Asset Management Council

Canberra - AI in Action: Practical Applications for Asset Management Decision-Making
2026-07-30 17:30 - 19:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Nellie Hamilton Centre, 257 Crawford St, Queanbeyan, ACT, 2620, Australia
We are pleased to invite you to an exclusive live stream event hosted by the Canberra Chapter. Join local Asset Management Council members for an engaging evening as we gather together and dial into Sydney’s technical session, “AI in Action: Practical Applications for Asset Management Decision-Making.”
This is a fantastic opportunity to gain insights, network with peers, and enjoy some light refreshments and nibbles in a relaxed setting. We look forward to welcoming you at the Canberra Chapter Meet!
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About the Session:
Building a Practical AI-Assisted Environment for Complex Asset Management Problems
In this presentation, Dr Kevin Hang demonstrates how a structured, engineering led approach to AI, grounded in professional judgement, validation, and practical workflows, can be applied to complex asset management challenges. Focusing on real world implementation rather than theory, he showcases how AI operating within a secure local environment can improve system understanding, enhance risk visibility, and support more informed decision making under uncertainty.
The presentation draws on insights and outcomes from the successful completion of the 2025 Asset Management Council Research Scholarship.

Dr Kevin Hang is an Asset Life Cycle Manager with Sydney Trains, a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) in both Asset Management and Civil Engineering, and a Certified Senior Practitioner in Asset Management (CSAM). He specialises in asset lifecycle optimisation, data driven decision making, and AI assisted analytics for transport infrastructure assets. Dr Hang has developed practical approaches that integrate engineering expertise, machine learning, probabilistic cost-benefit analysis, and local data environments to support infrastructure investment decisions under uncertainty. His work focuses on transforming complex asset, operational, and environmental data into actionable insights that enhance asset performance, resilience, and long-term value.

ML/AI Image Recognition for Asset Inspection and Condition Assessment
This session covers how Ausgrid is applying computer vision and AI to detect and assess defects from inspection imagery, prioritise high-risk assets for early review, and deliver consistent assessments at a scale. Trained on Ausgrid’s defect nuance and built on a reusable cloud-based AI architecture, the capability extends beyond bushfire auditing to support broader asset inspection and condition assessment programs. The same foundation unlocks future use cases including identifying problematic asset inventory, opportunistic analysis of historical photo archives, transforming large volumes of visual data into structured, actionable insights for asset management and network risk.

Lili Chen is a Network Digitisation Technical Lead with extensive experience delivering AI at scale across critical infrastructure, building enterprise-grade AI systems that move well beyond proof-of-concept and into operational use. She specialises in translating innovative AI concepts into reliable, enterprise-scale solutions that support real-world decision-making in operational environments. Combining technical depth with strong domain expertise, her work spans computer vision for asset condition assessment across millions of drone images, satellite and LiDAR-based asset monitoring, predictive vegetation management, vegetation maintenance optimisation, and geospatial AI.

AI Assisted Notification Data Cleaning for Asset Failure Classification and Governance
This session covers how Ausgrid is applying AI, NLP, and rules-based governance to improve the quality and consistency of asset notification data. The capability interprets messy free-text descriptions, Ausgrid-specific abbreviations, and inconsistent failure tagging to recommend more accurate failure classifications, assign confidence scores, and route uncertain cases for SME review. Built with a governed feedback loop between Databricks processing and SharePoint-based SME review, the solution converts AI outputs into maintained rules tables, dictionaries, and failure-tree updates, ensuring the process remains explainable, auditable, and resilient even if AI models change over time. Beyond correcting individual records, the approach helps identify recurring taxonomy issues, failure-tree gaps, and upstream data-capture improvements, creating a scalable foundation for stronger asset analytics, risk modelling, and decision-making.

Xi Chen is a Technical Lead in Asset Modelling at Ausgrid, specialising in asset risk modelling, data-driven decision making, and AI-assisted analytics for electricity network assets. She develops practical approaches that combine engineering knowledge, statistical modelling, NLP and LLM methods, and governed data platforms to improve asset performance, resilience, and long-term investment planning. Her work focuses on turning complex asset, failure, and operational data into scalable, actionable insights for risk modelling, asset management, and regulatory decision support.

