Engineering Success

Most engineers start a business by selling their own technical skills, then slowly build a team around themselves. Jonathan Bannister took the opposite approach from day one. His rule was simple: he doesn’t touch the mouse.  Jonathan is the managing director of The Design Technology Company, a Melbourne-based team of mechanical designers who embed directly into other engineering and manufacturing...

Naming a business after your core values means every client, employee and decision gets measured against those words. For Jo Garretty, that was the point.  Jo is the managing director of SALT3, a traffic, transport, waste and environmental engineering consultancy with offices across Australia. The name spells out the firm's four values: service, approachability, loyalty and transparency. A civil e...

Most engineers never see their own designs fail. Doron Levy has built a career on standing in the wreckage to work out why.  Doron founded Fahrenheit Global, a fire engineering consultancy based in Sydney with offices in Milan and Buenos Aires. He trained as a structural engineer but left after three years, it wasn't the right fit. His first day as a fire engineer was spent at a still-smouldering,...

Solving odour problems for major infrastructure projects isn't glamorous, but getting it wrong makes life miserable for nearby communities. Gary Finke has spent 35 years making sure that doesn't happen.  Gary is managing director of CleanTeQ Aromatrix, which designs and builds air and odour control systems for major infrastructure projects across Australia and overseas. A chartered chemical engine...

Most superintendents administer contracts. Edmund Tsang believes the role should do far more than that.  Edmund Tsang is the founder and principal of Tsang Civil Consultants (TCC), a civil engineering consultancy headquartered in Bella Vista, Sydney. Edmund built his career onsite across roads, drainage, earthworks and civil infrastructure before moving into consulting, and that hands-on backgroun...

When Michael Jones launched Jones Structural Engineering, he had no client base and no safety net — just a clear sense of how he wanted to build: on genuine relationships, quality work, and a value-first mindset he held to even when cash was tight.    In this episode, Michael unpacks why so many engineering firms struggle to scale. Early success built on individual effort becomes a bottleneck with...

Starting a business at 26 with no formal business training is daunting. Doing it during a global pandemic, as a female immigrant in a male dominated industry, takes a special kind of courage.  Jocelyn Do is the director of JOCES, Jo Civil Engineering Services, a civil engineering consultancy based in New South Wales that specialises in stormwater, flooding and development consent for local governm...

Most civil engineers solve the technical problem. Few also think about who has to pay for it, deliver it, and make money from it.  Kym Wilkinson is the principal engineer at Wilkinson Shaw and Associates, a Brisbane-based civil engineering consultancy specialising in residential subdivision projects. With more than two decades of experience, she's built a reputation for balancing engineering rigou...

What does it really take to grow an engineering business without losing control of quality, culture, and accountability?  Shannon Neyland has built his career at the intersection of engineering delivery and executive leadership, starting on the tools and working his way through project performance, financial accountability, and team development, ultimately to become a senior leader. His focus has...

What does it take to keep a mine operating safely when the ground is unpredictable, and getting it wrong can shut down the entire operation?  Tim Cartledge is the founder of Cartledge Mining and Geotechnics, a principal geotechnical engineer with decades of experience solving the mining industry's toughest stability challenges. After working with major consultancies including Coffey Geotechnics an...

What happens when an engineer gets fed up watching projects fail because no one coordinates properly? Moussa Youssef started BMY Engineering in 2018 after years of witnessing costly mistakes that could have been prevented. Six years later, he made a bold move—merging with Prime Engineering to create Vanguard Consulting Engineers, a 24-person multidisciplinary firm with a reputation for never missi...

What does it take to start a business at 20, in the middle of a pandemic, and turn it into one of Australia’s leading fire compliance companies? Aleks Culic is the founder of Projects Fire, a passive fire compliance company he launched in 2020 while most of his peers were still at university. By spotting a gap in the market and backing himself, Aleks built a business that now employs over 20 peopl...

