Downer News Issue 2 September-October 2015

4 The future of transport

Community Awards Zero Harm 6 relationships 8 10 pivitol to success 2 Issue 2 September-October 2015

INNOVATION

Future Box – Downer’s Downer supports inaugural innovation solar car innovation competition Downer is proud to be a Bronze sponsor of the 2015 Sunswift team as they compete in We have had a this year’s Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. tremendous response Sunswift is a team of undergraduate students from the University to our Future Box of New South Wales who build and race the world’s most advanced competition, with more solar cars. Their aim is to push the boundaries of technology in order than 100 ideas submitted so far. to inspire interest and action in sustainability. In 2013 the team’s car, eVe, achieved first place in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge across Australia. In 2014, eVe broke a FIA* What type of ideas are we looking for? World Record for the fastest electric car over 500km on a single charge. There is no such thing as a bad idea. Your idea could: This year the team has completely rebuilt eVe to become Australia’s ■■ enhance our service offering; first ever road legal solar sports car (pending government certification), ■■ improve the safety of our people; making eVe the first solar car in the world to be manufactured to ■■ reduce our environmental impact; commercial safety standards. ■■ drive collaboration; ■■ create new revenue; In October, the team will compete in the Bridgestone World Solar ■■ lift our own productivity and efficiency; Challenge Cruiser Class against other solar vehicles from all over the ■■ differentiate Downer from its competitors; or globe, racing 3000km from Darwin to Adelaide. Points are awarded ■■ create new IP. for both speed and practicality. We wish the Sunswift team well! n How to enter Entering is easy and open to all Downer employees. You can enter as an individual or as a team. Simply submit your idea to the Future Box portal: https://downerfuturebox.if-cloud.com. You can access the Future Box portal from work, home, mobile device or tablet. And ideas submitted for other Downer competitions can be entered.

Prizes We will select three finalists from across the Group. The winner will receive a cash prize of $8,000, second will receive $2,000 and third will receive $1,000.

Key dates The competition runs from Wednesday 9 September to 28 October. Finalists and winners will be announced mid-November. Follow the Sunswift team’s journey “Nobody knows our business better than our as they compete in the Bridgestone people and we want to know if you have ever World Solar Challenge: thought about a better or a new way of doing www.sunswift.com/ things – no matter how big or small.” n www.facebook.com/UNSWSunswift www.twitter.com/sunswift Need more information: www.instagram.com/unswsunswift/ ■■ watch the short video https://youtu.be/bE4LDeffoVg ■■ view and scan the poster at your site or download from the intranet http://ow.ly/SB60s *The FIA is a global organisation that aims to safeguard the rights and promote the interests of motorists and motor sports across the world. FIA World Records are the fastest recognised official ■■ read the information pack http://ow.ly/SB64y speeds achieved by any wheeled vehicle on land (excluding motorcycles). The Record Attempts are ■■ or email [email protected] standardised over a fixed length course and averaged over two runs in opposite directions. Downer News 3

