AAPA FEATURE
is widely recognised for the encouraging example she sets for other women to get involved in the asphalt industry. Emma is demonstrating to other women that the asphalt industry has plenty of exciting opportunities and excellent prospects.
State: Victoria Name: Jeremy Hochman Position: Senior Project Engineer Company: Downer Group
State: New South Wales Name: Joshua Fenaroli Position: Asphalt Manufacturing Manager Company: State Asphalts
Jeremy is a true emerging leader. He is open to innovation and change and is quick to adapt. He is a people person with a ‘cando’ attitude who leads by example. He thrives on challenge and supports others to bring out their best. State: South Australia Name: Jack Arnold Position: Contracting Manager Company: Boral
Jeremy Hochman (centre) receiving his award at the Downer offices with his colleagues (L) Mark Taylor (GM Airports & Specialised Pavements) and (R) Dante Cremasco (EGM Road Services).
New South Wales Emerging Leader Award winner Joshua Fenaroli from State Asphalt Services
Joshua Fenaroli’s career in Asphalt commenced in February 2014 and he hasn’t looked back. His award recognises the systematic and thorough approach he has adopted to learn his craft, develop relationships and identify and implement improvements. Joshua’s early experience of being mentored by more senior colleagues impressed upon him the depth and breadth of knowledge available within each of the functional departments he was exposed to. He set to work developing relationships throughout the plant to create better communication and collaboration between functions, utilising employees’ skills in areas to which they may not have been previously exposed. On his journey from plumber, to leading hand, plant manager and now production manager, Joshua initiated and implemented the development of a continuous maintenance program and regular plant upgrades. He enhanced the plant’s production output capabilities by re-engineering the allocation process, and built in sustainability by establishing appropriate training and improved plant design. He streamlined the management of the plant which now boasts output of up to 2400t of asphalt per shift. Joshua is rapidly establishing himself as an emerging leader within State Asphalts and in the broader industry by delivering better results for clients, particularly in regard to budgets, design and superior quality.
22 Highway Engineering Australia | Aug/Sept 2017
Jeremy Hochman is a senior project engineer with six years’ experience in the Asphalt industry. He specialises in airport and racetrack projects. His award recognises his work delivering successful systematic and process-driven projects in a collaborative and inspiring way. He was appointed acting project manager just 18 months after commencing at Downer as a graduate engineer and he has since become the ‘go-to person’ for specialist asphalt project advice for colleagues at all levels. With a background in simulationoptimisation models, Jeremy seeks to translate theoretical efficiency gains into on-site reality. His work at Sydney Airport in 2016 saw shift plans honed to maximise productivity while ensuring the client had adequate time contingency to minimise impact on Australia’s busiest airport. Downer is utilising this approach more widely as projects are increasingly required to be completed within narrow working windows. Jeremy’s approach to problem-solving has delivered costsavings and quality improvements. His work on the Canberra Airport project reduced the client’s risk exposure by up to 30 per cent. By working closely with his peers and mentoring those junior, Jeremy makes connections and inspires collaboration. He actively advocates for a partnership model between contractors and the client, characterised by open communication and sharing of knowledge and common goals. Increasingly, Jeremy steps up to represent Downer Airports Division at senior level management meetings and is comfortable discussing topics such as project delivery capability, programming, planning and logistics, quality management zero harm management and resourcing. He actively seeks leadership opportunities and undertakes additional training to gain technical knowledge, commercial awareness, financial focus, cost control, forecasting and reporting skills.
South Australian Emerging Leader Award winner Jack Arnold from Boral Asphalt
Jack Arnold has worked at Boral for 10 years, commencing as a lab technician and progressing from the concrete business into QMR project roles, project management and now contracting manager for the SA asphalt business. Jack is known for his maturity and approachable manner. He was responsible for setting up facilities in Alice Springs and has implemented a number of process efficiency initiatives and safety improvements which have become standard procedure in Boral’s operations. One such project is the introduction of live bottom trucks for Boral SA, a project that reduces risks associated with overhead hazards including electricity wires and trees. Jack was also involved in a project that introduced overhead wire identification cones and tip off zone identification cones, employing special colour-coded cones to warn operators of overhead and other hazards. Jack’s interest in recycling initiatives led him to work with Operations Manager David Boots to develop and document a new process that harvests reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) more efficiently, delivering a cleaner, more usable product that provides better quality results and uses less storage space. As environmental factors are increasingly integrated into the cost of production, clean RAP separation is a genuine value-add, and a simple process change such as this can have a profound effect. Jack engages actively with stakeholders including clients and sub-contractors,