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New Zealand Asset Management Symposium - Collaborating for Greater Impact
2026-08-13 09:00 - 17:00 (Pacific/Auckland) | Auckland University of Technology Conference Centre, 56 Wakefield Street, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
Date: 13 August 2026
Time: 9am (for 9.30am start) – 4.30pm
Location: Auckland University of Technology Conference Centre
Theme: Collaborating for Greater Impact
Cost: $250 (Australian Dollars)

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Keynote Speaker: Jessie Lea (New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga) – From projects to long-term planning: asset management as the foundation
Panel Session: Both Sides of the Fence: What Public and Private Asset Managers Can Learn from Each Other
Other speakers:

Wendy McPate (AMCouncil) – AMC 2026: Building Capability, Community and the Future of Asset Management
CDR Phil Bradshaw and CDR Robyn Locke (Royal NZ Navy) – Maritime Fleet Renewal Programme
James Kilty (Transpower) – Innovating to deliver New Zealand’s electrified future
Nathan Cammock (Auckland Transport) – Electrifying Auckland’s ferry fleet
Dawn Inglis (Co-Lab) – REG Consistent Condition Data for NZ Roads – efficient delivery enabling effective decision making and vice cersa
Phillip Conroy and Christopher Butt (Babcock) – Risk based decision making and asset management planning for the RNZN
Alex Castellanos (Unison) – Automating the visual assessment of copper conductors

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Scroll down for topic summaries and speaker information:

Keynote: From projects to long-term planning: asset management as the foundation
New Zealand’s infrastructure system is under increasing pressure to deliver better outcomes from existing assets, while responding to affordability constraints, changing demand and long-term investment needs. This keynote will introduce Te Waihanga Infrastructure Commission’s role in the investment management system and outline how the National Infrastructure Plan, the Government response, and the Commission’s emerging asset management assurance function are shaping expectations for stronger, more disciplined asset management across central government.
The presentation will provide a practical overview of Te Waihanga’s Asset Management and Investment Planning Guidance, with a particular focus on meeting Cabinet’s requirements, performance metrics, and the shift from project-led decision-making to long-term, portfolio-based asset management planning. While the Guidance is directed at central government agencies, the principles are relevant to all asset-intensive organisations: better use of evidence, demand and economic forecasts; stronger whole-of-life planning; and ensuring that business cases are grounded in robust asset management and investment plans – moving beyond short-term responses and building the strategic foundations needed.

Jessie Lea is Special Advisor for Asset Management at the Infrastructure Commission, leading initiatives to improve asset management across central government. A Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor (MRICS) with over 20 years’ experience in property and asset management in the UK and NZ, she is shaping long-term strategies aligned with the National Infrastructure Plan and Cabinet’s asset management programme. Jessie advocates for elevating asset management professionalism within government, driving meaningful change and equipping agencies with tools and guidance to deliver effective practices.

Maritime Fleet Renewal Programme
An overview of the Maritime Fleet Renewal Programme, the largest acquisition and transformational programme ever undertaken by the NZDF and some of the workforce, engineering and logistical considerations as the programme progresses.

CDR Phil Bradshaw is a Marine Engineer who has held a diverse range of roles including leadership of the Navy’s Marine Engineering Training School, two years as Marine Engineering Head of Department onboard an operational Frigate and four years as resident Naval representative for the lower South Island. Since promotion to Commander he has been Director of the Defence Media and PR Organisation, held responsibility for the introduction into service of major maritime capital projects, been Deputy Chief Naval Engineer, Chief of Staff for HQ Defence Logistics Command and is currently leading the infrastructure component of the MFR programme.

CDR Robyn Locke is a marine engineer with a specialty in naval architecture. She started her career in the Canadian Navy, serving at sea on HMCS Regina and Fredericton and ashore in naval architecture focused areas. She joined the NZDF in 2018, working in engineering policy and regulation before joining the MFR programme as the Technical Lead.

Innovating to deliver New Zealand’s electrified future
As New Zealand electrifies in an environment where resource costs are escalating ahead of inflation, at Transpower it’s more important than ever that we innovate to meet the growing demands of our work.
As the owner and operator of the national grid and a major infrastructure builder, we put considerable effort into keeping our costs as low as possible without sacrificing reliability or moving too slowly for New Zealand’s electrification needs. We have a number of work programmes underway to do this, including carefully managing our assets to get as much life out of them as possible, and a new challenge to help us accelerate key improvement activities underway to increase throughput and find savings for the long term while delivering on committed outcomes.
This is about working smarter and building on what we are already doing well, while adapting and innovating as an organisation to continue to deliver for New Zealanders.