INNOVATION OUR BRAND

Have your say employee survey

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Downer ‘Have your say’ employee Brand update survey. We received 4,393 online responses and approximately 2,200 paper survey responses. Numerous sites across Australia and New Zealand have Provisional (online only) results indicate that been rebranded since the launch of the new Downer brand we have scored well on aspects such as Safety, Teamwork and Mission & Values. What earlier this this year. this means is that the majority of respondents believe that safety is treated as a priority, they We are also making good progress rebranding our plant, equipment and vehicles. With over have good working relationships with their 15,000 pieces of plant and equipment, this is no small exercise. co-workers and they believe in the values of Downer. These provisional results also Here are some tips to help you get the most of the new brand: indicate that we need to commit more focus ■■ Hard hat stickers are available from Staples. This now includes larger sized stickers to cover on areas such as Cross-Unit Cooperation the larger ‘Tenix’ logo on hard hats. Local coordinators who have access to the Staples portal (improving how we communicate and share can order as required for their teams. The cost of these is covered by Group Head Office: information across the business), Career http://netxpress.biz/main-catalogue-browse?&N=4294948620+4294617183 Opportunities (improving how we support professional and personal development) and ■■ Clothing badges are available from Work Wear Group. Please order as required. Change & Innovation (improving how we ■■ Stickers for plant/ equipment are available from RGI. Specific requirements are captured change and learn from our mistakes). as we go to each site and audit signage and plant/ vehicles/ equipment. The cost is covered by Group Head Office if it is part of the signage rebrand project. If you wish to order stickers outside the branding program, please contact RGI directly on [email protected] and Next steps place your order. These orders will be considered BAU and costs are to be borne by site. We expect to be able to share the full results with you in late October. We will also organise ■ are available from ■ Stickers for posters and new branded printed materials employee engagement workshops to identify . Please order and pay from your own cost centre from the McDonald Printing innovative solutions to address each focus McDonald portal: www.mcdonaldprinting.com.au/downergroup/ area. The ideas and outcomes of these ■■ Pull up banners are also available from McDonald Printing and can be ordered via workshops will be shared with the business. n the McDonald portal: www.mcdonaldprinting.com.au/downergroup/ ■■ PPE clothing and uniforms should be ordered as part of your business as usual Below: One of the creative ballot boxes process through our preferred supplier Work Wear Group. Costs are borne by each created by our New Zealand team. site/business. For administrators in your business needing access to the online portals (e.g. Staples, McDonald Printing), instructions are on each portal login page. If you have any questions about the brand, please email [email protected]. In case you missed our last branding update, you can find it here: http://intranet.downeredi.com/onenews/Pages/DownerNewsIssue1Brandinghintsntips.aspx

Are you a member of Downer Connect, Downer’s private Facebook community? Join the page and upload your images of the new brand in action! It’s also a great place to keep up to date on the latest news, project wins and updates from across the business. n www.facebook.com/groups/1023975880949428/ 4 Issue 2 September-October 2015

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP The future of transport

Demand for urban transport infrastructure is projected to increase significantly. The cost of congestion in our capital cities was estimated at $13.7 billion in 2011 and is expected to increase to $53.3 billion in 2031 in the absence of additional capacity and/or demand management.

Urban congestion is driving Commercial vehicle traffic is forecast to grow The road and rail freight task is projected to demand more strongly than private car traffic. The increase by 86 per cent from around 458 billion The 2015 Australian Infrastructure Audit Report growth in commercial vehicle traffic will tonne km in 2011 to 852 billion tonne km in 2031. continue to increase in line with the Australian predicts demand for many key urban road and Demand for freight rail infrastructure is economy which is projected to grow in the rail corridors to significantly exceed current projected to grow, in particular for resource order of 84 per cent, from $1.4 trillion in 2011 capacity by 2031. bulk commodity haulage in Western Australia, to $2.6 trillion in 2031 – a rate of 3.1 per cent Queensland and NSW. The expansion of rail per year. This growth in our population and route kilometres over the past five years, economy will make us richer as a country, most notably between iron ore mines and but it will also create unprecedented bulk export ports in Western Australia, has infrastructure challenges. led to high demand for new rolling stock. Subsequently, maintenance services for this Public transport on the rise stock were developed and this has resulted At present, only one in six Australians travel in long-term support for the industry. to work by public transport – however, that Freight rail will need to play a growing role in demand is projected to increase by 89 per cent the movement of goods between ports and by 2031. Both public transport and road inland freight terminals, and in the movement infrastructure will need to be expanded to of containerised and general freight over keep up with this growth. longer distances. The passenger rail market is expected to Infrastructure demand is being directly driven become more important to the transportation Opportunities for Downer by strong growth in our population and industry. Increased government subsidies Our capabilities position us well to capitalise economy. Australia’s population is expected will result in increased spending on railway on the projected work coming through the to grow from 22.3 million in 2011 to 30.5 million manufacturing and repair equipment and/or pipeline. In NSW and the ACT, we are faced in 2031. The national population has already operations. IBISWorld anticipates that policies with many key projects to target, including: increased by more than one million people in NSW, Victoria and Queensland will remain since 2011 – which is high by developed favourable, leading to increased government 1. ACT Capital Metro world standards (especially in our cities). subsidies to combat public transport congestion 2. Sydney Metro The challenge of meeting the infrastructure – with the industry also benefiting from the 3. Newcastle Light Rail needs of our cities is significant, with population manufacture and maintenance of increased 4. Parramatta Light Rail in our capitals (and surrounding regions) rolling stock to service rising public transport 5. Intercity Train Fleet projected to grow by 22 per cent, from demand. 6. Sydney Rail Future Stage 2 Program 5.6 million in 2011 to 6.8 million in 2031. Total And we’ve made a start. Our Rail and Rail travel in Australian urban areas has grown Road based freight continues Infrastructure businesses (which provide ten-fold over the last 60 years. Private road to grow end-to-end capability – comprising trains, vehicles now account for about 90 per cent The forces driving this projected increase in track, signalling, OHW, and power) are already of the total urban passenger task (up from demand for passenger transport will also drive bidding for many rail projects including the around 40 per cent in the late 1940s). The increased demand for freight transport. Container Transport Access Program for TfNSW. This current trend of near linear increases in movements through Australia’s ports are program directly responds to the demand for aggregate urban traffic is forecast to continue projected to grow by 165 per cent by 2031, urban transport infrastructure by improving over the projection period, with total kilometres while non-containerised trade is projected to and expanding the network, and is exactly travelled growing by 37 per cent between grow by 138 per cent over the same period. the sort of contract we should be positioning 2005 and 2020. Downer News 5

