The late Jason Ashton was a founding shareholder and regional director of Thinc Projects Australia who inspired colleagues across the country over more than 20 years with the firm.

Now, his memory has been honoured at a ceremony held on 24 April where the inaugural Jason Ashton Memorial Grant was awarded.

The annual $10,000 prize – designed to help a talented Thinc staff member realise their career goals – went to Perth-based consultant Mohammad Ashari. He was presented with the accolade by Angela Ashton, Jason’s widow.

“Mohammad is an enthusiastic, engaging Thincer and a most worthy recipient of the inaugural grant,” said Campbell Mackie, CEO of Thinc. “We look forward to working with him to develop and grow his career.”

The grant will be used by Mohammad to complete his Graduate Certificate in Mineral and Energy Economics, which will lead onto an MBA in Oil and Gas. He aims to build his capability as an energy expert for Thinc in Western Australia.

A green housing design created by Thinc and its client Rio Tinto has set a new standard for sustainability in Western Australia.

Rio Tinto has just received EnviroDevelopment certification from the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) for its planned Wickham South subdivision, to be located at the iron ore port of Cape Lambert, north of Karratha.

EnviroDevelopment is a benchmark for green housing design which rates the sustainable elements of a development in areas such as waste, energy, materials and ecosystems.

The certification for Wickham South meets the standard for five out of six sustainable elements – the highest level achieved to date in Western Australia.

“This is a new milestone for WA’s sustainable development sector and a testament to what smart ideas and forward thinking can achieve,” said Tim Turpin, Thinc’s Managing Director.

“It’s great to see an innovative collaboration recognised in this way.”

More than 210 sustainable homes are planned for Wickham South to accommodate the extra workforce needed for the expansion of the port operation at Cape Lambert to 283 million tonnes per annum, a project of the Robe River Joint Venture that is being managed by Rio Tinto.

Homes will be both energy and water efficient, with orientation designed to utilise solar power and native gardens landscaped in line with a water wise design philosophy. Other initiatives, such as a planned recycling program and the monitoring of local flora and fauna, will help ensure ongoing sustainability.

Sam Walsh, Rio Tinto’s chief executive of Iron Ore and Australia, said the award reflected a dedication to best practice land management across all the firm’s mining, rail and port operations.

“This is a great outcome for Rio Tinto and demonstrates our commitment to environmental sustainability,” said Mr Walsh, who was presented with the certification at the UDIA National congress.

Wickham South is now in the final stages of approval and construction is expected to begin later this year.

More than a decade before the famous pyramid at the Louvre Museum was designed, Sydney had its own modernist glass pyramid in the Royal Botanic Gardens.

The pyramid at the Sydney Tropical Centre was built in 1971 on the lower terrace of the Garden Palace grounds. Today it displays a large collection of Australian tropical rainforest plants, while the adjoining Arc built in 1990 displays tropical plants from around the world.

Recently, the Thinc team was appointed to lead a $17M upgrade of the Sydney Tropical Centre. It is designed to turn the facility into a sustainable attraction, incorporating new educational displays with conservation messages presented in an innovative way.

The project is Thinc’s second commission for the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust following the $20M PlantBank, which is currently under construction.

“This is a job which grew out of a close working relationship with a valued client,” says Chris Wassef, NSW/ACT Regional Manager at Thinc. “The landmark nature of the Botanic Gardens site, which dates back to 1816 and is next to the Opera House, demands a world-class product. It’s great to be able to deliver that.”

Chris, together with consultants Michael Dunn and Tom Keeler, will front the Thinc team on the project.

The ThincHealth team in Canberra has said goodbye to the holiday season and turned to the serious business of fundraising.

Members of the office are taking part in next month’s FebFast 2012, a nationwide initiative to raise funds for youth drug and alcohol programs. Participants agree to abstain from alcohol throughout the month of February, with the proceeds going to community services throughout Australia that provide mentoring, counselling and training.

“It’s great to give yourself a break after the party season, but much more importantly, FebFast is about supporting vital youth alcohol and drug services,” explains Fiona Doherty, Assistant Project Director with Thinc Health, who organised the entry into this year’s event.

Fiona has taken part in FebFast for the past two years and, when she joined Thinc, brought her passion for the program along with her. Mitchell Cadden, Kristy Carswell, Penny Crawford and John Pollock from Thinc, as well as partners and friends, have joined in the fundraising effort.

Organisations benefiting from the drive include the Australian Drug Foundation and state-based groupssuch as the Ted Noffs Foundation in NSW and the ACT, and Mission Australia in South Australia and Tasmania.

