Industry movers and shakers

Aurecon has appointed Jason Sprott as its new ports environment leader, focusing on the Asia-Pacific region.

Sprott has almost 20 years’ experience in planning and management expertise across a range of seaport and coastal ports delivery mechanisms, including the preparation of port land use plans, port development codes and technical guidelines.

In 2010, Sprott was the first person in the Australian port industry to be awarded a Sir Winston Churchill Fellowship for research into sustainable seaport design, development and operation. He will be using the research prize to study sustainable seaport design, development and operations in Singapore, China, UK, Netherlands, USA and Canada.

The Churchill Memorial Trust, which was established in 1965, awards around one hundred overseas research fellowships each year to Australians in honour of Sir Winston Churchill.
Sprott’s key areas of focus include:

•    Port planning and precinct design.
•    Port protection/reverse amenity policies.
•    Sustainable design/green industrial approach.
•    Strategies for ongoing growth management.
•    Environmental management.
•    Infrastructure delivery.
•    Advances in port /logistic technology.

Sprott has a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning and a Masters of Science in Environmental Management.
Contact: www.aurecongroup.com

SRK’s Melbourne mining specialist

SRK Consulting has appointed mining engineer Peter Fairfield to head up its mining team, focusing on project evaluations and due diligence for all levels of projects.

Fairfield has worked for a number of major mining houses, most recently with St Barbara where he was general manager of technical services., where he managed delivery of a new five year / 300k oz operation from scoping study through to commencement of construction. This included provision of services and support to site functions, system development and implementation.

In his role as a senior consultant and mining manager he has worked as a project manager and team member of numerous studies across project pipelines from scoping to feasibility study.

At Pasminco he was the mine manager at its Gordonsville silver, lead and zinc operations in Tennessee, USA, and at the Elura Mine in Cobar he managed technical, operating and maintenance teams across three separate mines to support delivery of 1.2 mtpa.

Prior to being appointed to mining manager, Peter held a senior technical role at Elura and productions roles with Central Norseman Gold in Norseman.
Contact: www.srk.com.au

GHD’s Andrew Leventhal named top geotechnical practitioner

Leventhal received the the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) Geotechnical Practitioner of the Year Award. He is a senior principal geotechnical engineer in GHD’s Artarmon office.

The award acknowledges significant contribution to the geotechnical profession and represents the life-blood of the AGS.
National chairman of AGS, Graham Scholey, presented the award to Andrew at a meeting of Sydney Chapter members on 13 April 2011.

“The award recognises contributions of the highest order over an extended period with a commitment to the geotechnical profession in Australia and to the AGS,” Scholey said.

AGS said it awarded Scholey for the following achievements:
•    Significant advancement of Landslide Risk Management across the nation.
•    Commitment over more than 25 years to the AGS.
•    Commitment to the geotechnical profession for more than 35 years through his consulting experience in many aspects of geotechnical engineering and rock mechanics (spent almost exclusively with GHD Geotechnics and its predecessors).
Contact: www.australiangeomechanics.org