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP NEWS FLASH

News flash

17 August: First Australian accredited ISO 55001 certification Did you know? Downer has set a new benchmark by being awarded Australia’s first Accredited ISO 55001 Certification for Asset Management. The Downer Rail has over 100 years’ experience delivering ISO 55001 Certification is for our Yarra Park Recycled Water Treatment total rail asset solutions for our passenger and freight Facility (RWTF), a Melbourne Cricket Club owned facility that was customers. designed and built by Downer and has been operated by Downer since 2012. This places Downer amongst the first in the Southern Our passenger capabilities include: Hemisphere and one of the first 10 organisations globally to have passed through the rigours of the formal assessment process to ■■ design, manufacture and customisation of passenger achieve an Accredited ISO 55001 Certification against the highest trains and passenger transport services; standard currently available. “Being awarded the first Australian ■■ testing and commissioning; ISO 55001 Accredited Certification is further endorsement of our credibility and leadership in effectively and efficiently managing ■■ systems integration; condition-based monitoring; assets on behalf of our customers,” said Trevor Cohen, Executive on-call maintenance support centres; Director, Utilities. ■■ global supply chain and; 20 August: Downer awarded further contracts ■■ component overhaul. at Blackwater Mine Our passenger rail partners include Hitachi, Bombardier, Keolis, Downer was awarded two contracts by BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance Hyundai Rotem and Changchun Railway Vehicles Co. Limited. (BMA) for the provision of mining and maintenance services at the Blackwater coal mine in the Bowen Basin, Central Queensland. The Our freight capabilities include design, sourcing and first contract is valued at approximately $150 million over two years customisation of diesel electric freight locomotives in with an additional one-year option. The scope of work includes the conjuction with our partner EMD; design, sourcing and load and haul of pre-strip material using BMA-owned plant and equipment, as well as maintenance of BMA-owned plant and equipment. customisation of freight rolling stock; full range of testing The second contract is for the provision of blasting services. It is and commissioning; fuel reduction technologies; systems valued at approximately $75 million and has a term of three years. integration for on board systems and trackside equipment; condition-based monitoring and; through-life support and 2 September: Downer announces $4 million maintenance of locomotives and rolling stock with a strong Flagstaff Gully Asphalt Plant redevelopment maintenance footprint Australia-wide. Downer announced a $4 million proposed redevelopment of its Flagstaff Gully Asphalt Plant in Tasmania. “We are pleased to announce our plans to continue investing in Tasmania,” said Sergio Cinerari, Chief Executive Officer, Downer Infrastructure Services. The new plant will produce a variety of high performance and high recycle content asphalt products not currently available in this State. These products include warm mix and low CO2 asphalt that incorporates up to 20% recycled asphalt and other recycled materials that would otherwise end up in landfill, such as rubber tyres. 60,000 tonnes of 20% recycled asphalt, the typical volume used by Hobart each year, will see up to 600 tonnes of CO2-e emissions avoided. This is equivalent to 2.1 million kilometres of car travel per year, or the carbon absorbed by more than 2,200 trees over 20 years. The redevelopment of Downer’s Flagstaff Gully asphalt plant will commence in early 2016 and is expected to be completed mid-2016, subject to the necessary approvals.

