By Sandra van Dijk
12 July 2016
After judging a record number of entries, Climate Control News (CCN) today announced finalists in all six categories of the 2016 HVACR Leadership Awards.
CCN editor, Sandra Van Dijk, said judging was particularly difficult due to the high standard of entries.
“Fortunately I had judging support from an industry veteran, RACCA president, Kevin O'Shea, who made the entire process so much easier,” she said.
“The HVACR Leadership Awards are only in their second year so I was surprised not just by the high number of entries but by the exceptional quality of our nominees they really have made the awards program a success."
Although the awards were only a year old, CCN introduced a new category - Woman of the Year in HVACR. Surprisingly, it received the highest number of entries out of all the categories in the awards program.
"This was surprising because I really wasn't sure what to expect when it came to Woman of the Year in HVACR, " Van Dijk said.
"We all know that there are not a lot of women in HVACR so it was wonderful to receive nominations from so many women in positions of influence.
“Every entry was exceptional making it the toughest category to judge."
Van Dijk said it was also hard to judge the main award category which is the 2016 HVACR Leader of the Year.
"Exceptional nominees are expected in this category but it still doesn't take away from the fact that every finalist is of such a high calibre," she said.
"Daikin sponsored both categories and while the leadership award is always going to be a category that recognises the best our industry has to offer, I think Daikin must be thrilled with the outcome of the very first Woman of the Year Award."
Due to the high level of interest in the 2016 HVACR Leadership Award, CCN has selected four finalists. They are: Coles Supermarket national refrigeration engineering manager, Stuart Saville; Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating (AIRAH) government relations manager, Phil Wilkinson, Minus40 managing director, Michael Bellstedt; Sydney TAFE senior head teacher for RAC, Greg Riach.
There are also four finalists for Daikin's Woman of the Year award and they are: Australian Refrigeration Mechanics Association (ARMA) president, Kim Limburg, Staycool Heating & Airconditioning sales manager, Lisa Dainty, A-Gas Australia managing director, Louise McCann; Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating (AIRAH) president, Ania Hampton.
Sponsored by Heatcraft the Sustainability Leader in HVACR Award has three finalists. They are: 100% Renewables director, Barbara Albert; Cold Logic director, Brad Semmler; Lucisco Pty Ltd director, James Martin.
There are also three finalists for Innovator of the Year which is sponsored by Temperzone. They are: Samsung Electronics project support engineer, Deepika Naicker; Optergy product manager Marc Abdelahad; Heuch Refrigeration general manager, Steve Oakley.
The Australian Refrigeration Association (ARA) has sponsored the Emerging Leader in Energy Savings category which has three finalists and they are: Scantec Refrigeration Technologies managing director, Stefan Jensen; Airconditioning Air Purification Technologies engineer, Lindsay Pelser; Blygold Oceania managing director, Mark Weir.
The final category, which is sponsored by ABB, is Industry Rising Star. Finalists are DTM Air Services tradesman, Nathan McHugh, and Intrust Energy Solution managing director, Mick Guli.
Winners will be announced at CCN Live on August 2, 2016. International guest speakers will deliver the keynote address at this year's breakfast event which will be held at the Royal Randwick Racecourse from 8am to 11am.
Speakers are Lux Research director, Dr Arij Van Berkel and Lux Research Asia Pacific managing director, Cort Isernhagen.
They will present exclusive research on key industry trends including new technology and changing business models including market consolidation and where the industry is heading.
