Yet Mike Ryan, Farra Engineering’s general manager of operations, quickly deflects any credit, the modest engineer instead preferring to focus on the wider Farra team and the fact that he is doing a job he loves.
"I like to be the background guy. The limelight is a really good place for someone else."
At the recent Heavy Engineering Research Association (Hera) industry awards, Mr Ryan won the Leading Metalmind — Next Gen Leadership Award, while Farra also won the Fab 4.0 Award for welding skills development.
Farra’s application said Mr Ryan had a vision and mind that figured out very unusual — but ultimately highly practical — answers to "impossible problems".
Managing director Gareth Evans said what Mr Ryan had achieved at Farra was "nothing short of incredible".
"He is renowned in the industry for his innovative and practical approach to problem solving and his leadership is second to none.
"Mike continually offers mentorship and support, not only to Farra staff but to many in and new to the industry. Not only has he embraced the continuous challenges of working in this industry, he has maintained focus on the business, the people and the quality," Mr Evans said.
Mr Ryan was "stoked" about the acknowledgement, saying winning two awards was "just incredible". While he was not one for being on stage and accolades, it was great for Farra’s hard-working team who deserved acknowledgement, he said.
Recently promoted to the operations management position, Mr Ryan had been the firm’s machining manager for 20 years, growing that part of the Farra business to be one of the largest contract machine shops in New Zealand and the largest in the South Island.
From a South Canterbury farming background, he began his fitter and turner apprenticeship at the Pukeuri meat works. From there, he worked at Metalspray Engineering and Wickliffe Press, in Dunedin, before joining Farra as machine shop supervisor in 2002.
His current role was making sure all the physical works were happening, that staff had the right tools to do the job "and just making stuff happen".
"It’s about people and machinery and resources. I’m less and less hands-on than I used to be, that’s why I muck around so much at weekends," he said.
Mr Ryan felt fortunate to be doing a job that he loved and he had enjoyed the challenge of the various roles he had at Farra. In particular, he enjoyed getting his hands dirty, problem solving and design.
One of the standout projects was for the Burrinjuck Hydropower Station, about an hour and a-half northwest of Canberra, built in the middle of a national park.
The main inlet valve had reached the end of its usable life and access was barely possible through a tiny human manhole. The 600mm diameter entrance hatch was the only entry to the penstock tube while the average male’s shoulder width was 465mm.
Hydro engineers and consultants said the only answer was to replace it as there was no way to remove it for reboring — except for Mr Ryan.
He figured a way must be found to undertake the repairs on site. He designed a borer with a 0.02mm tolerance, which was then built by the Farra team in New Zealand, packed into six containers and shipped to Australia.
The borer was reassembled inside the dam, the valve rebored and its life was extended for another 15-plus years, saving the hydro station about $15 million on a new valve and a costly shutdown.
Simon Ashton, of Meridian Energy, had worked closely with Mr Ryan for about 20 years on many projects on various hydro stations and said he could not remember him ever saying "that can’t be done".
Mr Ryan’s commitment to getting urgent work completed and delivered to tight time frames meant they had worked together in the workshop sometimes past midnight.
"I’ve also known Mike to work on public holidays for Meridian at the expense of his own and his family’s time," Mr Ashton said.
Mr Ryan said there had been "such a heap of change"during his time in the industry and that was exciting.
"One of the really interesting parts is you just don’t know what that next phone call leads to," he said.
One of the most satisfying things was seeing someone start as an apprentice and work their way up into positions that were pivotal to the company. Being part of that journey was "incredibly rewarding", he said.
Farra’s work was found on the top of skyscrapers, deep in mines and in energy generation. It also manufactured parts for aerospace, trains and the Defence Force.
Farra specialised in three key areas — safer access machines, maintenance repair and overhaul and contract manufacturing. Now in its 160th year, it is the oldest engineering firm in the country. It has a team of 120 including 17 apprentices.
In its nomination for the welding skills development, the company said staff training, quality work and supporting processes and systems had been a huge focus.
While ensuring the upskilling of existing staff, team leaders, weld supervisors and managers, growing the skills and confidence of new recruits had been paramount.
Diversity was key in a well-rounded workforce and it had been actively promoting an inclusive culture. It now had women advancing in trades and a greater diversity of ethnicity in all of its workshops and it would endeavour to grow that in the future.
Its dedication to the development of a skilled workforce extended beyond the doors of Farra. Alongside United Engineering, it formed SOREC (Southland and Otago Regional Engineering Collective) to ensure learnings were shared in other Otago Southland engineering companies to strengthen the collective of the industry.
