The 2016 RFUANZ Awards Night were presented on Thursday the 14th of April, to the following individuals:
Bob Griffiths
2016 Innovation in the Industry Award, sponsored by Icom NZ
Bob Griffiths was nominated for his innovation and technical excellence in developing radiofrequency combining for various mobile radio sites.
The work has included combining wide bandwidths and technically challenging frequency combinations. Multivendor solutions have been deployed.
He is combining receivers and transmitters using series pass designs as well as 10 pole window filters specified and procured for the particular applications. Bob has calculated the specific length of critical harnessing coaxial cables to provide minimal degradation of the wanted signals and maximum degradation of the unwanted signals.
Whilst some of the solutions are available as Commercial-Off-Shelf (COS) solutions from single vendors there is invariably a significant cost component and long delays in procuring such COS systems which are then difficult to change. Bob has provided multi-vendor solutions that are readily adaptable and can be changed with in-house design and the utilisation of our own radio frequency coaxial filters which are built in-house. Bob has also been involved in developing the design and construction of these coaxial filters.
The development of his highly capable RF solutions makes Bob a worthy recipient of this award.
Jack de Borst
2016 Outstanding Sales and Support Award, sponsored by Hytera
Jack de Borst has been deployed as Technical sales representative by Tait Mobile Radio Wellington for 16 years.
In these 16 years, Jack has built up an extremely stable customer base, which he is constantly adding to with new clients. He is not just a Sales Manager but is a crucial part of the team. Jack gives the best options for all his individual clients and he is able to resolve issues on site and at times filling in as a technician to the benefit of all clients.
NZ Parliament has been a 15 year old customer from Jack and 18 months ago he sold and project managed the change from a conventional analogue network to a DMR Digital network. He is always going to extra mile for the customer and is adding benefits as required.
The Cook Islands communication network is another of Jack’s projects where he defined the right solution and managed the implementation with both local and NZ team members. He has maintained a close relationship with Cook Island Telecom services and support for the Cook Islands.
Futon Hogan is a longstanding industrial client from Jack and in his 15 year relationship he has always managed to understand their requirements inside out and provided them with a high level of professional sales and service.
His track record of customer satisfaction with these and many other customers make Jack a worthy recipient of this ward.
Jason Jenkins
2016 Technical Excellence Award, sponsored by GME Standards NZ
Jason Jenkins has been working for the New Zealand Police ICT department since 1988.
He has worked on a number of major projects for NZ Police including the transition of Police to a digital communications network. Jason was the responsible technical owner for the Auckland District.
Jason has for the past year worked as a principal Technologist Radio within the NZ Police infrastructure Development Group. He has created roadmap plans for narrowband radio that include the high level migration of narrow band to Next Generation WGRN mission critical PTT. He operates as the technical consultant of the National P25 Digital Radio Network and analogue network projects and is the technical lead for sub system integration.
Jason is a team player with excellent communication skills. He is always prepared to go the extra mile to resolve issues that arise in complex technical projects he is involved in. He is prepared to own problems, working with the Police team and suppliers to find effective resolutions.
Jason demonstrates technical knowledge combined with leadership qualities. He enjoys taking responsibility and shares knowledge with others to achieve the best technical outcome for all. This makes him a worthy winner of the technical excellence award.
Mike Carian and Bob Stevenson
2016 Project Excellence Award, sponsored by Radio Activity
Mike Carian and Bob Stevenson have provided Napier Port with a tailored solution transferring an old analogue simplex operation to a multiple repeater site operation that comprises of 14 DMR channels and 3 in-port working Marine Channels.
iNet understood very clearly that due to the complex and technical nature of their solution, they would have to call on the experience and expertise of other parties. Greg Harris from Hi-Tec Aerials and Brian Davis ensured the repeater site would perform above expectations in terms of spectrum efficiency and co-channel adjacency requirements. Hi-Tec Aerials and iNet jointly commissioned and tested the system before the Port went live. From the moment the radio network was turned on it has performed exceptionally well, even with much higher calling volumes than previously forecasted.
The benefits of a digital solution have been exploited by the implementation of the dispatch solution that not only provides the operators with an easy to use hands-free dispatch application it also offers a variety of operational and health and safety features that are tailored to meet the Port’s requirements.
With the convergence of technology, Mike and Bob relied heavily on Monique Princen from TENAZ to provide a professional high level understanding of IP V Radio protocols and contract management. Working together with the Ports IT department, i-Net and TENAZ have commissioned a stable IP connected radio system with rigorous disaster recovery procedures to ensure communications remain in times of unforeseen circumstances.
