Network that brought us Freeview takes out top engineering award

November 2008

The digital television network that brought “Freeview” into New Zealand homes took out the information & Communications Technology award at the 2008 New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards at TE PAPA in Wellington last night.

The fourth New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are the premier awards for New Zealand engineering professionals. Kordia’s Digital Terrestrial Television network provided a digital broadcasting service in addition to the satellite service already in place. Many New Zealanders have benefited from changing from analogue to digital by getting more channels and enjoying high-definition television picture quality.

Korida’s solution was to introduce a $30 million project using Google Earth terrain mapping software to optimise signal coverage throughout the country.

David Elms, Convenor of the Category Awards judging panel said that the calibre of the winning project highlighted the difficulty and challenges overcome by the team of engineers.

“Working within tight constraints the engineering team accomplished a major improvement to national infrastructure, that has had a positive impact on millions of New Zealanders,” says Mr Elms.

The fourth New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are the premier awards for New Zealand engineering professionals. The awards are presented in two major areas: Individual Awards, that recognise leadership, entrepreneurship, and our young engineers; and Category Awards, that recognise achievement in the various industry areas, together with a Supreme Award for the best of the Category winners.

The New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are hosted by a consortium of five partners and 10 contributing organisations. The partners are: Centre for Advanced Engineering (CAE); Association of Local Government Engineering New Zealand Incorporated (INGENIUM); Electricity Engineers Association of New Zealand (EEA); Association of Consulting Engineers of New Zealand (ACENZ) and the Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand (IPENZ.)

For more information contact:
Chief Executive, IPENZ, Engineers New Zealand.
Mobile: 021 311 879
DDI: 04 474 8935
Prepared by Julie Buchanan, Communications Manager, IPENZ, Engineers NZ,
Mobile: 021 479 885, DDI: 04 473 2028