16 September: Downer terminates contract Downer announced it had terminated a contract with Tecnicas Reunidas S.A (TR), the head contractor with responsibility for the engineering, procurement and construction of a Technical Ammonium Nitrate plant located on the Burrup Peninsula, near Karratha in Western Australia. Downer’s decision to terminate the contract followed a failure by TR to remedy a substantial breach of the contract. Downer did not take this decision lightly but considers it has no alternative ourselves for to demonstrate our strong skillset. Additionally, through given TR’s conduct. Downer worked with TR to ensure the safe and the ACTivate consortium (comprising Bombardier Transportation, orderly hand-over of the work as required by the contract. To date, Downer, Keolis Downer and Plenary Group) we are well positioned to Downer has been paid approximately $89m by TR, which is inclusive of scope work performed under the contract and in accordance with deliver the Canberra light rail project that is aimed at increasing the a separate settlement agreement. Downer also intends to refer claims mode share of public transport – getting people out of their cars and totalling more than $60m to arbitration for resolution. It is expected on to Capital Metro. n this process will take approximately 18 months to conclude. n 6 Issue 2 September-October 2015

OUR CUSTOMERS & RELATIONSHIPS

Community relationships pivotal to success

Our working relationships with farming landowners is proving instrumental in the successful delivery of the Central Plains Stage One Irrigation scheme in New Zealand. facts & figures

The Central Plains Water Enhancement to understand their individual farm operations ■■ Contract value $NZ 59M Scheme will provide a sustainable water including how their stock and shelterbelts ■■ 132 kilometres of piping, including solution to 60,000 hectares of dairy, arable, need to be handled to make sure their farm four main lines with branched lines horticulture and stock finishing land between can continue to function. and pumped lines the Rakaia and Waimakariri Rivers. Downer ■■ 10 pumping stations “This project is the epitome of was contracted with installation of the pipe ■■ 5 pressure reducing valve chambers distribution network for this community relationships creating success. ■■ 114 farm turnouts over 120 properties irrigation project – 132 kilometres of pipe across The landowners have been very working agricultural land in stage one alone. understanding of what we are Trenching While our relationship with Central Plains Water doing and they are helping us Downer used one of the world’s largest has allowed us to push the boundaries to keep said Brent Woods, Project Manager, chain trenchers to build the pipe production up and maintain on-time completion daily,” Downer. network. The 200-tonne Tencor chain- targets, it has been the development of trencher is one of only nine in the world relationships with landowners that has been Local farmer Paul Davey said of the Downer and can trench up to 1000m per day. critical to the success of this project. Downer project team: “The people themselves have has worked with landowners and farmers to been very pleasant to deal with. I think they’ve ensure the continued day-to-day operations of been pretty much as helpful as they’ve been HDPE Production their businesses while maintaining timely and able to be within some of the constraints they High Density Polyethylene Pipe (HDPE) cost-effective delivery of the pipeline installation. have had.” was manufactured on site at one of New Zealand’s largest mobile extrusion plants. We have met regularly with the landowners of Our customer, Central Plains Water, won the The pipe is extruded in strings of up to about 120 properties to identify their service Medium to Large category at the Champion 100m and transported to local trenches requirements and agreed standard of Canterbury Business Awards in September. where they were butt-welded on site reinstatement once work on their land is Stage One of the project is now complete. n and laid down on pre-prepared bedding complete. We are in regular communication formed by the trenching process. Pipes ranged in diameter from 200 to 1600mm. Downer News 7

OUR CUSTOMERS & RELATIONSHIPS OUR CUSTOMERS & RELATIONSHIPS

Teaching kids about the NBN

Downer’s NBN team recently embarked on an initiative to further engage the communities that we work in.

