Martin Albrecht, 65
Chairman of construction contractor Thiess, renewable energy company Geodynamics and the International Riverfoundation
Even though civil engineer Martin Albrecht has moved away from the day to day operations of Thiess, since he retired from his position as managing director, his influence remains strong in the business world and the community.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the International Riverfoundation, which addresses issues related to sustainable water use and protection and restoration of rivers and waterways.
He is a Companion of the Order of Australia.
His other directorships include Leighton Holdings, Queensland Gas Company, the Siemens Advisory Board, Australian Prospectors & Miners Hall of Fame and the Wesley Medical Research Institute Board.
He was managing director of Thiess from 1985 to 2000. During that time the company’s turnover increased from $190 million to $1.8 billion.
“Being part of the revitalisation of the organisation was probably one of the most rewarding and fulfilling accomplishments of my career,” he said.

Malcolm Broomhead, 51
Managing director and chief executive officer of Orica
Malcolm Broomhead has been at the helm of Orica since 2001. Under his leadership the company increased its profit from $60 million in 2001 to $270 million in 2003 and the share price has risen from $4 to over $14, reaching a record high of $15.75 last month. The company has an annual turnover of more than $4 billion with 10,000 employees in 38 countries.
Broomhead said the company has a strong focus on science and technology. “We turn science into solutions and Orica has a high reputation for being technically competent. The company is a market leader in all its product areas,” he said.
As for its internal culture, Broomhead said the company focuses on safety, on team work and on creating an environment that gives staff a sense of ownership.
Prior to his current position in the chemical industry, Broomhead worked in the mining and construction industries. He is a civil engineer from Queensland University.
One of his main career achievements has been “getting Orica back on its feet”. More generally, he is proud of being an engineer and thus part of a profession that “makes things”.

Leigh Clifford, 56
Chief executive of Rio Tinto
Leigh Clifford became chief executive of Rio Tinto in 2000. He is based in London. Prior to his appointment he was managing director of the company’s Australian operation in Melbourne.
The world’s third-largest miner currently has over US$2 billion worth of projects under way, including major expansions of its West Australian iron ore mines to feed demand from China, Clifford recently told the company’s Australian annual meeting in Brisbane.
One of his goals for the company is “to ensure that it attracts and develops capable leaders and, in particular, that I build a team to lead the company in the years to come”.
Originally from South Australia, Clifford graduated as a mining engineer from Melbourne University.

David Croft, 64
Chief executive and managing director of TransGrid
David Croft is chief executive and managing director of TransGrid, the NSW government corporation that owns and operates the state’s high voltage electricity transmission network.
Croft has 40 years experience in the development, operation and management of interconnected power systems in Australia.
With TransGrid, Croft has played a key role in the structural reforms in the Australian electricity supply industry. This includes managing the design, implementation and running of the state electricity market in NSW, which was the forerunner of the Australian National Electricity Market.
In 1995, Croft was appointed as chairman of the Australian National Committee of the Parisbased International Council on Large High Voltage Electric Systems (CIGRE), which is the foremost technical body operating in Australia and worldwide concerned with the technology, safety and other issues concerned with transmission of high voltage electricity. Since 2001, he has been the worldwide president of CIGRE, the first Australian and only the third nonEuropean to be given this honour.

Lucio di Bartolomeo, 50
Managing director of ADI
Civil engineer Lucio Di Bartolomeo came to public prominence during his term as managing director of NSW railway business FreightCorp, which was commercialised between 1996 and 2002 during Di Bartolomeo’s tenure. In 2002 it was purchased by a consortium of Toll Holdings and Patrick Corporation.
“My contribution to the commercialisation of rail freight is what I am most proud of in my career and I hope that rail will fulfil its rightful role in freight transport in Australia,” he said.
Di Bartolomeo has been managing director of ADI since September 2002. He has led further restructuring of the defence contractor’s operations providing better alignment of ADI’s technology and service capabilities with key customer requirements.
“I am enjoying the ongoing challenge of ensuring ADI has access to the latest technologies both through our own R&D program and through assessing the best overseas technologies,” he said.
ADI has an annual turnover of $700 million with 2500 staff.

