The ARBS 2014 gala awards dinner on May 21 will see five inductees to the ARBS Hall of Fame. CCN profiles these champions of industry.
All five inductees are dedicated professionals that have made huge contributions to industry which is why CCN is pleased to celebrate their achievements. The inductees are Kevin Lee, Alan Obrart, Bill Siganto, Albert Watson and Alan Woodhouse.
It’s hard to believe that industry veteran Albert Watson began his HVAC&R career working out of the back of a ute and a rented shed.
It’s especially baffling considering the contribution Watson had made to this industry and the way he has shaped engineering design.
His tireless commitment and dedication will be formally recognised at this month’s ARBS Awards when five ‘industry greats’ are inducted into the ARBS Hall of Fame.
Watson began his career by completing a sheet metal apprenticeship with T O’Connor & Sons. After further study, he went on to qualify as an engineer at the South Australian Institute of Technology.
In 1984, Watson achieved his lifetime goal and established Watson Fitzgerald & Associates with Ted Fitzgerald.
In the following years, Peter Spencer replaced the retiring Ted Fitzgerald and the company moved to its current premises at Torrensville, South Australia where the firm employs 90 staff.
Today, Watson Fitzgerald & Associates provides specialist engineering for the design and construction of mechanical services, air conditioning systems, ventilation systems and safety systems including smoke venting, hot water reticulation, steam reticulation and medical gas reticulation.
Watson has served on the Air Conditioning and Mechanical Contractors' Association (AMCA) SA executive for more than 25 years. He was AMCA SA president from 1995 to 1997 and 2008 to 2010.
He has made a significant contribution to the development of Building Information Modelling (BIM) presenting at conferences both here and overseas.
He was actively involved in the development of the South Australian BIM User Group.
Watson is a modest and unassuming man, but his knowledge, generosity and commitment to the industry marks him out as industry leader worthy of Hall of Fame recognition.
Kevin Lee
Kevin Lee is a retired management executive with a strong technical background. He has more than 38 years of local and international experience in manufacturing, product design and regulatory compliance within the refrigeration and air conditioning industry.
His professional management qualifications include an MBA (gained in 1995) with an emphasis on general management, finance, law, marketing, strategic planning and human resources. Throughout his career, Lee has demonstrated leadership and vision on many occasions.
This has included playing a key role in the development of HVAC&R standards and regulations in Australia, participating on various industry committees, taking on key executive roles at major Australian and international companies and speaking at climate change technology forums at the request of the Australian government.
As a member of the Airconditioning and Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturers Association of Australia (AREMA) executive committee for more than 10 years, Lee played a vital role in the ongoing development of the organisation and the industry it represents.
Lee has taken many active roles in the industry over the past 25 years, initially with the Commercial Refrigeration Manufacturers Association (CRMA) which later merged with the AREMA. As well as being a member of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating (AIRAH), Lee was the Australian representative for AREMA on the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) International Working Group and AREMA’s representative to the International Council of Air-Conditioning, Refrigeration and Heating Manufacturers' Associations (ICARHMA).
He was director and chairman for the Australian Refrigeration Council and a member of the Australian Industry Group Electrical Appliance and Accessories Forum representing Heatcraft.
There isn’t enough space in these pages to list Lee’s achievements in the area of standards and safety but one of his most recent roles was as chairman of the committee that developed the Flammable Refrigerants Safety Guide. During this time, Lee held senior positions at Heatcraft including global technical manager from 2007 to 2013.
Bill Siganto
JJW (Bill) Siganto has been a towering figure in the Australian HVAC industry for several decades.
In 1968, he established Siganto & Stacey with the late Sid Stacey in Queensland. The company was founded on an opportunity that arose when contracting equipment companies ceased supply.
Later, Siganto & Stacey was one of the first in the industry to bridge the gap between the use of traditional air conditioning practice and the design and construction of innovative engineering solutions.
Now wholly owned by the Siganto family, the company has operations throughout Australia.
Outside of the tremendous accomplishment of establishing and growing his company from start-up to national presence, Siganto has been an enormously important figure and contributor to the HVAC&R industry.
After joining the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating (AIRAH) in 1964, he served as president from 1974 to 1975. This was a time of substantial change in the construction industry as commercial high-rise buildings came to prominence.
It required genuine resolve and commitment to serve on AIRAH’s national executive board during this period.
Passionate about technological innovation and best practice, Signato has been a regular presenter at the Institute’s conferences, most recently at AIRAH’s 90th Anniversary Conference in 2010.
He is one of only a select few individuals to have earned both the AIRAH life membership and the prestigious James Harrison Medal – AIRAH’s highest individual honour, which was conferred on him in 1993.
Fellow AIRAH life member and James Harrison Medal winner Jack Laracy considers Signato – along with Murray Mason and WR Ahern – to be one of the most influential Australian HVAC&R engineers of the past century.
Alan Woodhouse
Known as the “Chairman of Everything”, Hall of Fame inductee Alan Woodhouse first entered the HVAC&R industry in 1982 after being appointed NSW state manager and later general manager for Actrol Parts.
After the closure of the Pacific Chemicals’ CFC and HCFC plant, which was at that time Actrol’s main supplier of refrigerants, Woodhouse was appointed chairman of the Association of Fluorocarbon Consumers and Manufacturers (AFCAM) where he was privileged to work closely with then manager Steven Anderson.
One of his lasting achievements was in the design of the HCFC phase-out program in the mid 1990s.
At this time, Woodhouse was also instrumental in the formation of Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA) which was established to oversee the management of all refrigerants with a ‘from the cradle to the grave’ philosophy. RRA manages the reclamation, reconstructing of product and, where possible, the ultimate destruction of refrigerant products.
Together with AFCAM, relevant industry stakeholders and the guidance of the Federal Government, Woodhouse oversaw the formation of the National Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Council (NRAC), a non profit organisation predominantly owned by the industry.
NRAC eventually became the Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC).
Woodhouse was personally awarded the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award in 2004 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for leadership in Australia’s responsible use of fluorocarbon refrigerants. He was also involved in the formation of ARBS.
Alan Obrart
There are few that have given more of their time to the betterment of this industry than Alan Obrart.
Despite running a number of successful companies, Obrart still found time to play key roles in a range of professional associations, institutes and industry bodies.
At a time when most people retire, he took on the role of Adjunct Senior Lecturer and co-ordinator for the University of Sydney's Graduate Building Services program so that he could assist in providing better learning outcomes for young, and not so young, engineers.
In addition to his achievements in the commercial world, Obrart has been an office bearer for Engineers Australia since 1978. He is the previous president of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating (AIRAH) and the current vice president of the Society of Building Services Engineers.
He has held councillor positions with Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Contractors' Association (RACCA) and Airconditioning and Mechanical Contractors' Association (AMCA) as well as sat on the Australian Building Codes Board ‘Energy Efficiency Working Group’ since 2001.
He has been a member of the Green Building Council of Australia’s Education Committee and is a valuable member of the NSW joint CIBSE/SBSE committee.
Obrart was also on the AIRAH NSW organising committee responsible for the exhibition segment of the big three 1980s AIRAH Fairs.
The first one was at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, culminating in the event at Darling Harbour Sydney, which was the predecessor to the current ARBS Exhibitions.