“We decided a great way to involve the community in Dubbo was to focus on their proud association with the Dubbo Zoo and to have the kids communicate to their parents about the importance of the NBN roll out for their community,” said Steve Bentley, Downer’s NSW Regional Manager. ACTivate team The team visited St Lawrence Primary School in Dubbo to talk about the NBN, how it is going to be installed, how it works, and submits proposal the benefits it will bring to the school, their families and their local community. As part of these information sessions, the children will be participating in an art competition where 13 winners will for the Canberra have their artwork blown up and wrapped around NBN Fibre Distribution Hub (FDH) cabinets around the Dubbo central light rail project business district. “Local engagement activities, like the St Lawrence Primary School information session, not only allow us to positively and pro-actively The ACTivate team has submitted engage with the community, it’s also important in demonstrating the benefits the NBN will bring,” said Luke Rowlands, National thousands of pages for its final proposal for Operations Manager – Network Construction. the ACT Government 12 kilometre light rail Both the teachers and students enjoyed the information session project from Gungahlin to the city. run by Technical & Design Manager, Salem Allaf and Stakeholder Manager, Ross Safavizad (pictured). This was one of two submissions required as part of the tender. The team will now turn its focus to the Russell extension, an additional “The teachers mentioned that one in every two students has an 3.2 kilometres of light rail continuing from the city to Russell. iPad and currently the speed of the network is very slow. Both The second submission is due less than four weeks after the first teachers and students are excited for Downer to complete the submission and will include the initial 12 kilometres plus the extension NBN rollout in the Dubbo area,” said Ross. to Russell. “As Dubbo Zoo is a major attraction in the region, the art competition will “Great work by everybody. Our hard work have an animal theme which the kids over the past six months has resulted in a are excited about.” strong submission. We’ve done all we can and look forward to finding out the result,” Downer is currently rolling out the NBN in the Dubbo area. n said Design and Construction Project Director Simon Bradbury.

The ACT government is expected to sign a contract in early 2016, with work to begin in the following months. ACTivate is one of two shortlisted consortia bidding to deliver the Canberra light rail project. The consortium comprises Bombardier Transportation, Downer, Keolis Downer and Plenary Group. Good luck to the team, you have all of Downer’s support behind you! n 8 Issue 2 September-October 2015

AWARDS

There’s been celebration in the air with our businesses Awards picking up a number of prestigious awards.

LearnX Impact Awards Downer Mining’s health award Road Services wins three Downer’s Learning & Development team was trifecta National and six State and recognised at the Australian LearnX awards Our Mining team’s industry-leading health Australian Asphalt Pavement for excellence in developing training products. program won its third State award – the NSW Association (AAPA) awards Minerals Council Health Excellence Award – thanks to the commitment shown by our AAPA is the peak body for Road Services, Boggabri team to adopting a healthier lifestyle. and the awards recognise outstanding quality, achievement and innovation in the When Mining first began developing its Enhancing Australian flexible pavements industry. Workplace Health program in 2008 in collaboration with Queensland University of Technology, obesity and weight management ranked with musculo-skeletal disorders as two of the top health risks faced by employees. A review conducted at Boggabri in 2013 showed that while there had been some really positive Rosemary Livermore and Wesley Woodman accepting gains in terms of raising awareness of these the LearnX awards. key health issues, there was still much that could be done. The Boggabri team volunteered Gold award: for Best eLearning Model to pilot a program to show exactly what could The team at the AAPA National Awards. in the category of Bespoke/Custom be achieved through sheer determination designed learning and a willingness to change. National Awards The learning and development team worked While the program was open to all, 20 ■■ Sergio Cinerari, our Infrastructure Services with the Zero Harm team to build customised volunteers participated in a confidential 12- CEO, was recognised with the Life Member week trial. They were each supplied with a e-learning modules for our bespoke safety Award for contribution to the industry management reporting system INX InControl. heart rate monitor and food journal, and had access to a nutritionist and exercise physiologist. ■■ Jim Appleby, our National General Finalist: Best Talent – Learning Partnerships Using a web-based portal, they tracked their Manager for Road Surfacing, took out the For the development and implementation daily dietary and exercise data. At the end Safety Initiatives Award of Project Plus in partnership with the of the trial, all participants’ eating habits had ■■ We also won the Innovation In Design, Project Management Office. changed significantly, their exercise tolerance had increased and the average body fat loss Process or Product Award for our 99% Finalist: Best Compliance Learning Project across the group was nine per cent. recycled asphalt. For the development and implementation The Mining team is now looking at the key New South Wales AAPA Awards of Our Safety Focus 2015. learnings from the trial to see how they ■■ Outstanding Project Award for our work can broadly implement them on other sites on our Eastern Distributor Cleveland experiencing the same issues. WA’s EC+M team wins three Street Underpass remediation project NECA Awards ■■ Safety Initiatives Award for Jim Appleby EC&M’s Major Projects Electrical team won Victoria AAPA Awards three Excellence Awards from the National ■■ Outstanding Project Award for the Electrical and Communications Association Pakenham Racecourse (NECA) and is now in contention for the national awards. ■■ Innovation In Design, Process or Product Award for our 99% Recycled Asphalt The team submitted nominations for three awards in the Electrical Excellence category Western Australia AAPA Award and won the trifecta. ■■ Outstanding Project Award for the Eastern Kimberley Regional Airport Overlay Categories won: Pictured at the award ceremony are (from left): ■■ Category 7 – Large Industrial: Shiploader Idemitsu Boggabri Coal General Manager Operations South Australian AAPA Award Ray Balks with Downer Mining’s General Manager Replacement Project Operations - South East Peter Cory, Health, Safety & ■■ Safety Initiatives Award to Shawn Mumford, ■■ Category 11 – Commercial – Large: Perth Training Manager – Mining East Barry Morssinkhof, Vincent Pearce and the workshop and Regional Health Advisor Natasha Palethorpe, Boggabri spray crews for their work on the City Link Rail Project – Electrical and Health & Safety Superintendent Jason Chapman and Communications Group Manager Health Shaun Smith. development and implementation of the overhead wire height determination initiative ■■ Category 12 - Workplace Health And Safety: Shiploader Replacement Project Downer News 9

