Infrastructure Talent Pool Strengthened
News Release
18 July 2005
Infrastructure Talent Pool Strengthened
Leading consultant to the
New Zealand infrastructure market, Sinclair
Knight Merz
(SKM), has strengthened its presence in the capital
following
the appointment of five key
professionals.
The team, with expertise in transport
planning, traffic engineering and
sustainable development
will work with the Buildings and Industrial
groups
already operating out of SKM's Wellington
office.
SKM's New Zealand Infrastructure Manager, Derek
McCoy said the move to
bolster the firm's Infrastructure
capability in Wellington has been taken
in response to a
range of market factors.
"Greater focus being placed on
transportation issues, along with
centralised project
co-ordination being implemented by national
organisations
such as Transit New Zealand, has been the catalyst
behind
our move," Mr McCoy said.
"Recent transport
legislation and heightened community expectations
for
improved transport links has also increased the level
of interest and
activity from clients in this critical
area," he said.
"Sustainable development is another area
gaining increasing interest from
a wide variety of
clients, as developers recognise the need for
greater
emphasis on environmental and social issues," Mr
McCoy added.
SKM has considerable expertise and skills that support these initiatives.
In the past it has
brought into skills and expertise from other SKM
offices
around the globe.
"While those resources will still be
available, this initiative will allow
us to provide
heightened levels of service to our
Wellington-based
clients, as well as those in the rest of
the country," Mr McCoy
concluded
Background on Sinclair Knight Merz
Sinclair Knight Merz is a leading project
delivery firm, employing more
than 4000 staff in offices
across the globe.
The firm operates across five broad
market areas: Infrastructure, the
Environment, Buildings
& Property, Power and Industrial, and Resources.
In New
Zealand, the firm has offices in Auckland, Wellington,
Christchurch
and Invercargill.
It is involved in a
range of key transportation projects such as
Auckland's
Central Motorway Junction, along with the Wellington
Regional
Road Pricing Study and Transit New Zealand's
Advanced Traffic Management
Systems Project in
Auckland.
Key Appointments
Sinclair Knight Merz is
pleased to announce the appointment of the
following key
professionals:
Fainks Rossouw
Fainks Rossouw is
a Senior Transportation Engineer based in the
Wellington
Office of Sinclair Knight Merz.
He has more
than nine years' experience, specialising in
transportation
planning and traffic engineering.
Fainks started his career in South Africa, where his
experience included
landside transportation planning for
Johannesburg International Airport
and Road Sector
Institutional Studies in Tanzania and Swaziland.
Prior to
joining Sinclair Knight Merz in New Zealand, Fainks worked
in
Dublin, Ireland for 18 months and undertook traffic
assignments for
several developments in Dublin, as well
as leading a regional freight
study for the Greater
Dublin Area.
Andrew Bell
Andrew joined SKM at the
beginning of April 2005 after spending three
years with
Transport for London (TfL) in the UK.
Andrew has a
Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from Auckland
University
before beginning his career with Duffill Watts
& King Ltd. in Auckland,
where he worked as a Traffic and
Highways Engineer, focusing on highway
design and
construction, road safety and project management.
He then
went on to work for another consulting firm in Auckland as
a
Traffic & Highways Engineer managing traffic
engineering and traffic
management projects.
Prior to
departing for the UK, Andrew acted as the replacement
Traffic
Manager on the Grafton Gully "Freeflow" project.
In his role at TfL, Andrew was responsible for managing a
wide variety
projects in the North & East Area, including
large transportation
modelling projects.
Gunther Wild
A "born'n'bred" Wellingtonian, Günther joins the new
SKM Wellington
Infrastructure Team as an intermediate
level Transport Analyst.
Günther is a confident public
speaker with public consultation experience
from time
working in both UK and NZ local government.
He
specialises in strategic policy development and Travel
Demand
Management (TDM) initiatives, most recently
leading the development of the
Wellington Regional TDM
Strategy as well as working on the Wellington
Regional
Road Pricing Study.
In his last role, Günther was
involved in a variety of projects including
representing
the Regional Council on the Socio-Economic Stream of
the
Wellington Transport Project and LTNZ National Travel
Behaviour Change
Advisory Group.
He also managed the
Close2:Kapiti teleworking trial, and prepared
the
Regional Road Safety Strategy and Regional Land
Transport Strategy Annual
Monitoring Reports.
Joe Metcalfe
Joe has BE (Civil) Hons from Canterbury
University and is currently
studying part-time towards an
ME in Transportation.
Joe has spent the past year working
at the Wellington Regional Council as
a transportation
modeller where he has been involved in work for
the
Western Corridor Project.
Domenico (Miko) Betanzo
Miko has extensive experience in New Zealand and
Canada on providing land
development consultation, design
and management to private and public
sector clients on a
variety of projects.
He has been involved in advice on
greenfield development projects, along
with commercial
and industrial civil infrastructure
projects.
ENDS