James Kilty joined Transpower as Chief Executive in February 2025, prior to that he was Chief Executive at Powerco for three years. He has 25 years’ experience in the energy industry, holding a range of leadership roles at Contact Energy including Deputy Chief Executive, and has held a range of industry Board and leadership roles. James holds an LLB (Hons) (1st class) from Waikato University and has completed both the Harvard Business School High Potential Leadership Course and the Advanced Management Programme at Chicago University Booth Business School.

Electrifying Auckland’s ferry fleet
Auckland Transport’s Low Emission Ferry Programme is delivering a significant ferry asset transition, responding to the dual challenge of fleet renewal and decarbonisation. While ferries carry only around 6% of Auckland’s public transport passengers, they account for approximately 20% of its emissions highlighting both the urgency and opportunity for change.
This paper outlines how Auckland is enabling electric ferry operations through the deployment of fast charging infrastructure, including New Zealand’s first marine Megawatt Charging System (MCS) installation. Operating at up to 3.3 MW, this infrastructure supports rapid ‘opportunity charging’ during passenger boarding, enabling electric vessels to maintain existing timetables without requiring additional vessels or operational compromise.
Delivering this capability within constrained waterfront environments and legacy electricity networks has required innovative approaches to both engineering design, system integration, and ongoing asset management. Key challenges include maintaining high operational reliability, integrating emerging international standards that are still under development, and enabling the flexibility to adapt to future industry direction.
A central feature of the charging solution is the use of advanced load management, allowing ferry charging demand to be actively managed as a flexible load. This enables peak demand to be reduced, network constraints to be respected, and existing infrastructure to be utilised more efficiently without overbuilding network capacity.
As the first vessels and charging systems transition into operation, Auckland’s experience demonstrates how complex transport electrification can be delivered while balancing performance, cost, and risk to do more with less.

Nathan Cammock is a chartered electrical engineer and Programme Director for Auckland Transport’s Low Emission Ferry Programme. He has experience delivering complex programmes of work as an asset owner, consultant, and construction contractor across power transmission, distribution, and generation sectors – both locally and in the UK. Nathan joined Auckland Transport in 2020, and has led road safety initiatives, busway construction, and more recently the renewal and electrification of Auckland’s public transport ferry fleet.

REG Consistent Condition Data for NZ Roads – efficient delivery enabling effective decision making and vice cersa
Consistent condition data is important in the transport sector’s approach to lifecycle asset management, benchmarking, performance management and investment decision making. The Road Efficiency Group Te Ringa Maimoa (REG) is delivering the first phase of the Consistent Condition Data Collection (CCDC) project: sealed pavement surfacing data collection of all local authority roads. This presentation outlines how the programme was developed, the business case objectives, and what the data is enabling – benchmarking and better investment decision making.

Dawn Inglis is the Manager of RIMU – Road Infrastructure Measurement & Use – a business unit within Co-Lab, in the Waikato. RIMU plays a key role in delivering the Consistent Data Collection Contract (CCDC) project for the Road Efficiency Group Te Ringa Maimoa (REG) programme. A Fellow of Engineering NZ, Dawn is a passionate and experienced engineer who has spent most of her career in local government. She brings deep expertise in transport asset management, having previously served as Group Manager Service Delivery at Waipā District Council and Manager of RATA (Regional Asset Technical Accord).

Risk based decision making and asset management planning for the RNZN
In May 2022, Babcock Australasia commenced its journey toward achieving and maintaining ISO 55001 certification. A key milestone in this process was the establishment of an effective asset management team comprising of a support, asset risk and assurance.
A structured approach has enabled the creation of comprehensive Asset Management Plans which forecast maintenance and cost until EOL. This structured approach has also enabled Decision-makers to confidently approve treatment actions based on clearly defined Risk detail incorporating evidence of impact, likelihood and mitigation details.
Risk Management is a key part of Asset Management. Knowing a risk is there is the easy part. Getting that information to the right person who can make the decision to improve it is the hard part. Technical teams and executive leadership speak fundamentally different languages, and neither side has developed adequate translation tools.
It is not easy to develop this competency across an organisation. In this presentation, we’ll look at some examples of good and bad risk communication, provide some tricks and hints on developing engineers to work well with others, and develop your skills at getting your decisions made.

