Issue 38
Total Solar
Total Solar is becoming a partner of choice and thought leader in Asia’s vibrant, expansive market, the company being the first oil & gas giant to make serious inroads into this form of renewable powerWriter: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Matthew Cole-Wilkin “Pardon the pun, but solar is a super-hot market here,” muses Gavin Adda, CEO, Industrial & Commercial for Total Solar’s Asia business. Joking aside, Adda is right. According to a report by Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, Asia-Pacific is poised to install 55 percent of the world’s new solar PV systems over the next five years, increasing its regional capacity by 60 percent by 2023. The large economies of China, India and Japan will account for 78 percent of this increase, but the allure of solar has caught on in many other Asian countries. “We are seeing a snowball effect,” Adda adds. “India, for instance, has gone from $30 million worth of projects annually to over a $1 billion in just a few years, and this enthusiasm for solar has taken off in the likes of the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, among others.” So how did Adda, an Englishman with an Archaeology & Anthropology Masters from the University of Cambridge, end up in Singapore leading the regional solar business for one of the largest oil & gas companies in the world? “I completed an INSEAD MBA in France and Singapore before getting headhunted to work for Samsung in South Korea,” he recalls. “Samsung was quite an early adopter of solar, and it was…
TE (PNG)
TE (PNG) is stamping its hallmark of quality on projects across many industries in Papua New Guinea, a country set to benefit tremendously from boosted connectivity.
Mondium
Mondium Setting the EPC Standard An esteemed mining engineering, procurement and construction contractor, Mondium is leveraging years of experience to the benefit of Western Australia’s preeminent industry Writer: Jonathan Dyble | Project Manager: Tom Cullum Faced with six years of declining growth that ended with a 1.8 percent contraction in 2017, last year marked an upturn in fortunes for Western Australia. The state economy grew by 1.9 percent in 2018, in no small part owed to its position as a competitive exporter of minerals and petroleum commodities, with the mining industry accounting for 30 percent of gross state product according to the regional Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation. What’s more, recent industry prosperity is expected to continue throughout 2019 and beyond, owed to a rising number of projects taking off across Australia’s largest territory. “Market activity has come alive in 2019,” explains Bob Osmetti, Managing Director of Mondium. “We’re anticipating that the mining sector is heading into a busy period for the next two to three years, particularly looking at the iron ore and battery metals sector where major projects are in progress. Generally, the precious and base metal sectors have remained active and there is a mixture of greenfield and brownfield projects in the pipeline.” With this optimistic climate in mind, while mining companies are gearing up to take on new opportunities, so too are those powering the industry with associated services, such as Mondium. An independent engineering, procurement and construction company specialising in the design and construction of processing plants, permanent villages, construction camps, bore fields, pipelines, powerlines, power generation facilities, plant buildings and other mine site infrastructure, the firm is ideally positioned…
Kospa Limited
KOSPA Limited Pioneering Progress Seizing the opportunity, KOSPA Limited is empowering the success of supply chains through intuitive investment and transformative cost-efficient technologies Writer: Jonathan Dyble | Project Manager: Josh Mann From the Anyathian era to the Bagan Kingdom and more recently Burma, Myanmar has been home to human civilisation for over 13,000 years, boasting some of the world’s most captivating antiquity. However, despite this rich cultural history, the modern state as it stands today remains a developing nation and is still considered by many as the last frontier market in Southeast Asia. This began to change in the early part of the decade when a series of sweeping political and economic reforms led to the re-opening of Myanmar’s economy. The nation’s first openly contested elections were held in November 2015. During the past year, the government has prioritised creating the right climate to attract foreign investment and encourage economic development. This pivot towards an investment-friendly pro-business stance is evidenced by the creation of the Ministry for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, the introduction of the New Companies Law and the opening of the country’s insurance sector. With these positive economic developments alongside numerous proposed Belt and Road infrastructure projects, the Asian Development Bank predicts that Myanmar will continue to be one of the world’s fastest-growing economies with a growth forecast of 7.2 percent for 2019. International bodies and businesses such as KOSPA Limited (KOSPA) have also been working to drive positive reform throughout the country, facilitating progress that is quickly bringing Myanmar into the modern era. Due to a relative lack of legacy technology and systems,…
Hofmann Engineering
Hofmann Engineering The Emblem of Modern Engineering Offering esteemed engineering expertise across mining, oil & gas, defence, and other industries, Hofmann Engineering has come to define differentiated service excellence Writer: Jonathan Dyble | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold 1969 is a famous year in the context of 20th century history. Renowned for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s Apollo 11 moon landing, it equally marks The Beatles’ final public performance and the first test flights of the world-famous, now dormant Concorde in France. For the Hofmann family, 1969 was no different in terms of significance, marking the launch of Hofmann Engineering – an enterprise now standing as one of Australia’s most esteemed industrial players. “From the humble beginnings of a suburban garage at the hands of my great Uncle, Erich F Hofmann, and grandfather John Hofmann, the company has enjoyed steady growth over the past half century to be the expansive entity that it is today,” states Jarrod Hofmann, the business’s current General Manager of Engineering. “The company began manufacturing small parts for the mining industry and various products with a plastic injection moulding machine, with focus turning to larger, more complex mining parts as it grew. Fast forward to today and we’ve proudly developed products and experience spanning the aerospace, defence, mining, gearing renewable energies, oil & gas and agriculture industries.” 50 years in the making, the company has managed to successfully differentiate itself within a busy market by operating a unique business model that specialises in producing high-end engineered products for a wide variety of…
H. L. Yong
Approaching its centennial anniversary, family-owned business H.L.Yong maintains the same client-centric course that has seen it grow from humble beginnings to lofty heights.
