The first ever Global Conference on Above Ground Geothermal and Allied Technologies (AGGAT) was held on 30th April 2015 in Auckland. Around 60 delegates registered for this conference covering a mix of industry, academia, field experts and government. The conference was divided into the following research themes, which also form the basis of the AGGAT…
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Those words were said by President John F Kennedy at his inauguration in 1961, and were designed to galvanize a nation to action through personal responsibility. After four years of effort and support by a lot of different people…
As part of the AGGAT program, the Heavy Engineering Education and Research Foundation (HEERF) offers scholarships to prospective university students undertaking postgraduate research related to the Heavy Engineering Sector. The AGGAT Program offers such opportunities through its research objectives in Clean Energy. This has often been a pathway of growth for our scholars into our…
The World Geothermal Congress (WGC) was held in Melbourne at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 19th – 24th April 2015. The event was co-hosted by New Zealand, where a number of short courses and field trips to geothermal plants also took place post-conference. Over 1,600 delegates from over 80 countries attended the conference…
Last year, HERA was successful in being awarded a new research project by NZTA to develop a design guide for existing steel-concrete composite bridges. Working in collaboration with Opus International Consultants, to date, the project has identified the many different shear connector types that have been used in New Zealand since the 1920s. Design rules…
An AGGAT program associate has developed some interesting intellectual property in relation to a process to mitigate silica fouling in geothermal plants. They have run the technology at lab scale and now want to proceed to field trials and ultimately a pilot plant. They feel they could benefit by partnering with a fabricator with a…
After a major refurbishment, HERA House was officially re-opened on 20 March by the Minster of Science and Innovation Hon Steven Joyce. He is also Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister of Science and Innovation, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, Minister Responsible for Novopay and Associate Minister of Finance; not…
As mentioned in our February and March news, the HERA Executive supported an ongoing research activity run by HERA to gather more specific data characterising our heavy engineering industry. This research activity included a proposal for the performance of a benchmarking study of the structural steel fabrication industry as a pilot for other sub-sectors subject…
Following on from the presentation of project plans at the AGGAT team meeting in January (see last HERA News), the research leaders will be re-convening at an upcoming Technical Advisory Board meeting in early March to present proposals and establish the next steps for their projects. In summary form, they are described below: Mar272015 Technology…
Our General Manager Structural Systems Dr Stephen Hicks contributed to the current Engineering Insights article on New Zealand steel research activities and its implementation within the new University of Auckland building. This article was first published in Engineering Insight January/February 2015, Volume 16/1 and is reproduced with the permission of the Institution of Professional Engineers…
Strattera, New Zealand’s voice of the minerals industry, keeps careful tabs on what’s happening globally in the industry, including reference to Deloitte’s “Tracking the Trends 2015” that identifies the top ten issues mining companies will face this year, some of which provide some useful insights for the New Zealand metals industry. One of these insights…
As mentioned in our last HERA News, the HERA Executive supported an ongoing research activity run by HERA to gather more specific data characterising our heavy engineering industry. This research activity included a proposal for the performance of a benchmarking study of the structural steel fabrication industry as a pilot for other subsectors subject to…