Robert Franklin, 51
Chief executive officer of Autoliv Australia
Mechanical engineer Robert Franklin became Autoliv Australia’s chief executive in 1997. Since then the manufacturer of car restraint systems has grown in turnover from $50 million to $260 million a year, with a staff of 800.
Soon after Franklin became CEO the company started full airbag manufacture at its factory in Melbourne. He sees this as one of the main achievements in his job.
Another major achievement has been the promotion of women in the company. His policies and actions earned him the Leading CEO for the Advancement of Women Award from the federal government Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) and a place among 10 chief executives in a recent book by the EOWA, titled “Chief executives unplugged – business leaders get real about women in the workplace”.
The company’s family friendly working conditions include flexible working hours, access to part-time work, early finish on Fridays, advancement training for largely unskilled female workforce from the shopfloor, and attraction and retention of female engineering graduates through scholarships and traineeships.
Among the results of these actions have been a very low staff turnover, an increase of women in management roles by nearly 14%, and of women in engineering by 20%.
The benefit for the company has been a growth by 20% every year, “making us a sound and profitable business”, he said.

Don Fry, 64
Chairman and owner of Cairns-based NQEA
Don Fry’s proudest achievement is building 50 vessels for the Australian Navy, all of which are still in service. His engineering and shipbuilding firm NQEA’s standing in providing patrol boats and other ships for the Navy was recognised recently when Fry appeared before the Senate Standing Committee to advise on reform of defence procurement.
An officer of the Order of Australia, he is also an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia and is an inaugural inductee into the Queensland Engineers Hall of Fame. He is both chairman and owner of Cairns-based NQEA, which has built 220 ships and watercraft over the past 30 years, including the navy vessels. The company has also built some innovative sugar processing equipment, which Fry designed.
He is chairman of the National Committee Advising the Federal Government on Homelessness, chairman of the James Cook University Engineering Advisory Board and a member of the Cairns Salvation Army Advisory Board.

John Grill, 58
Chief executive officer of Worley Group
In 1971 civil engineer John Grill joined a company that became known as Wholohan Grill and Partners. This company acquired Worley Engineering and in time amalgamated with various other parties to form what is today known as the Worley Group.
Grill is now the CEO of the Worley Group, which employs 5000 people and anticipates an aggregated revenue of more than $500 million.
He considers helping create a positive work culture within Worley as one of his main achievements.
He said one of the most enjoyable aspects of his position is “the fact that what I’m doing changes in complexion each year as the company grows.”
He was recently listed in the Business Review Weekly’s Rich 200 list at $110 million.

David Hudson, 58
Managing director of Barclay Mowlem
Civil engineer David Hudson has been the managing director of Barclay Mowlem for the past 14 years. The company constitutes about 25% of British-based Mowlem plc. He has been granted the authority and autonomy to operate a self-contained business in Australia and Asia, which contributes the majority of Mowlem’s work outside of Britain and the US.
Barclay Mowlem’s annual turnover is $1 billion. It encompasses the civil, mechanical, electrical, marine, rail, water treatment, facilities management and maintenance disciplines of engineering.
Hudson is also a founding director of the Australian Constructors Association where he has been vice-president since 1997. He is an advisory board member of the Austrade Infrastructure Taskforce; a member of the Industry Advisory Network at the University of Technology Sydney’s Engineering Faculty; and a past chair of the Alice to Darwin ADrail Joint Venture.