Andrew Gall walked away from a secure engineering career to challenge the industry’s biggest perception problem: that engineers are box-ticking cost centres rather than creative partners in design. Andrew is the founding director of ARGALL, a structural and civil consultancy based in Melbourne, with over 15 years of technical expertise and an entrepreneurial mindset. He has positioned ARGALL as th...

Ray Keefe discovered that being a brilliant engineer wasn't enough when his business coach challenged him: "Are you any good? I don't believe your answer - prove it." This brutal honesty launched a transformation that saw his electronics manufacturing consultancy win over 60 awards and challenge how Australian businesses think about local manufacturing.  Ray confronts uncomfortable truths about Au...

What if the secret to growing an engineering business isn't just about technical excellence, but about completely redefining how designers and contractors work together?   Adam Hull, Managing Director of Hullcon, discovered this revolutionary approach when he recognised the massive waste created by the traditional "us versus them" mentality plaguing the construction industry.  After a decade at ma...

Josh Robinson, founder of JR Hammer, is a story that turns everything you thought you knew about recycling upside down. When China slammed its doors shut to the world's recyclables in 2018, Australia's scrap industry panicked. Hundreds of tons of copper cables suddenly had nowhere to go. Most saw disaster. Josh saw opportunity. "Working in sustainability, if you're shipping things offshore just to...

What does it take to move to a new city with zero connections, build a thriving engineering consultancy, and eventually become a company director? In this compelling episode, Derya Horasan shares how he transformed Scientific Fire Services' Sydney office from a two-person operation to a respected team of nine professionals. Rather than pursuing traditional networking, Derya built relationships wit...

What happens when a former diesel mechanic decides to solve one of the construction industry's biggest hidden problems? After an injury ended his original career path, and his adventures took him from Australian mines to the mountains of Kazakhstan, Ben Horstmann spotted a critical gap in how construction and mining companies manage equipment safety and compliance. Eight years ago, he launched Con...

What happens when a successful utility engineer trades job security for entrepreneurial freedom? In this compelling episode of Long Term Thinking for Business Success, Jonathan De Carlo reveals how his dream of a relaxed lifestyle business transformed into a thriving engineering consultancy. After two decades in the utilities sector, Jonathan launched Grid Power Design with visions of three-day we...

In this episode, with Michael Grogan, one of the directors at Birzulis Associates, a consulting engineering firm that's been shaping Australia's structural landscape since 1989. Michael's journey from a laid-back surfer and cinema ticket-taker to becoming a key leader in one of Sydney's respected engineering firms is entertaining and inspiring. What stands out is Michael's refreshingly honest acco...

In this episode, Larry Narunsky shares his 28-year history as the technical director and founder of Convergent Water Controls (CWC) and how his company has become a cornerstone of Australia's water treatment industry over the past 28 years.   Larry's story is a testament to the power of technical expertise and strategic business acumen.   After migrating from South Africa with an engineering backg...

Join us for an insightful episode of "Long Term Thinking for Business Success" as we delve into the journey of MEX Engineering Group with its founder and CEO, Russell King. In this episode, Russell shares the transformation of MEX Engineering into a people-driven organisation and its vision to become Australia's leading engineering service provider.  Discover how Russell and his team have cultivat...

In this Long Term Thinking for Business Success episode, I sit down with Paul Wehbe, Managing Director of Infrastructure Engineering Group (IEG). With over 20 years of experience in the electrical infrastructure industry, Paul walks us through his transition from a corporate role at Ausgrid to starting IEG, which focuses on delivering innovative, client-centered utility solutions. What began as a...

Dario Valenza's innovation journey is a captivating narrative of perseverance, creativity, and strategic vision. From his early career in yacht racing to pioneering advancements in uncrewed aerial systems, Dario's trajectory embodies the essence of a true innovator. His passion for design and performance excellence has been a driving force throughout his life, evident in his contributions to Ameri...

In this insightful episode, Pete Sackett, the Founder and Director of CDE Design Solutions, shares his wealth of experience and knowledge on building a sustainable engineering business.   He started CDE in 2001 after spending several years working in various engineering roles. His initial vision was to provide drafting and factory-related mechanical engineering services to local food manufacturers...