Page 10 - Climate Control News May 2020

News
Fujitsu General and Advantage Air announce strategic partnership
FUJITSU GENERAL AUSTRALIA has an- nounced a strategic partnership with industry leading controls and IoT manufacturer Advantage Air to research, design and build OEM controllers.
With technology playing a critical role in the lives of Australians and rapid advances and inno- vation in the controls space, Advantage Air will exclusively manufacture and build OEM control- lers under exact specifications for Fujitsu General Australia ducted air conditioning systems.
The partnership allows both companies to collaboratively research and develop controls specifically for Fujitsu General under license for the term of the agreement.
In the second half of 2020, the first controller will be released to extend Fujitsu’s anywAiR Wi-
Fi remote control offering, designed specifically for ducted air conditioning
Fujitsu General Australia general manager for sales and marketing, Dave Smith, said Advan- tage Air is a highly respected and trusted busi- ness in Australia and shares similar values to Fu- jitsu General.
“Fujitsu always looks for these synergies with partners as it delivers many benefits for our cus- tomers,” Smith said.
“This strategic partnership will allow Fujitsu General to release smart controllers and strengthen its product offering to dealers and end users, now and into the future.
“We are looking forward to working with this industry leading organisation and providing our
ABOVE: The partnership will focus on the development of controls.
customers with innovative solutions that enable them to create smarter home offerings.”
Advantage Air director, Dave Devoy, said the com- pany is pleased to be chosen for this partnership.
“The trend for consumers to control their de- vices, including air conditioning, smartly is al- ready very evident in some states and is set to continue to grow strongly in coming years across Australia,” he said.
“I think that this is the perfect time for Fujitsu General to provide its customers with reliable, easy to use smart controls for their ducted air conditioners.”
AIRAH Board achieves gender equity
FOR THE FIRST time in its 100-year history the board of the Australian Institute of Refrig- eration, Airconditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has achieved gender equity following the elec- tion of Mikaila Ganado, to the national board of directors.
Ganado has joined Paul Jackson and Ura Sarfejoo, who were re-elected to the board at AIRAH’s National Convention, which this year was held remotely due to the impact of the cor- onavirus. Existing board members include the president Ian Harwood, along with Bryon Price, and Liza Taylor.
Nathan Groenhout will continue to serve in the capacity of discretionary director.
Harwood said although it took a while for the AIRAH board to achieve gender equity it still represented a wonderful opportunity for the institute.
“It’s fantastic that the AIRAH board will have a balance of men and women going for- ward,” Harwood said. “In order for a board such as AIRAH’s to function effectively, you need a balance of different kinds of experience, backgrounds and perspectives.
“And in our case, this has been achieved without the need for quotas or the like. All of
At that time, she will replace Stefan Jensen, who decided not to nominate for the board fol- lowing the conclusion of his term.
“I’d like to thank Stefan for his service and his commitment to the board,” Harwood said. “He will be missed, but knowing Stefan he
will continue to offer his opinion from the sidelines.”
Ganado is the President and Associate Di- rector of AIRAH’s New South Wales division committee. She’s also Associate and Senior
Engineer at GWA Consultants.
Associate and Senior Engineer at GWA Consultants, Mikaila Ganado
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU
AIRAH’s directors have been elected own right.
“All of our directors bring a par- ticular set of skills, so to speak, which we will need to harness to help shep- herd AIRAH through such challeng- ing times.”
Ganado will officially join the board at the Annual General Meet- ing, which will take place (also re- motely) on May 19, 2020.
in their
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