Bruce James, 51
Chief executive officer and managing director of Henry Walker Eltin
Civil engineer Bruce James has been the chief of construction firm Henry Walker Eltin since mid 2002. His aim for the company is to create a fully integrated services provider to the infrastructure, resources, energy and process industries.
His appointment followed a successful career with Transfield, having joined that firm in 1976, after graduation from Sydney University.
At Transfield James was involved in many high profile projects, such as the construction of NSW powerstations, the Western Trunk Sewer in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane’s airport railway links and the Melbourne Docklands project.
In 1993 he established the Transfield Maintenance Division, a business which grew into Transfield Operations and Maintenance and which was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange as Transfield Services in 2001.
James is a director of Ngarda Civil and Mining, a Henry Walker Eltin joint venture with indigenous groups. He is also a director of the Australian Constructors Association and a member of the Minerals Council of Australia Executive Committee.

Lee Kernich, 47
Vice-president at Mitsubishi Motors Australia and chief of Mitsubishi Motors R&D Australia
A mechanical engineering honours graduate from Adelaide University, Lee Kernich has been with Mitsubishi since 1980.
His involvement in product development started with chassis designs in 1983. Since then he has progressed to various managerial roles, culminating in his present position.
“Basically my role is to provide the infrastructure for all the product engineering functions as well as bringing together the people and resources required for product styling, design, prototyping, testing and certification. This often involves hands-on work and technical leadership,” he said.
He said car making is very dynamic and probably subject to more competitive pressures than many other areas of manufacturing, yet it elicits dedication from those involved in it, and great interest by a broad section of people outside it.

Wal King, 59
Chief executive of Leighton Holdings
Last month probably was one of the most difficult for Wal King as far as the performance of Leighton Holdings is concerned. The share price dropped by 25% in one day following the announcement of problems with two projects under construction by one of its group members – Leighton Contractors. Nevertheless, the group, which also includes John Holland and Thiess, keeps winning contracts and remains Australia’s largest project development and contracting business with an annual turnover of over $5.4 billion.
King has been chief executive since 1987, when he was appointed to the position at the age of 43. His board recently approved the renewal of his contract until 2008.
He is also the president of the Australian Constructors Association.
A civil engineer from the University of NSW, King is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia.

Andrew Michelmore, 51
Chief executive officer of WMC Resources
Chemical engineer Andrew Michelmore has been the chief executive officer of WMC Resources since the start of 2003. The company has an annual turnover of $3 billion with 4600 staff.
He is chairman of the CSIRO Mineral Resources Sector Advisory Committee, and the ATSE (Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering) Clunies Ross Foundation. He is a member of the Business Council of Australia.
He was recently appointed senior vice- chairman of the Minerals Council of Australia.
Seeing individuals and teams perform above their expectations and providing the environment and encouragement to do so is one of the most enjoyable aspects of his role, he said.
He looks forward to maximising the performance of a number of WMC’s assets that are currently performing below their potential.

Wayne Osborn, 52
Managing director of Alcoa World Alumina Australia
Alcoa World Alumina Australia’s managing director Wayne Osborn heads a company of 6000 staff with an annual turnover of about $3 billion.
An electrical engineer, he joined the company in 1979 and took over his current position in 2001.
A key focus in his leadership is to maintain a sustainable triple bottom line. “Our business is to make sure our economic success is matched by environmental excellence and what we deliver on our social responsibility,” he said.
An integral part of his leadership is his work towards changing the workplace culture. He is one of two engineers out of 10 business leaders in a recent publication titled “Chief executives unplugged – business leaders get real about women in the workplace”. The book is published by the federal government’s Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency.
Osborn’s main aim has been to create diversity in Alcoa’s workforce. “Different views, thoughts and ideas mean a greater diversity in our innovation and problem solving abilities”.
As an example of the value of diversity in his own profession he found that “if our engineers were the only people working on problems, the solutions would lie within a narrow focus and would usually be capital intensive. By engaging all our people, we could find faster, more efficient outcomes and build better jobs.”
His aim for Alcoa is “to be an organisation in which merit is recognised and rewarded and people can achieve their full potential”.
Osborn is also the chair of the Australian Aluminium Council.

