Page 19 - Climate Control News Magazine May 2019

The lights dimmed as everyone prepared to hear the winners of last year's HVACR Leadership Awards in Melbourne.
HVACR Leadership Awards
HVAC segment manager, ABB Drives, Paul Burrows.
He pointed to ABB’s Graduate Engineering Program (GEP) as well as its support for young indigenous Australians through the Australia Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) which helps secondary school students make the tran- sition to further education or employment.
Burrows said rising stars stand out as having a few common characteristics.
“Typically they are young people that go above and beyond, and have a genuine passion for what they do,” he said.
“Their peers usually view them as being excep- tional. They could be at the forefront of develop- ing new technologies or successfully running their own companies.
“Regardless of their pursuits, these aspiring young leaders are the future of our industry and ABB is proud to be supporting them.”
Burrows said the category also aligns with ABB's position in the market as a pioneering technology leader in a number of industries.
He said there have been plenty of pioneers that have been rewarded in this category over the years.
In 2018 the award went to Engie Services tech- nician, Mitchell Beattie, and BUENO general manager, Lina Le.
“Congratulations to those who have been and will be nominated for the Rising Star Award cat- egory in 2019. We look forward to seeing every- one at the awards,” Burrows said.
There is no shortage of talent in the HVACR industry hat has been made abundantly every year since CCN is made abundantly clear year after every year when CCN announces the win- ners of the
CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
The Contractor of the Year Award has always been a popular category in the HVACR Leader- ship Awards.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Air-Conditioners Australia (MHIAA) general manager, sales & planning, Adrian Brown, said contractors are a direct link to local, metro and regional commu- nities. “They are important to not only the growth of our business but also the growth of the HVACR industry. For MHIAA we believe that it is important to show our support for these con- tractors and the work that they do not just in the industry but in the local community,” he said. “They are the people that represent our business- es to the community and the people who foster growth and innovation within the industry. We selected this category as it was our way of recog- nising the importance of these businesses to the industry.
“MHIAA is proud to once again be partner- ing with CCN for the HVACR Leadership awards for 2019.”
WOMAN OF THE YEAR
IN HVACR AWARD
Daikin Australia has a long history of being a champion for diversity, not only within its own organisation but throughout the HVACR industry.
In fact, Daikin has been the sponsor for the Woman of the Year in HVACR Award since its inception.
The national marketing manager at Daikin Australia, Dan Tosh, said diversity means at- tracting the best talent to the business.
In the past two years, Daikin Australia has achieved a 50% increase in female employment and 44% of all promotions have been for female employees.
Tosh said the winner of this award should not only be an exceptional leader but a mentor to young women entering the industry.
“We constantly search for ways in which we can improve our support to customers and grow the industry,” he said.
“We would like to cultivate and foster the same enthusiasm to see more women contribut- ing in an even greater capacity.”
INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Innovation is at the very heart of the Toshiba brand and customer promise, according to George Azzam, sales and marketing general manager at AHIC (Australia) Pty Ltd.
It explains why Toshiba has been a big sup- porter of industry innovation.
“Our inverter technology was launched in 1981 and we have maintained our technological ad- vantage ever since,” Azzam said.
“For us, innovation is about walking the talk everyday across every function of our business. By publicly rewarding innovation excellence we send a powerful message to all of our employees, wholesalers, dealers, installers and customers about our commitment to innovation.”
Azzam described an innovator as an optimist with a heavy dose of pragmatism. He said an in- novator is a leader who accepts failure is a risk but believes in their own ability to inspire and build value from every interaction.
“Technology, processes and people change at rapid speed in today’s 24/7 world, so striving to- wards an excellence mindset can certainly help our industry stay ahead of the game, creating new value for everyone,” he said. ✺
MHIAA sales and planning general manager,
Adrian Brown.
Daikin Australia national marketing manager, Dan Tosh.
AHIC (Australia) Pty Ltd sales and marketing general manager, George Azzam.
NOMINATIONS OPEN
Nominations are officially open for the 2019 HVACR Leadership Awards.
To nominate simply go to www. climatecontrolnews.com.au/awards
Entries close July 31, 2019.
CLIMATE CONTROL NEWS
MAY 2019
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