Canterbury Tech Monthly Event - October 2021

Theme: EXTREME ENGINEERING

When - Tuesday 5 October

Time - 5pm - 6pm

Where - Zoom; a link will be emailed to you prior to the event

About the event

Our theme is Extreme Engineering and we are excited to have two fantastic speakers lined up. We will run the two speakers consecutively, with some Q&A and we'll use Zoom breakout rooms at the END of the two sessions for those who choose to participate. There will be named/themed zoom rooms and participants will be able to choose which to join, or to leave the meeting instead.

Why are we doing this? Online networking is not for everyone and so we're putting the control in your hands. See the section on 'Self-selecting a breakout room' in this short Zoom help centre article to understand how to choose breakout rooms and switch between them. Drop us a line at info@canterburytech.nz if you feel you have a discussion topic you'd like to nominate for a themed room.

Online Format

5.00pm - Welcome and updates
5.10pm - Speaker One - Matthew Jordan
5.25pm - Q&A
5.30pm - Speaker Two - Yoram Benit
5.45pm - Q&A
5:55pm - Networking breakout session for those that choose to participate
6:15pm - Close of event

Our Speakers...

Matthew Jordan - Project Manager at Antarctica New Zealand

Matthew Jordan (BEng (Hons), PMP) is a Project Manager with Antarctica New Zealand working on the Scott Base Redevelopment Project. He is actively involved with the Canterbury Branch of the New Zealand Antarctic Society and is a Board Director of the US-based Antarctican Society.

He has a degree in Civil and Construction Engineering with 10 years experience working on major projects exceeding $350 Million. After five expeditions to Antarctica, his expertise lies in overcoming the challenges associated with building in remote and extreme environments.

Matt has been based in Christchurch for the last four years, having moved from his hometown of Perth, following over six years in the Australian mining and power generation industries.

Topic: Extreme Engineering - Redeveloping Scott Base in Antarctica

The presentation will cover some of the unique challenges that we have to contend with, that wouldn’t normally apply in standard New Zealand based construction projects. The project requires a lot of out of the box thinking, so I’ll be discussing the unique challenges that we face with the climate and remote location.

Yoram Benit - CEO at Tait Communications

One of the Canterbury tech community's originals, Tait Communications has been in business for more than 50 years. Tait still manufactures at home in Christchurch and employs well over a hundred engineers locally. A long list of successful company founders started after working with Angus Tait and the legacy of his approach to business remains strong today.

Yoram Benit came to the CEO role at Tait through market-focused engineering and product management with some of the largest companies in the global industry. Yoram was attracted to Tait by its potential (he says) to successfully navigate and benefit from the latest technology evolution in critical communications

Topic: Can Tait Communications do another 50 years?

Critical communications -- the mobile tools, infrastructure and software relied on by the likes of ambulance, police and fire officers, energy network operators, freight hubs and airports -- is going through one of its periodic, slow-motion technological earthquakes. Tait Communications, already a small player internationally, is now also facing off against the world's mammoth telcos. What's the plan?

Hosted by Canterbury Tech's Neil Hamilton and EPIC Podcast host Andy Poulsen, this event is an excellent opportunity to get together safely in Alert Level 2.

So BYO your favourite beverage and some nibbles and join us online!