Philip Conroy joined the Royal Navy in 2000 as a Marine Engineer. He served on Aircraft Carriers HMS Ark Royal, HMS Invincible and HMS Ocean. During his time in the Roal Navy he completed his Artificer training, receiving a Degree in Marine Systems Engineering and gained extensive knowledge of Marine Mechanical/Electrical systems. After 14 years Philip left the Royal Navy to start a new chapter in New Zealand. Philip Joined the Royal New Zealand Navy in 2014 and was assigned to HMNZS Canterbury. After reindorsement of his engineering certificates, he took on the role of Propulsion Plant Maintenance Manager. After three years serving on-board HMNZS Canterbury Philip came ashore to join the Operational Support Team, providing support for all Royal New Zealand Navy Platforms. He was also the Fleet Diesel Inspector during this time. After 20 years at sea, Philip left the Royal New Zealand Navy. He has remained in the Royal New Zealand Navy Reserve Force unit and regularly assists with training. He is occasionally deployed to assist in various engineering roles. Philip started a new role at Babcock (NZ) in 2020, working on a systems risk assessment project for 2 years. This project was the foundation for his current role where he leads a team managing Risk for all Royal New Zealand Navy Platforms.

Christopher Butt is the Availability, Reliability, Maintainability for Babcock NZ, working for the Royal New Zealand Navy. In this role he is responsible for root cause investigations and identifying corrective action into technical issues with Naval vessels. Chris has worked in defence, maritime and rail sectors throughout his 13 year career. Chris has a Master’s degree in Science from the University of Manchester. Outside of work, Chris enjoys bikepacking and whitewater kayaking.

Automating the visual assessment of copper conductors
This presentation explores the development of an automated approach for assessing the visual condition of overhead copper conductor at Unison Networks Ltd. The process deploys Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to capture pictures of electricity distribution lines, then Computer Vision (CV) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms are applied to the photographed conductor to provide a consistent visual score. The visual score output is used as an input to evaluate the condition of copper conductor. Learnings will be shared as well as future work including the potential use of these images to improve assets’ data quality.

Alex Castellanos is working as Digital Engineering Technical Lead at Unison Networks Ltd. He obtained a PhD degree (2015) in electrical engineering from the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand). He has over 15 years of experience in the power and energy industry including energy use, power generation, and power transformers monitoring and control. His current area of interest is data analytics and condition monitoring for the management of electricity distribution network assets.

AMC 2026: Building Capability, Community and the Future of Asset Management
The future of asset management will not be defined by technology alone. It will be shaped by how quickly we can learn, adapt and collaborate as a profession. As artificial intelligence, climate resilience, ageing infrastructure and workforce capability reshape our industry, no single organisation has all the answers. Building capability now extends beyond organisational boundaries and depends on strong professional communities, practical knowledge sharing and global collaboration. In this session, Wendy McPate, National Chair of the Asset Management Council, explores how the profession is evolving to meet these challenges. Drawing on experiences from international collaboration, including engagement with the United Nations and infrastructure leaders in Washington DC, Wendy will share how the Asset Management Council is helping practitioners build capability through AI education, intelligent knowledge tools, professional pathways, technical communities and global partnerships. This presentation is not about technology replacing people. It is about empowering people to make better decisions, build stronger connections and prepare for the next generation of asset management challenges. Attendees will leave with practical ideas for building capability within their own organisations and a renewed appreciation of the role that collaboration plays in creating better outcomes for our profession, our organisations and the communities we serve.

Wendy McPate is the National Chairperson of the Asset Management Council and a senior engineering and asset management leader with more than 25 years of experience across Australia, Asia and the United Kingdom. Her career spans engineering delivery, asset strategy, organisational leadership and governance across energy, utilities, resources and critical infrastructure sectors. Wendy is passionate about building capability through connected professional communities and believes that the future of asset management will be shaped by collaboration across industries, disciplines and international borders. Under her leadership, the Asset Management Council continues to strengthen its role as a practitioner-led community that brings together expertise from energy, infrastructure, defence, resources and other asset-intensive industries. Through initiatives spanning artificial intelligence, professional pathways, global partnerships, technical committees and contributions to international guidance and standards, the Council is helping practitioners prepare for the next generation of asset management challenges and opportunities. Wendy is a strong advocate for lifelong learning, practical knowledge sharing and creating opportunities for people to contribute, connect and build capability together.

