Wayne Spittal

Wayne Spittal joined the EEA in 1983 as a Graduate Engineer for Tasman Electric Power Board.

He had previously trained as an electrician and in 1979 had won the Top NZ Electrician Award before going on to the University of Canterbury to gain his electrical engineering degree.

He joined Zellweger in 1985 as a project engineer and was involved in the design and manufacture of energy management, electronic metering and AMR systems.

EEA membership records show he was one of the first engineers working in the electrical equipment manufacturing and supply sector to join the EEA. At that time EEA was traditionally focused on power board engineers.

He was a regular contributor of technical papers to the EEA Conference and a strong advocate for broadening EEA membership to include manufacturers and suppliers and to get them more involved in EEA events and technical presentations at those events.

He saw the value of strong engagement between the users and suppliers of equipment and the important role that EEA could play in making that happen.

He joined the EEA Board in 1996 and testimony to his advocacy at Board level can be seen at todays conference an international trade exhibition of over 90 companies with over 40% of people attending this years event coming from the equipment and service sectors and many technical papers provided or supported by electrical equipment manufacturers or suppliers.

In 1999 Wayne joined Beca, Carter Holling and Ferner and served for three terms as 2 ^nd Vice President of the EEA. In doing so his advocacy role shifted to raising the awareness of EEA and participation at EEA events from the consulting sector. Again we see testimony of his work at our conference, young engineers forum and technical workshops.

All engineers have views and opinions but Waynes mix of technical and commercial input into EEA during his 15 year tenure on the Board was invaluable in helping to grow the EEA and in providing engineering advice to Government policy makers. His international experience in energy management, control systems and advanced metering technology are all key issues still in the on-going reform of the industry.