AWARDS AWARDS

New Zealand takes out Electrical apprentices win Anil bags 2015 Canberra Young two awards at the Hirepool NECA Awards Professional Engineer award Construction Awards Anil Kumar from our Water team in the ACT The awards recognise excellence in the was awarded the 2015 Canberra Young New Zealand construction industry. Professional Engineer award. Anil works as a Project Engineer from Project Category 5: Excellence in the maintenance Delivery, Operations and Maintenance and management of assets Services where he works on various water Winner: Infrastructure Alliance for security upgrade projects to ensure that Hamilton City Council – Downer NZ Limited there is a continuous supply of highest The judges considered this project as an standard drinking water across Canberra’s excellent example of what can be achieved water reservoirs. by the parties involved working together. Hamilton City and Downer have been leaders “The judging panel described in bringing this concept into the Local Authority Pictured at the NECA award ceremony (from left): Anil as a passionate, innovative, arena and stand to reap the benefits in years Michael Clements, David Colasante, Ben Barbour, to come. Cameron Wilding, Eva Bitsikas. dynamic young engineer with a strong understanding and Category 6: Excellence in routine Electrical apprentices Michael Clements and maintenance Cameron Wilding from EC&M in Victoria commitment to workplace Winner: Nelson City Council Road were recognised by NECA (National Electrical health and safety standards Maintenance for Nelson City Council – Communications Association) for their both in Australia and overseas. Downer NZ Limited technical abilities and commitment to apprenticeship training. We’re very proud of him,” This project shows what can be achieved when all parties work together in an open way to Michael was awarded third place in the said Gerard Brierley, Manager – Program achieve the objective of the contract and Industrial Award and Cameron was awarded Management Office. the overall aims of the Nelson City Council. 3rd place in the Commercial/Domestic Award. Council is very happy with the results and In addition to his current role working on has rewarded Downer by extending the “We congratulate Michael and water treatment infrastructure at Googong contract for a two years beyond its original Cameron on their achievements Dam and Mount Stromlo, Anil actively expiry date. contributes to the broader engineering and we are pleased to see that community. He has volunteered at the our EC&M Apprenticeship annual Engineering Games for the past two years, is an active member of the Program is continuing to Young Engineers Canberra Division and on deliver success”, the committee of the Canberra Division’s Information, Telecommunications, Electronics David Colasante, EGM Commercial & Electrical Branch. n Contracting, EC&M.

The New Zealand team at the Hirepool Construction Award ceremony.

Pictured in the middle is Anil with Jennifer Ryan (left), Senior Project Manager and Rob Allen (right), Operations Manager. 10 Issue 2 September-October 2015

ZERO HARM

“This award winning project at Downer will commence a prototype phase and may ultimately result in becoming a commercial product, contributing to a reduction in emissions and diesel fuel use. I’m keen to reduce transport emissions and this project is just another step towards my goal.”

