves – it was just superb,” he said.

close

Julian Segal is the managing director and CEO of Incitec Pivot, which manufactures and sells fertiliser products. The company reported an annual revenue in the year ending September 2007 of $1.3 billion and sold more than 3Mt of fertiliser.
In the past year, Segal’s main focus has been on finalising the company’s $3.3 billion proposal to acquire Dyno Nobel and diversify into the explosives industry. The acquisition was given clearance to proceed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last month.
Being a chemical engineer, Segal has an interest in the company’s work with Metex and Carbon Energy to trial a commercial-scale oxygen-injected underground coal gasification demonstration project in the Surat Basin in Queensland.
Segal completed his bachelor of science in chemical engineering at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. When relaxing away from work and engineering, he enjoys listening to music.

close

Ken Scott-Mackenzie is the chief executive officer of Bilfinger Berger Australia, the holding company for Abigroup, Baulderstone Hornibrook and Bilfinger Berger Services Australasia. He is also a director of the group and the vice-president of the Australian Contractors Association.
Last year, the group had a turnover of $3.6 billion and held assets totalling $1.5 billion. It employs around 5000 staff. Its forecasted turnover for this year is $4.5 billion.
At present, the group is constructing the North South Bypass Tunnel and the Gateway Bridge in Brisbane.
Scott-Mackenzie said a major challenge in the past year was finding sufficient staff and he is involved with the group’s programs to attract staff including cadetships, apprenticeships and overseas recruitment.
In addition to his engineering degree, Scott-Mackenzie completed a diploma in law in 1984 out of interest and due to the relevance of law to the construction industry.

close

As CEO and chair of solar energy company Suntech Power, Zhengrong Shi is in charge
of 8000 people and involved in silicon procurement and strategic direction of sales. Around a third of his time is spent speaking at public events and lobbying government
officials to build support for solar energy.
He is the ninth richest Australian, according to BRW’s 2008 Rich 200 list, with a personal fortune of around $2.3 billion. He holds dual Australian and Chinese citizenships.
Engineering was fundamental to Shi’s success. When starting the company, he designed and built a production line using second-hand and new equipment, and personally managed production, sourcing, and research and development.
“It was a challenge and my engineering background allowed me to wear a number of hats and use our resources sparingly,” he said.
The company recently opened offices in Spain, Germany, South Korea and Australia, and plans to expand into Italy, Greece and Switzerland.
Based in Wuxi City near Shanghai, Shi visits Australia with his wife and sons several times a year.

close

Although Guy Templeton decided when he was seven years old that he wanted to be an engineer, his career developed in a different direction as he became more interested in working with and through people. As chief executive officer of law firm Minter Ellison he is now in charge of 2100 staff operating from 15 offices in six countries.
Before his current role, Templeton spent 15 years in management consulting. There, he found the quantitative analysis skills he developed in engineering to have proved useful. In his current role, he finds similarities between the professions of engineering and law.
“In working with lawyers, I find some overlap with an engineering approach – engineers are guided by a set of design rules while lawyers are governed by precedent and the law. I find engineers and lawyers are willing to embrace a logical approach to situations,” he said.

close

Don Voelte is the managing director of Woodside Petroleum which is one of the largest oil and gas exploration companies in Australia. The Perth-based company employs 2981 staff with operational interests in five continents including the US. It reported a revenue of $4 billion in 2007.
The company operates one of Australia’s largest resources projects, the Northwest Shelf Venture in Western Australia, which produces about 40% of Australia’s oil and gas.
A long-term goal for the company is to be a global leader in LNG production by 2015, when it predicts global demand for LNG will outstrip supply.

close

Peter Watson was appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Transfield Services in 2002. The company employs 23,000 staff and last year its global sales revenue was $2.4 billion. In March, the company became a top 100 company in the Standard & Poors ASX index.
In the Australian market, the company recently won contracts in the Western Power alliance valued at $100 million in year one of a five year contract, the Linkwater projects valued at $75 million over five years and a new roads maintenance contract in Tasmania worth about $10 million over five years.
The company’s North American business has expanded in the past 12 months, with growth in Flint Transfield Services in Canada.
Watson has a diploma in civil engineering from Caulfield Institute of Technology, which is now part of Monash University.

close

Bill Wild is the chief operating officer of Leighton Holdings.
The firm has 30,400 staff. Last financial year its turnover was $11.9 billion and work in hand currently stands at $28.1 billion.
A civil engineer from Queensland University, Wild also has a master in engineering science from the University of NSW. He was Engineers Australia’s Civil Engineer of the Year in 2004. He is currently the chair of Engineers Australia’s Taskforce on Construction Safety.
Wild joined the Leighton Group of companies in 1975. He was appointed to his current position in January 2006. Prior to that he was CEO and managing director of the John Holland Group.

close