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Hunter creativity to tackle global problems

Newcastle engineering, environmental and technical services company Emergent Group has appointed systems engineering specialist Simon Bull as its first Principal Engineer – Ideation.

The new role was created in response to the increasing complexity of challenges being faced by Australian businesses. As we transition to renewable energy and cleaner technologies, businesses and governments are searching for clever solutions to complex problems.

Larry Platt, Executive Chairman of Emergent Group, describes the new role as having to understand the challenges brought to them by clients at a whole new level.

“By delving deeply into the problem and then consulting widely, we will increase our chances of coming up with creative solutions,” said Larry.

Drawing on the skills that exist across Emergent Group, Simon Bull hopes to be able to identify novel approaches to clients’ challenges and offer them solutions they will not find elsewhere.

Simon will be working across the breadth of Emergent Group’s companies to develop new services in emerging areas such as clean technology, defence and agriculture.

Simon’s experience spans many years in diverse areas including defence, rail transport and electric vehicles. Early in his career he worked on the Martin Jetpack, an experimental single-person aircraft.

“From my early days as a mechanical engineer working on the Martin jetpack, I’ve been fascinated with difficult and complex engineering problems and love the process of figuring out novel solutions,” said Simon.

Simon is passionate about Australian know-how and manufacturing complex technology right here in this country. He believes that to stay ahead of the pack we must diversify the type of work Emergent Group’s companies do.

“I’m already on the look-out for exciting new opportunities for us to tackle,” he said.

In addition to recruiting Simon to the Ideation role, Emergent Group company Advitech has recently appointed two senior managers to head up the Environmental and Sustainability areas of the consultancy.

Craig Wellings, a scientist majoring in chemistry and physical geography, brings a wealth of environmental consulting experience to his new role as Manager – Environment. He will work with clients on their site remediation and other aspects of environmental management, planning and compliance.

Abby Yates has spent the past 13 ½ years working in the UK and Europe in engineering and scientific service delivery projects for the energy sector at Mitsubishi Power Europe. Her work took her to Europe, the middle east, and Africa.

As Advitech’s new Manager – Sustainability, Abby will work with clients on their sustainability and ESG strategies. Abby was recruited as a result of Emergent Group’s recent ‘Network Effect’ campaign, which called on the broader public to help the company find the best people to join their team.

With these three new appointments, Emergent Group and its company Advitech are certainly well-placed to help Australian businesses tackle the biggest challenges of our time.

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