Mike and Bob have been available for the different teams at the Port and have worked tirelessly to optimise the system. The system has been operational for 8 months and iNet meets on a regular basis with the Port management to explore how further operational and safety benefits can be achieved thereby the many features provided by the DMR radio’s and the dispatch application to deliver the outcome the Port desires.
As Napier Port have stated: “A project of this nature will not be successful without a flexible, resourceful and committed team. Mike and Bob were key members of the team at Napier Port and their willingness to adapt to changing requirements along with their full understanding of the implications to the Napier Port operation have allowed us to push the boundaries and get a great result – especially on the Health and Safety benefits from the converged systems.”
This makes Mike and Bob a worthy recipient of the Project Excellence award.
Ric Marshall
2016 Customer Service Award, sponsored by Motorola Solutions
Ric has been a part of the Signals team from the beginning and describes himself as a relationship seller fully focused on exceeding his clients expectations.
He is able to recognise the different parts of a business and solution and meshes these together to exceed the expectation of the client. While he relies on his technical team mates, it is his responsiveness and resourcefulness that provides customer satisfaction.
“For the Lyttleton Road Tunnel Ric delivered a Radio Communication Ssytem that fully met his promises and without a hitch”, states David McVicar from Broadspectrum.
“Signals went above and beyond for Waiheke buses as they worked solidly through the night to complete the entire changeover of our bus fleet plus the repeater in one night”, states Neil Clooney form Waiheke Bus Company.
“We have always received the most exceptional service and support from Signals and in particular Ric Marshall” states Rhonda McNicol from NZ Fire Service, “he keeps in regular contact and at times provides us with other options which is generally a better way of doing the fit out”.
This demonstration of ongoing customer service makes Ric a worthy recipient of the customer service award.
Russel Richardson
2016 Service to the Industry Award, sponsored by Tait Communications
Russel Richardson is one of the longer standing members still active in the NZ Radio Industry who has been extensively involved in all facets of Land Mobile Radio as it exists in NZ today. He was instrumental in the formation of RFUANZ and a very active member for many years.
Russel established Richardson Communications in 1979. Originally based in Otorohanga and more recently in Hamilton he has been a Radio Dealer for decades representing many of the equipment suppliers including Motorola, Icom and Tait products.
Russell’s contribution to the industry spanned the original changes to RTA21 equipment and the representations to the Government through RFUANZ in the following years through to the now High Tech IP world we are moving into with the Digital Radio technologies.
Throughout his entire career Russel has demonstrated a high level of service and support not just to his customers but to fellow radio dealers alike.
The integrity of this candidate as well as the industry leadership that have been given over the years leaves Russell very deserving of this award.
Award Sponsors
The sponsors of the 2016 RFUANZ Awards were:
Previous Award winners
Here are the winners for previous years:
Award criteria
Service to the Industry Award
This award is open to all radio professionals in New Zealand. It recognises contribution to enriching and sustainable growth of the radio communications industry in New Zealand through service and commitment, the education and mentoring of industry co-workers and ongoing improvements.
Award criteria:
- Proof of superior and sustained commitment to the NZ radio industry
- Demonstration of leadership
- Learning and knowledge sharing
- Promotion of the NZ radio communications industry
Outstanding Sales and Support Award
This award is open to all sales professionals. It recognises a flair for developing new business relationships, outstanding sales support to their customer and maintaining long term customer relationships..
Award criteria:
- Continuous contribution to the maintenance and growth of customer relationship
- Understanding the customers’ requirements
- Customer satisfaction
- Integrity and delivering on the promise
- Repeat business
Technical Excellence Award
This award is open to all technicians, engineers and technical staff. It recognises excellent workmanship and individual practice in system design, implementation and/or maintenance.
Award criteria:
- Innovative solutions that demonstrate they meet customer needs
- Responsiveness
- Customer satisfaction
- Integrity
- Resourcefulness
Project Excellence Award
This award is open for all design, project and system engineers and project managers. It recognises excellence in project management and fulfilment and it highlights the importance of professional engineering and project management in achieving high performance in projects.
Award criteria:
- Customer satisfaction
- Integrity
- Operational performance
- Resourcefulness
- Fit for purpose
Customer Service Award
This award is open to all customer service, administration and receptionist staff. It recognizes individuals who go out of their way to provide exceptional service and on-going support to their customers.
Award criteria:
- Customer satisfaction
- Resourcefulness
- Integrity
- Long term customer relationships
Innovation in the Industry
The award is open to all radio professionals. It recognises innovation and creativity, operational resourcefulness and performance improvement.
Award criteria:
- Innovation, what sets this apart from routine work
- Resourcefulness
- Performance improvement
- Increased significance of the Radio Communications Industry
