Commerce’s Project Management won three Awards at the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) 2006 Achievement Awards for NSW on 24 August.

Nick Welling, Project Manager of the Nepean Dam Deep Water Recovery Project, won the Individual Project Manager Award, capping another hat trick for Commerce who won this prestigious award in 2004 and 2005 as well. The Nepean Dam project involved works at both the Avon and Nepean dams as part of the Sydney Metropolitan Water Plan 2004. Nick has successfully met the challenge of overcoming very demanding time and cost constraints, and the physical difficulties of working at Nepean Dam on a steep and rugged site with limited access, while complying with the catchment’s stringent environmental conditions.

Commerce was successful in the Regional Development category where its Lismore Flood Levee Scheme won the Award. The project, successfully delivered by Mark Stalhut the Project Manager from Commerce’s North Coast region, assisted by a team including Ian Knapman, will deliver savings to the city that had been previously subjected to serious flooding. The levee will protect the city from a 1 in 10-year flood. The estimated present worth of the project’s benefits was $32.3M. 

Commerce’s third success was in the Student Award category where Garry Huang won the Award. Garry joined Commerce as a Graduate in 2004 and completed the Program in 2005. He is currently doing his Masters of Engineering Science (Project Management) at the University of New South Wales. His submission was based on his studies in Risk Management and how it was associated to the Project Management profession. As part of the Project Support Centre he worked on the development of the Project Risk Management Register, the Key Performance Indicators as well as the development of various Risk Management training courses for OPWS.

The AIPM Achievement Awards won against the best competitors in the industry from the private and public sectors once again highlight the quality and depth of Commerce’s project management staff and acknowledges the work being carried out by its network of offices across the State. Commerce through its Centre of Excellence continues to work on incorporating industry best practice into its processes, ensuring for its clients and government the highest quality of service.