Euro Facade Tech
Euro FaCade Tech Broadening Horizons By embracing innovation and stepping into new markets, Euro Facade Tech continues to exceed client expectations and deliver landmark projects across the APAC region Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Tom Cullum First impressions, rightly or wrongly, count for a lot in many aspects of life. Whether it’s entering an office for a job interview or taking a first glance at a plate of food in a restaurant, conclusions are often made within seconds. The same can be said of buildings. Entire periods of history are identified by architecture, while a passer-by’s impression of a company, organisation or residence can be defined by what they see from the outside. The need for façade engineers to constantly evolve their offerings, therefore, is paramount. “Façades are ever changing,” comments Stephen Matula, Operations and Production Director for Malaysia’s Euro Facade Tech. “We are seeing more complex designs and features being incorporated into building structures.” Picking out an example, Matula highlights the increasing uptake of glassfibre reinforced concrete (GRC) as a particularly innovative construction material. Lightweight and extremely strong, GRC panels provide durability, fire resistance, sound reduction and energy efficiency on top of the inherently superior properties of the material itself. “We are seeing an increase in the number of projects using GRC products as a feature façade element,” Matula continues. “U-City in Adelaide was our first project to use this, and since then we have been awarded the Chowkit Hotel here in Kuala Lumpur and 472 Bourke Street in Melbourne with a GRC façade system. “We also see a growth in the use of energy efficient LED lighting in facades. Additionally, we…
DMIA Group
DMIA Group Motivating Malaysia’s Modernisation A diversified construction company specialising in specific niches, DMIA Group is helping to transform the Southeast Asian urban landscape by embodying progressive, new-era ideals Writer: Jonathan Dyble | Project Manager: Tom Cullum It’s almost a year on from Malaysia’s 14th general election, yet political euphoria still best describes the feelings of many of the country’s citizens. In May 2018 the Pakatan Harapan party was voted in, marking the nation’s first change in government in more than six decades. Now finding its feet, the new administration is focusing attention on creating a new-era Malaysia that will embody both diplomatic harmony and economic prosperity. “There’s a genuine and real effort being made by the government to transform the nation’s infrastructure,” explains Datuk Mohammed Razeek Hussain, revealing a key outcome of the ongoing transformation. “Construction is a sector that already accounts for approximately 23 percent of national GDP, and as far as growth and development is concerned, everybody knows that the industry is an ideal proponent.” Well placed to comment on the current climate being the Chief Operating Officer of DMIA Group, one of Malaysia’s leading construction entities, Hussain is optimistic about these current conditions. He continues: “No less than 80 percent of construction materials in Malaysia are obtained locally, whether it be sand, cement, paint or other architectural materials. “Combining this with the fact that many companies are willingly answering the government’s call to create a new, modern Malaysia, an exciting stage is set for both the country and our industry right now.” Out with the old, in with the new Having successfully established itself as a one-stop…
CPC Engineering
CPC Engineering Hitting the sweet spot CPC Engineering, thanks to its agile setup and full suite of engineering and drafting expertise, is able to support clients across continents throughout the entire life of a mining project Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Donovan Smith Australia has long supported the African mining industry. According to the Australia-Africa Minerals and Energy Group, there are more than 185 ASX-listed mining and other resource companies operating over 430 projects in 37 African countries. This amounts to an estimated footprint of more than $40 billion based on current and potential future investment. “At the moment there is no shortage of opportunities to work,” says Rod Davies, General Manager of CPC Project Design at Perth-based CPC Engineering, a company supporting a range of mining projects across multiple regions including Australia and Africa. “Companies are always trying to progress projects and expand plants, although a slowing impact both in Africa and Australia has been the sourcing of financing for such plans. The world is becoming more risk averse, but by February after the Christmas shutdown we tend to see investment picking up and we are starting to see those green shoots again.” The opportunity for Davies to join CPC, by his own admission, came out of the blue, but it was too good to turn down – the GM headhunted on recommendation from colleagues of his retiring predecessor. It is an industry he has always held a passion for, stemming from a young age. “I like big machines and how they do things, to put it simply,” says Davies. “I loved the idea of working…
How is Microsoft driving educational opportunities across Asia?
Written by: Tom Wadlow“I come from a family of educators, and after a stint working in New York I moved back to California and joined my mother in a small software company that made products to use in schools. “It was great experience being able to grow and build a family business for 10 years, and I left with a notion and feeling that I wanted to work with products that have a positive impact on people’s lives.”Larry Nelson has been infatuated by technology ever since he was first exposed to computers in the mid-70s, playing Star Wars while at Woodside Priory School in the Silicon Valley. Though formally educated in marketing and finance with an MBA from Cornell University, the 1990s defined his career path, the family business (Decision Development Corp.) pioneering products to replace textbooks and selling into 12 states across America. Nelson now serves as Microsoft Asia’s Regional General Manager for Education. Having moved out to Singapore a little over a year ago, he has just celebrated a decade at the company and carries the same levels of energy as he did on day one. “I was extremely fortunate to be able to join in the aftermath of the financial recession of 2008-2009, as Microsoft was still investing and looking to drive change in the sector,” he recalls. “Today I am responsible for our education business across Asia, which is organised into five areas – India, Greater China, Japan, Australia and APAC which includes New Zealand and Korea. It is a wonderful challenge and I have a great…