Innovation, communication, leadership and development were on show as part of the EEA awards ceremony in Ōtautahi, Christchurch on day 2 of the EEA2025 conference.
The EEA Awards are given in recognition of outstanding contribution to industry and to showcase, reward and celebrate excellence and innovation. From the emerging talent to the stalwarts of our industry, the awards include scholarships through to life and meritorious awards.
EEA Chief Executive Nicki Sutherland presented the awards alongside EEA Chair, Geoff Douch.
“We love this part of the conference and this year we had no shortage of fantastic kaimahi and mahi to celebrate.” said Nicki.
“The expertise in the system and the collaboration underway is fantastic, not to mention the strength of leadership across the industry. It’s a privilege to give out these awards.”
Gavin Austin is the 2025 EEA Young Engineer of the Year Award, impressing the judges with his breadth of engineering experience, his leadership skills and his commitment to developing others.
Professional development was a consistent theme across the entrants – all at various stages in their careers but all giving back their knowledge and expertise to help others around them. EEA celebrates the importance of professional development with a dedicated award.
Andrew Foote, from Powerco was this year’s winner of the professional development award. Andrew is off to the IET International Conference on Advances in Power System Control, Operation and Management in Hong Kong in November this year.
The electricity supply industry is a leader in health and safety, having demonstrated an ongoing commitment to keeping workers and the public safe. The workplace and public safety awards give organisations an opportunity to demonstrate initiatives that contribute to excellence in health and safety.
MITA Consulting’s Virtual Reality: Testing to Ensure Safety initiative secured the workplace safety award this year. The project tackles the challenge of preparing workers for high-risk environments by using immersive virtual reality to replicate real job sites and safety-critical scenarios.
The public safety award went to Powerco for their work on safe distances around assets. Communication is key when supporting public safety. Having identified a gap, Powerco worked hard to make sure people can understand and manage risks.
The awards ceremony culminates in the life and meritorious service awards. These awards are not given lightly and reflect a level of commitment, experience and service over many years.
Robert Taylor and Michael Whaley received life member awards, both giving time and expertise to the industry for decades, particularly through the EEA.
Graeme Johnson was awarded the meritorious service award for his passion and commitment to worker safety and raising the bar in industry best practice.
Nicki Sutherland says she is constantly amazed about the dedication and selflessness of individuals throughout the industry.
“Graeme, Bob and Michael represent everything outstanding about our industry and our workforce; a commitment to technical best practice and continuous improvement; a passion for the people, the practice and the kit – new and old; and an unwavering, deep respect for a system that has and will continue to serve Aotearoa New Zealand.”
For more information, visit the awards section of our website.
2025 Winners
Meritorious service awards: Graeme Johnson
Life member awards: Robert Taylor and Michael Whaley
Public safety award: Powerco
Workplace safety award: MITA Consulting
Professional development award: Andrew Foote,
Young engineer of the year award: Gavin Austin
University scholarships:
- James Jennings – Auckland University of Technology
- David Levy – University of Auckland
- Ben Simons – University of Canterbury
- Connor Grant – University of Canterbury
- Fabian Scott – University of Canterbury
- Kees Manders – University of Canterbury