Chris Raine, 52
Country president of Alstom Australia & New Zealand; managing director of Alstom Power (Australia & New Zealand)
Mechanical engineer Chris Raine was appointed country president for Alstom in Australia and New Zealand in February this year. He is responsible for almost 3000 staff and revenues of around $1.5 billion a year.
“We are an international company, with the head office in Paris. Our local customers are very keen on having the technology that comes from a large global player but with a strong local presence. So the organisation in Australia is a vehicle for that,” he said.
Raine is also the managing director of Alstom Power (Australia and New Zealand), which has around 900 employees and revenues in excess of $600 million.
Before his current appointments, Raine was country president of Alstom Malaysia and managing director of Alstom Power Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd.
“I led the Malaysian organisation out of the Asian Economic Crisis in 1998-1999,” he said. “It went from a small organisation to a very large, profitable company.”
Raine is now working to stabilise Alstom’s business in Australia and New Zealand while the parent company undergoes major structural change.

Else Shepherd, 60
Chair of Powerlink Queensland; executive director of Mosaic Information Technology; chief executive officer of Microwave & Materials Designs; nonexecutive director of National Electricity Market Management Company.
Else Shepherd is one of only a handful of women to chair large Australian corporations. It is the culmination of a successful engineering career in the sugar, telecommunications and electricity industries.
Since 1994, she has been the chair of Powerlink Queensland, a government-owned corporation that owns, develops, operates and maintains Queensland’s $3 billion, 1700km highvoltage electricity transmission network.
Shepherd is also the cofounder and an executive director of Mosaic Information Technology. Under her leadership, the company was responsible for the development of innovative telecommunications products using digital signal processing.
Recently Shepherd founded and was appointed CEO of a new company, Microwave & Materials Designs, which develops new microwave products using high temperature superconductor materials.
For her contribution to engineering, education and the electricity generating industry, Shepherd was appointed a Member in the General Division of the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
As a member of Engineers Australia’s Accreditation and National Industry Liaison Board, Shepherd is keen to see increasing public awareness of the role engineers play in society. She sees interdisciplinary collaboration, for example the early take-up by engineering professionals of recent developments in quantum physics and materials science, as an opportunity to enhance the standing and contribution of the profession.

Peter Tyree, 54
Chairman and chief executive officer of the Tyree Group
Electrical engineer Peter Tyree is proud that he has built his Tyree Group into one of Australia’s 100 largest private companies.
The Tyree Group principally manufactures components used in mains electrical distribution systems. Its separate companies, which manufacture in NSW, Victoria and South Australia, include Tycab Australia making cables,Tyree Transformers, Tycan Australia making magnet wire, Tytronics making electronics and Australian Isola Materials offering service distribution.
Tyree continues a family tradition in manufacturing started by his father, Sir William Tyree, who built up Tyree Industries in the postwar decades. Tyree Industries also manufactured electrical components, including large power transformers. This business was sold in 1982 to Westinghouse.
Peter Tyree then set up a completely new copper wire and distribution transformer factory in Mittagong near Sydney in 1983.
Prior to this he had worked for the then Sydney County Council and did not intend going into manufacturing with his father.
“However, I guess transformer oil was in my blood and working for an electricity utility I could see there was an opportunity for niche transformer products,” he said.

Don Voelte, 51
Managing director and chief executive officer of Woodside Group
Civil engineer Don Voelte is the recently appointed managing director and chief executive officer of Woodside. He is the first American in that position. The company employs 2300 staff, has sales revenue of $2 billion and production in excess of 58 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Voelte is also on the advisory board of Rand Corporation’s Centre for Middle East Public Policy.
He has 28 years experience in the global oil and gas business including 22 years with Mobil Corporation, where he worked his way up to president of new exploration and producing ventures. He then moved to the Atlantic Richfield Company and more recently Chroma Energy as director, president and chief executive officer.