After over 30 years of leadership within HERA, our current Director Dr Wolfgang Scholz has announced his intended retirement at the end of the year. Wolfgang has held this role for the last 17 years and advises with a smile, that he’s enjoyed almost every minute of his job – but its now time to…
Trends show the number of buildings and building heights are increasing. Pushing the need for more skilled engineers equipped with better tools to evaluate and guarantee the safety and performance of our structures. Design standards that lead to reliable structures are imperative for modern infrastructure. Join Professor Brian Uy as he presents on his paper which…
Innovation is what we’re all about – whether in research or industry education. That’s why our #MIC2017 HERA session has our speakers highlighting this disruption. It’s happening around the world and in New Zealand – which is why it’s so important that we understand what it all means for our industry, what challenges are ahead…
Industry 4.0. The Internet of Things. Automation. Connected smart factories or workshops. AI & smart robots. What do these mean for our industry and how can they apply or be applied to the engineering industry in New Zealand? There is a lot of talk and a bit of hype around ICT-driven changes to manufacturing technologies. The…
HERA members associated with the wider steel construction sector will have or will receive a request for co-funding to the steel construction projects of HERA’s research partnership proposal intended to be submitted to MBIE. You may have been aware from last month’s HERA News item, that out of the original 13 applications submitted; we were…
Following MBIE and Commerce Commission announcements of significant building products conformance issues which included steel products, HERA consulted in April 2016 extensively with its membership. The outcome was the wide endorsement by HERA and SCNZ membership of a policy statement requesting that “all critical building work independent of building material should be required to have…
Historically, boron has not been intentionally added to structural steel manufactured in New Zealand or Australia to AS or AS/NZS standards. However some overseas steelmakers have added boron to structural steel to take advantage of export subsidies or for other reasons, including improved impact energy. Reports indicated that some imported steel may show elevated levels…
Mentioned in the Australasian Certification Authority for Reinforcing and Structural Steels March 2017 Update, the ACRS Board meeting on 28th February considered a number of proposals to improve ACRS’ efficiency and effectiveness. It was agreed that stakeholders and certificate holders should be given until the end of March to discuss and comment on these important…
Mentioned in the Australasian Certification Authority for Reinforcing and Structural Steels March 2017 Update, the ACRS Board meeting on 28th February considered a number of proposals to improve ACRS’ efficiency and effectiveness. It was agreed that stakeholders and certificate holders should be given until the end of March to discuss and comment on these important…
Call for interest – we’re preparing an application for a heavy engineering industry sector-led research partnership under the 2017 MBIE Partnership scheme in response to the Government’s Partnership Investment Plan 2017-19. This proposal aims to provide high–quality research to increase the competitiveness and sustainability of companies like yours, in the framework of a larger sustainable…
Reinforced concrete structures often use the “seismic” grade of reinforcing bar 500E (to AS/NZS 4671). The designation “500E” means the reinforcing rebar must meet specific requirements in regards to mechanical properties to ensure the bar will have adequate performance under earthquake loading. The yield strength must be between 500 – 600MPa, the minimum elongation is…
Due to prevailing market dynamics and the recent Christmas period production shutdowns at some certified firms, some due ACRS assessments remain pending for completion. ACRS will be undertaking these pending site assessments during January and February 2017 to bring the affected certified firms up to date with their requirements under the ACRS scheme. The status…