Giuseppe (Jo) Grilli - 2015 Meritorious Award Winner
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This award recognises outstanding personal contribution to the field of power engineering by industry leaders who have demonstrated visionary change that has brought significant benefit to our electricity supply industry and to New Zealand. Over the 89 year history of the EEA there have been only 15 recipients. Our recipient of the 2015 EEA Meritorious Service Award is Jo Grilli. This award is our way of thanking Giuseppe (or Jo as he likes to be called) for his outstanding contribution to technical improvement, safety, best practice and professional development of engineers in the hydropower industry both in New Zealand and overseas. |
Giuseppe's career in hydropower started after his graduation in Mechanical Engineering from Polytech, Rome and in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rome in 1963, and the following year when he joined Enel, the Italian state owned Electricity Authority, as a Transmission Engineer.
Armed with 15 years' experience in hydropower generation, transmission and project management, he moved to New Zealand in 1978 and started working for the New Zealand Electricity Department and later Electricity Corporation NZ.
Over the next 20 years he assumed several technical leadership roles, managing multidisciplinary hydropower engineering professionals, covering project development and implementation, as well as engineering support to the operation and maintenance of hydro power stations. Over the years he has also gained extensive experience in the maintenance, tuning and troubleshooting of turbine governing systems.
Giuseppe is the founder of the Hydropower Engineering Exchange, a forum for sharing information on engineering issues associated with asset management and maintenance. The Engineering Exchange, a biennial event established in 1990, has been held 16 times to date and many people in the audience have had the opportunity to attend. He also developed, organises and runs Turbine Governor and Hydropower Technology training courses in New Zealand and Australia. The Hydropower Technology Course has been held 47 times since its inception and remains exceptionally popular.
In 1999, Giuseppe founded Hydropower Engineering. This prominent consulting firm based in Hamilton provides services for the development of hydropower projects, dam safety reviews, asset management support and staff training, and has received a great deal of praise for their competence and responsiveness. Their services have been described as world class.
Giuseppe's professional services and expertise are widely recognised in New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific, Asia and North America. He has participated to the Hydropower & Dams International Journal as an Editorial Board member; is an honorary member of the International Hydropower Association, and a distinguished fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers of NZ.
The EEA is delighted to recognise Giuseppe's four decade engagement with our industry. There is no doubt that he has played a major role as a leader in educating young engineers, improving safety, engineering practices and advancing the hydropower industry in New Zealand and overseas.