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Callum Hunter from Ashdown Control Services receiving his award for Student of the Year |
The glittering awards ceremony took place at the Hilton Hotel, Coventry on 17 May with guests travelling from far and wide to see who would receive these prestigious awards.
THE WINNERS
As ever it was a difficult choice, but between the judging panel and members of the industry who took part in the online voting, the following winners were chosen.
Student of the Year - Sponsored by Trend Control Systems
The Student of the Year award went to a very deserving Callum Hunter of Ashdown Control Services who joined the company in July 2002 at the age of 19 and has since set incredibly high standards of achievement throughout his training programme. Nominating him for the award Managing Director John Quinn said: “His achievements speak for themselves and this year, through his dedication, he will advance to be a fully qualified engineer.”
Engineer of the Year - Sponsored by
The winner of the Engineer of the Year award was Richard Bush who is a Technical Specialist for Priva Building Intelligence. Richard came out at the top of his category for a number of reasons, including his self-motivation, his commitment to customer services and his extensive knowledge of the industry. Geoff Collacott of PA Collacott commented: “Richard’s knowledge of the controls industry, along with his pleasant attitude, is a credit.”
Frank Dennis OBE Marketing Award - Sponsored by FETA
This award was open to individuals responsible for implementing a successful
Systems Installer of the Year - Sponsored by Honeywell Automation & Control Systems
The winner of the Systems Installer of the Year award was Campbell Control Services for their installation at the Scottish Screen Archive. Providing the exact conditions required in the storage of film and video is very difficult to achieve. The levels are set by the International Federation of Film Archives and close tolerances of +/-0.5°C and +/-0.5% RH are demanded. Campbell Control Services delivered these requirements, and at the same time provided many additional features, allowing the Scottish Screen Archives to control and monitor its Master Film and Video vaults which contain over 100 years of recorded history.
Technical Innovation of the Year - Sponsored by
Innovation is one area where we will all be looking because it is these new products which will set the trends of the future. Q Series PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) from Mitsubishi and Passivent proved to be a definite trend setter, scooping the Technical Innovation of the Year Award. The introduction of a sophisticated PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) to automatically control switching between two distinct environmental control systems – a Mitsubishi Electric City Multi air conditioning system and a Passivent Natural Ventilation system – ensures the most comfortable indoor environmental control in the most energy efficient way possible. By using free cooling for the majority of the time and advanced inverter-driven climate control when natural ventilation alone cannot cope, it will help to reduce energy usage and contribute to the strict targets we are all striving to achieve – watch out for this product in the coming months.
Energy Management Award - Sponsored by TAC
Energy management is another area which is proving to be a key part of the industry and because of this a keen area for these awards. The energy savings at Birmingham Hippodrome won this award for ADT Fire & Security through their ability to save over £17,500 per annum on the previous year’s usage, circa 5,500,000 Kwh. Birmingham Hippodrome is one of the largest theatre venues in the country, boasting a 1,887 seat main auditorium, 206 seat studio theatre, first class dance studios, conference and hospitality facilities. Maintaining auditorium comfort levels alone previously cost £35,000.00 per annum and these massive savings have been achieved following the installation by ADT of a BACnet BMS system and BACnet frequency drives on numerous motors.
Best Service & Maintenance Provider - Sponsored by Resource Data Management
There are so many good companies in the industry that this one was a very difficult choice but BMSi’s success has been, and will continue to be the strong emphasis they put on building long term relationships with their clients which won them the award for Best Service & Maintenance Provider. Their approach has lead to a client and staff retention rate that is unparalleled in the industry. Their team of engineers have over 400 years of controls experience and are very much focused on providing excellent service delivery. In addition to traditional service and maintenance, the company has also invested heavily in the development of various BMS software utility tools to assist its engineers in completing their maintenance tasks.
Judges Special Award - Sponsored by
The final award was chosen from every entry sent in and despite there being a number of excellent candidates there was only ever one winner. Bill Joyce of Siemens Building Technologies was presented with this award for the real difference he has made to many people in the industry. As well as running the technical support team at Siemens Building Technologies he has also spent many years nurturing and helping to train new entrants into the controls industry – but not only that, he has been instrumental in getting them to stay. Katie Evered who started as a trainee and is now a branch engineer said: “The courses I have attended as part of my training were very good on the theoretical side, but Bill’s practical knowledge has been far more useful. “It’s not just his vast knowledge but also his skills at imparting this knowledge that have been invaluable over the last couple of years. He has never made me feel as if I have asked a stupid question; he just tries to answer them or finds a way to get the answer. But he will also let me know if I should be able to work it out myself!”
CHARITY SUPPORT
No awards ceremony would be complete without a charity raffle and this one raised a massive £2,895 for Habitat for Humanity, a charity dedicated to eliminating poverty housing and homelessness worldwide.
Since its foundation in 1976, it has become a global leader in addressing substandard housing by helping more than one million people to have a simple, decent place to live. Ian Walkden, National Director of Habitat for Humanity Great Britain said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by the BCIA to become their adopted charity. We look forward to building a close relationship and working with BCIA further in the future".
Prizes included: a DVD player, Dell Laptop, tickets to the West End Show ‘Wicked’ and a Magnum of Champagne to name but a few and our thanks go to everyone who kindly donated a prize.
AND FINALLY
Every one of these individuals and companies deserved the awards they have received and that because of their commitment to the industry it will continue to improve and meet the challenges which the construction industry is throwing at it.
While that is the end of the 2007 awards it is by no means a time to rest because very soon we will be launching the Building Controls Industry Awards 2008 – so get your thinking caps on and start planning your nomination now.
The Building Controls Industry Awards 2007 is organised by Datateam Publishing Limited in association with BCIA and
www.buildingcontrolsindustryawards.com
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There is an obvious need for the industry to be more energy efficient and pay more attention to the ways in which energy is both used and wasted. Do you think we have the products on the market to meet our needs?