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Brisbane - Site Visit to Aurizon Rail Welding Facility (Yeerongpilly)
2026-08-18 10:00 - 12:00 (Australia/Brisbane) | 740 Fairfield Road, Yeerongpilly QLD, 740 Fairfield Road, Yeerongpilly, QLD, 4105, Australia
Join the Asset Management Council (Brisbane Chapter) for a technical site visit to Aurizon’s Rail Welding Facility at Yeerongpilly. This compact but critical operation produces long welded rail for construction and renewal programs across Aurizon Network, Queensland Rail and other rail operators.
The visit will commence with a site safety induction, followed by a guided tour led by Andrew Kumar, Site Manager. Participants will gain insight into the rail welding process and the facility’s role in supporting safe and reliable rail operations.
The session will also feature an asset management presentation by Sanjna Reddy (Asset Manager – Rail, Aurizon), covering how rail renewals are prioritised based on wear, fatigue and asset condition. This data-driven process enables Aurizon to identify and plan approximately 100 km of rail renewals each year. During the tour, Peter Hermann (Principal Engineer, Aurizon) will provide additional insights into rail performance, degradation mechanisms and renewal strategies.
Attendance is limited to 20 participants, with attendees split into two groups rotating between the facility tour and presentation/discussion session.
PPE Requirements
Participants must bring and wear:

Safety boots
Long-sleeve high-visibility shirt
Long pants
Safety glasses

Networking Lunch
Following the formal site visit, participants are invited to join an informal networking lunch at Café Bliss on Riverside, located just three minutes from the facility. This provides an opportunity to continue discussions with fellow asset management professionals and Aurizon representatives in a relaxed setting.
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Melbourne - Asset Fair Value to AASB 13: bridging a gap between finance and asset managers
2026-08-27 12:00 - 13:15 (Australia/Melbourne) | Level 10 / 550 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Asset managers and finance teams have differing commitments in the management of assets for their organisation. Asset valuations require an understanding of both perspectives to form a unique perspective that is of interest to investors, owners, tax authorities and others.
Valuations for financial reporting are required to meet AASB 13 and they in turn are derived from Valuation Standards. Valuation professionals are obliged to comply first with their industry standards and then with accounting standards. While valuations are generally understood by most the detail is complex and often leads to misunderstanding and confusion.
The presentation seeks to inform and align asset managers understanding of the language and rational of valuations.
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Ben has spent over 20 years valuing and assessing balance sheet assets from a broad range of industries. Ben’s career commenced in manufacturing with Ford, then progressed to eCommerce, Asset Trading, Financing and Consulting with valuation a core discipline. He is an Accredited Senior Appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers, Certified Practicing Valuer with the Australian Property Institute, Member of the Asset Management Council and has completed a Master of Business Administrations (Executive), Master of Engineering, Bachelor of Engineering (Mech) and Grad Dip of Finance & Investment at key stages in his career.

Perth - AMC Sprint: Fast Track to Asset Management
2026-09-24 17:00 - 20:00 (Australia/Perth) | Curtin University Perth Campus, 77 Beazley Avenue, Perth, WA, 6000, Australia
An interactive workshop with an introduction to Asset Management, where teams tackle a real-world asset management case study, guided by coaches, and present their solutions to a judging panel.
Description
The AMC Sprint: Fast Track to Asset Management is an interactive workshop designed to introduce participants to the principles and practical application of asset management through a real-world case study and team-based problem solving.
Activities

Introduction to Asset Management and the Asset Management Council (AMC), including an overview of the profession, industry applications, and career pathways.
Team-based workshops where participants analyse a real-world asset management case study, identify opportunities for improvement, assess risks, and develop practical solutions with guidance from industry coaches.
Group presentations to a panel of industry judges, followed by feedback, discussion of proposed solutions, and selection of the winning team.

Topics Covered

Fundamentals of Asset Management and its role in organisational performance and decision-making.
Cost reduction, risk management, and prioritisation techniques used to improve asset performance and business outcomes.

Curtin EPP Logbook hours: 5
Curtin Students can claim 5 Exposure to Professional Engineering Practice (EPP) Logbook hours by attending the event and submitting a 200-word reflection. Certificates of attendance will be accessible after the event.
Facilitated by:
Asset Management Council Perth Chapter Committee:

Jakob Verhoef – Principal Consultant Asset Management at TEAM
Stefan Oosthuizen – Principal Engineer Global Asset Management – Alcoa

Judges:
The Judging Panel is made up of highly experienced Asset Management Professionals:

Sandy Dunn – Managing Director – Assetivity
Dimitra Pierros – Manager Operational Readiness & Interface – Hancock Iron Ore
Ernst Krauss CFAM – Proprietor – Krauss Asset Management, Editor of “The Asset” Journal

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