You can support the Thinc team’s efforts at www.febfastfundraising.com.au/thincle_before_you_drincle.

Tim Turpin has been appointed as Managing Director of Thinc and is set to steer the company into its 25th anniversary year.

In his new role at the helm, Tim says he’s keen to increase Thinc’s engagement with emerging trends affecting the future of the firm and its clients. 

“I’m excited by the challenge and looking forward to shaping Thinc’s future over the coming year, as we evolve in line with the wider industry,” he said.

Tim said his priorities include implementing new advisory services for clientsas well as investing in Thinc’s people.

“A key focus will be renewing our commitment to training and recruitment,” he said.“We need to attract and nurture the best minds in the business to be able to respond with agility to markets and the needs of our clients.”

A highly experienced project manager and management consultant who was a co-founder of Thinc, Tim has delivered a long list of major developments throughout his career, especially in the mixed useresidential, aged care and commercial market sectors.

He’s a member of the NSW Urban Task Force, the Property Council of Australia and the UDIA, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Building from UNSW as well as a Graduate Management Qualification from the AGSM.

It’s a sign of our nation’s growing ties with its northerly neighbour: Australia’s largest ever diplomatic mission overseas is to be built in Indonesia.

When completed, the new Australian Embassy in Jakarta will incorporate a chancery, a head of mission residence, accommodation and recreational facilities as well as support services, all set over four hectares.

Recently, Thinc was awarded the role of project manager for the landmark complex. Our team will manage delivery through the construction, commissioning and handover period and provide post-contract services to the Embassy when it occupies the new facility.

The role was awarded by the Overseas Property Office in the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT). It strengthens our close relationship with DFAT, which dates back to 2001 and includes other projects in Jakarta, Beijing, Amman and Abu Dhabi.

“I’m looking forward to working with DFAT in helping to deliver this truly iconic project, designed by leading Melbourne-based architects Denton Corker Marshall,” said Sumit Mukherjee, a senior consultant with Thinc.

“We’re all very proud to be given this exciting commission.”

It’s crunch time for many of Australia’s health facilities, which face an increasing need to house sophisticated new hardware in ageing infrastructure.

Now Mitchell Cadden, a member of Thinc’s ACT team based at Canberra Hospital, will help facility managers in hospitals across Australia take on the challenges of adapting to the information age.

Mitch has just been elected national president of the Institute of Hospital Engineering, Australia. The IHEA represents hospital engineers, facility managers, architects and builders working in public and private health care across the nation.

“My priority as president is to help our Institute consolidate after a period of significant growth,” said Mitch. “I’m also keen to develop new strategies for meeting the technological challenges of the Australian health care sector.”

He gave the example of the introduction of technology which is unserviceable by traditional maintenance methods.

“It’s an era of ‘electronic everything’,” he said. “That offers enormous benefits but it also requires the careful management of change in workplaces affected by new technologies.”

Before taking on his role as national president, Mitch had served on the national board of the IHEA since 2007 and was Vice President from 2009 to 2011. He also served as state president in NSW from 2008 to 2011.

His stint at the head of the IHEA will last two years.

For Richard Washington, project manager of the RAAF Edinburgh Stage 2 redevelopment, regular riding with his seven mates on Adelaide’s roads is all part of the business cycle.

The construction consultant with the Thinc Group, along with three colleagues, started cycling 24 months ago, for fitness and fun in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis.

They were soon joined by four other colleagues and now the eight men regularly ride their bikes on coastal or Adelaide Hills routes on weekends, training two or three times a week.

“Not only have we improved our fitness, we’ve also boosted morale and strengthened our relationships outside of work”, he said.

In late January the eight men rode in the Tour Down Under Mutual Community Challenge Stage, finished second in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Barossa Valley charity ride, contributing $9000 to the  event . Thinc4Others (the Thinc Group’s corporate social responsibility initiative) matched the Adelaide teams fund raising efforts and supported the group of cyclists by providing team uniforms. The members of the cycling team, aged between 21 and 58, are: Mark Goudge, Mark Utting, Craig Nicholls, Fred Porter, Matthew Kaempf, Petr Mandel, Daniel Rosato, Richard Washington.

The cycling team plans to join other charity rides and have formed a team  with other corporate companies to ride and again raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and are closing in on their target to raise $30,000 in support of this charity. This initiative by Daniel Rosato of the Adelaide office has encouraged healthy interaction with our consultant and contractor colleagues in the industry whilst raising money for a very worthy cause.