Peter Symington accepting his Downer World Environment Day award. Reducing diesel fuel consumption

A research project that was originally aiming to reduce diesel fuel emissions in the maritime industry has made a positive impact in the Rail industry.

Master of maritime engineering student island ferry operational profiles. This will Peter is an electrical engineer with a keen Peter Symington is studying the application be done by computer modelling of these interest in applying new technology to rail of electric propulsion in mid-sized vessels systems,” Peter said. and marine transport to improve efficiency and has applied the knowledge gained and lower emissions. In 2009, he patented an through this project to an innovative energy “Australia was a key contributor idea for a renewable energy vessel and has solution for Downer, his current employer. to the development of high- since then been working toward commercialising the concept and several off-shoot concepts. He has been employed by Downer since 2010 speed aluminium catamarans and, together with work colleague and fellow last century and we can play “We are currently developing the loco solar electrical engineer Pat Patterson, received battery charger prototype. Learnings about Downer’s 2015 World Environment Day award a big part in the development solar PV technology from my literature review for their idea: to reduce diesel fuel consumption of high-efficiency, low- have been applied to the loco prototype. using solar power to charge batteries when emissions and low-fuel, For example, high efficiency flexible PV panels locomotives are idle for long periods. developed in marine applications will be marine electric propulsion used on the loco prototype,” Peter said. n “I’m trying to find the combinations of heat engine, solar PV, energy storage and electric in this century. My research propulsion that are best suited for providing project will hopefully efficient propulsive power in vessels in the contribute to this capability.” range 12m to 50m, with a focus on river and Downer News 11

ZERO HARM OUR PEOPLE

Building trusted Congratulations to our graduates of the relationships Young Professionals program Our purpose at Downer is to build trusted relationships with our stakeholders to create and sustain the modern environment.

Through various volunteer roles, I have seen to develop a solution to the drainage problem. many examples proving that strong long- The flooding of the surrounding land made term relationships based on trust are extremely it difficult to access most of the reserve. The final session of the Infrastructure Services/ important for successfully delivering projects. This meant that a good solution would be Engineering, Construction and Maintenance one that reduced the flooding, which could LEaD Young Professionals (YP) program saw One of these volunteer roles is with be easily achieved by improving the current CEO Grant Fenn address the group and provide Engineers Without Borders (EWB), who channel. However, my understanding of the insight into Downer’s current position, our aim to “engineer a better world” by using project changed as I built rapport and trust vision for the future and some sound words engineering and technology to help with community over several months. underserved people through long-term of advice about speaking up and challenging community development projects. EWB It became clear that the flooding is not the the status quo. works on a variety of projects including only problem with the drainage channel. LEaDYP commenced twelve months ago supporting companies with their corporate There were more complex issues present, when 20 young and talented employees social responsibility plans and providing including cultural aspects around the were selected to participate in the program. meaningful volunteering opportunities. natural flow of the water as well the channel being an example of past wrongs. It also Over three workshops our YPs have been Strong relationships allow us to understand acted as a physical barrier preventing access encouraged to: the needs and constraints of stakeholders to sites of significance. This information ■■ own their career development; and the context of projects. This was completely changed the design constraints ■■ become more self-aware and proactive; highlighted when managing EWB’s and potential solutions. ■■ develop leadership skills and an ability partnership with the Badjaling Wanderers to influence; Aboriginal Community, located several Now, enough interest has been generated in ■ hours east of Perth. Before the land the project that a government department ■ connect at a deeper level with Downer’s was designated an Aboriginal reserve, it is building on this knowledge to implement purpose, promise, pillars and strategy; was the site of flooding in the 1960s. In a solution. Without building that strong ■■ increase business, financial and response, a drainage channel was dug relationship, it would have been easy to commercial acumen; right through what is now the Aboriginal develop a solution that was inappropriate ■■ network across the business; and reserve. Over time, this channel has built for the community. This provides a reminder ■■ deliver a business benefit to Downer up with sedimentation causing it to flood of the importance of developing strong through a strategic project. the surrounding land almost every year. relationships with our stakeholders, as they Trevor Cohen, Executive Director for Utilities, are integral to delivering appropriate and EWB was approached to help the community joined by Russell Houlahan, EGM Networks successful projects. n & Services (Utilities), Andrew Foster, EGM Engineering and Technology (EC&M) and Bernadette Cavanagh, GM Workforce Capability provided a challenging expert panel for our Young Professionals to showcase the business improvement project they have worked on as part of the learning program. At Downer we are always searching for skilful and creative individuals to grow with us - young leaders to help us achieve our goals and deliver on our promise. If you have identified young talent with the Andrew Perren is a Graduate Engineer working in our Infrastructure Services business. He is also the Western Australian State President of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), which involves leading the potential to grow into leadership positions at State’s 250 volunteers and 1500 members. Andrew has volunteered with EWB for the past six years Downer, speak to your Learning and Development in a variety of roles, including coordinating the WA school outreach program, leading a two-week team or email [email protected] study tour of the Murray-Darling basin and managing the partnership with the Badjaling Wanderers to discuss the requirements. Aboriginal Community. He is also the director of the Global Humanitarian Engineering Awards, an international not-for-profit organisation celebrating outstanding achievements in using engineering Nominations are being sought now for an and technology to help underserved people. October commencement. n 12 Issue 2 September-October 2015

