Engineering team in fine form

Council's engineering team has been further boosted with the appointment of civil engineer Christian Dullnig.

Christian, 32, joined the team after two years working as a design engineer with engineering consultancy Duffill Watts in Thames, Hamilton and Tauranga.  His role in Council will be as a utilities asset modelling and project engineer but initially he will be helping project manage the new Maketu wastewater scheme.

Austrian-born, Christian moved to New Zealand in 2006 after graduating in land and water management and engineering at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna.

Christian has been working in civil engineering since 2001, first as a draftee and later as project assistant during his university studies.

Council’s utilities manager Kelvin Hill says Christian adds the “missing ingredient” to the utilities team and will be a great asset.

Council now provides the full complement of engineering services in-house.

Christian’s main professional specialties in civil engineering include stormwater, wastewater, water supply, waste management and surveying.

He believes that stepping from the private sector to local government will give him a wider breadth of experience and the ability to see the bigger picture of engineering projects.

After hours Christian is an energetic, outdoors bloke – enjoying mountain biking, kite surfing, running – pursuits that his Council engineering colleagues also pursue.

The Western Bay is a fantastic place to live, says Christian.

“It is a beautiful, relaxed spot to live and hang out. We have the Redwoods close by for biking, Ferguson Park just round the corner for kite surfing and Mount Ruapehu just down the road for a weekend trip skiing!’’