EXCITED FOR ENGINEERING AGGREGATE AND QUARRY INDUSTRY

ZANE YEE recommends engineering as a career with a bright future for young people. He says there is so much personal fulfilment you can get from solving a problem and completing a project.

Zane (28) has worked as an industrial engineer with Fulton Hogan in Auckland since July 2022. He is associated directly with Stevenson Aggregates Ltd, a subsidiary of Fulton Hogan.

“I am involved more in the quarrying business of Stevenson. I focus on production and manufacturing. In my role, I do a lot of plant design, looking after plant performance efficiency, and finding ways to improve the whole production process,” says Zane.

“I am also involved in a start-up project where we are building a trial plant. I handled the design and the commissioning of the plant as well.”

One of the key organisations in the industry is the Aggregate & Quarry Association (AQA). Members nationwide produce more than 45 million tonnes of aggregate, limestone and allied products each year. That’s about nine to 10 tonnes or a truckload for every New Zealander.

“AQA is an organisation who represent the quarrying industry. If there is any advocacy, technical or planning/consenting issues within the industry, then AQA is the go-to organisation to assist.

They represent the whole quarrying industry and they act as a voice so when we are developing a new specification, they act as the co-ordinator to communicate with all industry members. Everyone can talk together.”

Zane also does quarry surveying where new technology is used, such as drones to do aerial quarry surveys and mapping the whole topography of the quarry.

“We then can use a lot of the data from the survey to measure quarry volumes, display depths of upcoming blasts and review extraction against established designs. We can also visualise a whole lot of 3D design of the quarry. Specifically, 3D design refers to the quarry pit shell. That is the target we want to extract from the quarry.”

From Malaysia originally, Zane worked first in Singapore for four years before making his way to Aotearoa three years ago, just before the first COVID-19 lockdown.

He finished his final year of a Bachelor of Engineering, majoring in Mechanical Engineering, from Auckland University of Technology, having credits added from his overseas qualifications in Malaysia.

“With the learning I had done in the past, I did a credit transfer to AUT. They exempted me from the first two years of their three-year programme. It was great at AUT. The best part was we got lots of opportunities to apply hands-on skill.

“There were lots of assessment and projects where we could build something from the ground up. It tested our theoretical knowledge and also tested our

writer PETER WHITE photographer LOGAN WEST

practical skill as well. In one project we designed a crane system.

“It is really about the opportunity to work with other people, coming up with something new and the whole experience was great.”

■ ZANE YEE WORKS AS AN INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER AT STEVENSON AGGREGATES LTD, A SUBSIDIARY OF FULTON HOGAN

■ HE HAS A BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING MAJORING IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING FROM AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AS WELL AS QUALIFICATIONS EARNED IN MALAYSIA

■ ZANE FOCUSES ON PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURING IN HIS ROLE AND IS INVOLVED MORE IN THE QUARRYING SIDE OF THE BUSINESS

For more information on career opportunities in the aggregate and quarry industry, visit www.aqa.org.nz