COMMUNITY & SPONSORSHIPS

My rewarding Jawun experience

The Maryborough team wearing their pink shirts The La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council team and Inner Sydney secondees. L-R: Ron Timbery (CFO), Callum proudly! Winchester (Westpac Secondee), Peter Summerfield (ATO Secondee), Christie Ryan (Admin Officer), David Jones (Downer Secondee), Rhonda Amatto (Housing Officer), Chris Ingrey (CEO), Carrine Liddell (Operations Manager) David Jones, a Design Manager working in our Utilities business, participated in a six week secondment with Rail workers the Indigenous organisation Jawun earlier this year. turn pink The following is a summary of his experience.

From May to July this year, I had the wonderful enjoyable experience – very different from opportunity to be seconded to Jawun. Jawun my regular engineering role in Downer. Rail employees in the is an organisation that connects corporate, The organisations I supported had limited Maryborough Rail depot government and philanthropic organisations budgets and were run with only a handful of are proving that pink is the with Indigenous people to effect real change. people, striving to improve their communities Downer has been supporting Jawun since colour of choice, trading and relying primarily on government funding. 2014 by providing employees the chance to The Jawun secondees bring experience into their regular work shirts for be seconded to Aboriginal organisations in the organisations that they just would not West Kimberley (Western Australia), Cape pink high-visibility shirts have. With the Jawun secondees working on York (Queensland) and Inner Sydney. new ventures to raise revenue, over time the every Friday. I was part of the Inner Sydney group, working organisations will have more funds to provide Now known as Pink Shirt Fridays, employees with Aboriginal organisations in Redfern and better services to their communities. have banded together to show their support La Perouse that have been established to For me, the experience brought up a whole for the Queensland Breast Cancer Council improve the local Aboriginal community. range of emotions – from disappointment in with those wearing pink donating a gold Working with the La Perouse Local Aboriginal how Aboriginal people were treated as recently coin each time they wear their shirt. Land Council (LALC), my role was to kick off as the 1970s to inspiration in seeing how the The initiative started when employee Tony a marina development and finalise a beach Aboriginal communities have made such Cordie suggested the idea after his own hire business, both to be run by the La Perouse positive change and continue to strive to family experiences with cancer. LALC to generate revenue. improve their independence and social standing. I found working with the La Perouse Indigenous Depot manager John Shelford said the Downer Coming in with limited experience in Maryborough facility was excited with the community very rewarding. I am still in contact development planning or running a small commitment to support Pink Shirt Friday. with the LaPa team and now have the business, the secondment pushed my level of opportunity to represent them on an ongoing “Downer Maryborough will to continue to expertise. My role necessitated lobbying NSW Transport for NSW steering committee. support the program and create awareness politicians and Ministers for their support, to recognise the effect that cancer can developing a project plan and in turn commencing Downer will participate in the Jawun program have on employees and families.” n the first steps of development applications again next year. The company will call for and licencing. This was a rewarding and applications in either late 2015 or early 2016. n

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97.5kg of carbon (CO2) were neutralised using Campbell Design Group for this project. www.cdgroup.biz