Presenters

9th - 11th August, Kirikiriroa Hamilton

Keynote Presenters

Nathan Fa'avae

Nathan Fa'avae

 

 

 

Nathan, a 51-year-old adventure enthusiast, resides in Tasman Bay near Nelson with his wife Jodie and three children. With a lifelong passion for outdoor sports and adventure, he has become a highly regarded figure in the field. As the captain of the world’s most successful adventure racing team, he has received numerous accolades, including being honored as an Officer of The New Zealand Order of Merit in 2023.

 

 

 

Simon Court

Simon Court

First term ACT MP and spokesperson for Environment, Climate, Transport & Infrastructure, Energy & Resources and Local Government, Simon is a Civil and Environmental Engineer with 20 plus years’ experience in roles for the private sector and local government. This includes 10 years leading engineering, planning, tendering, and leading construction teams primarily in Auckland, Wellington, and Fiji. Simon started his career as a civil and environmental technician carrying out field and laboratory testing on landfill sites.

Simon has three teenagers, the youngest with Down Syndrome which influences his perspective on accessibility.

In local government Simon managed a portfolio of 200 closed landfills, many in the coastal area, with aging and failing infrastructure. This experience led to a change of direction, and eventually to Parliament with ACT, where Simon sits on Environment Committee and Transport Committee

Plenary Presenters

Rob Damhuis

Rob Damhuis

Rob is an innovative and resourceful manager with considerable knowledge of the road construction industry with over 30 years’ experience in various aspects of road design and construction.
He is presently a Principle Pavement Engineer in the Engineering Standards Team at Waka Kotahi NZTA with a national role covering related guidance to maintenance and capital works, reviewing and auditing pavement design and construction. In his career Rob has fulfilled a number of management roles around South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in various road construction-related areas, being materials laboratories, quality assurance, contract and construction management, and asset management.

Gerhard van Blerk

Gerhard van Blerk

Gerhard holds a BEng Civil (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa), MEng Transportation (Texas A&M) and is currently working on his PhD at Auckland University. Started work in 1991 with civil engineering consultancies in South Africa and worked for NZTA since moving to New Zealand in 1998. Fulfilled the main disciplines as a technical expert, pavement construction and materials, field research and development of new construction techniques and materials, pavement design and analysis, project management, transportation engineering, asset management, financial management, pavement management systems, performance based pavement maintenance contracting and data analysis.