The winners of the fifth Malta Engineering Excellence Awards were announced on December 12 at a presentation ceremony hosted by the Chamber of Engineers in collaboration with the Ministry of Resources and Infrastructure at the Malta Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa.
These awards are created to provide national recognition to individuals and organisations with outstanding engineering accomplishments to their credit.
Three awards are given annually, one for Innovation, one for Leadership and one for Life Time Achievement.
The Innovation Award recognises engineering achievements that demonstrate original or innovative application of new or existing technologies, a high degree of merit, skill and ingenuity and that are of high technical value to the engineering profession. The 2006 Malta Engineering Excellence Award for Innovation went to New Energy Ltd.
New Energy Ltd, established since 1998, manufactures batteries. The factory is Italian-owned, but operations are entirely based and conducted in Malta. The company launched the Blueshape project to provide professionals in the broadcast sector with a comprehensive solution for their requirements.
Four nominations were shortlisted for this award. The other three nominees were Engineering for Science and Industry (Malta) Ltd, a building services contractor specialising in design, engineering, installation, software development, commissioning as well as maintenance services in the automation of buildings and processes, Playmobil Malta Ltd, who presented a doll assembly automat for Playmobil male figures - a concept designed in Malta by Playmobil staff - and Vodafone Malta Ltd, which presented the non-terra firma GSM service.
The Leadership Award recognises exceptional leadership that shows success in planning, implementation and direction of outstanding achievements, effectiveness in raising the level of engineering excellence, represents the engineering profession and engineers in industry and society, and makes technical and economic contributions to the organisation's success.
The 2006 Malta Engineering Excellence Award for Leadership was presented to Ing. Colin Camilleri, who started his career at Terranet Ltd where he was responsible for designing, implementing and developing a key access platform to the public Internet. He later moved to Melita Cable plc where he was responsible for leading the team which developed the first broadband network in Malta. He is currently chief technical officer within the Malta Communications Authority and is responsible for the regulatory function related to the engineering and technical aspects of electronic communications in Malta.
Throughout his career Ing. Camilleri demonstrated excellent leadership skills in effectively implementing key projects of national importance and in addition, his work ethic has also served as an admirable example to all those who have worked with him.
The Award for Lifetime Achievement is given to an individual who throughout his long career has contributed significantly to the development of engineering in Malta. This year's award was presented to Ing. Lawrence Ciantar.
Ing. Ciantar was born in Vittoriosa in 1929. In 1952 he passed examinations set by the Institution of Electrical Engineers leading to the status of chartered engineer following which he embarked on a high profile career in engineering. His name is associated with the generation and distribution of electricity in Malta. He was instrumental in the construction of the Marsa "B" station in the early Sixties, when he was appointed chief engineer and later general manager of the Malta Electricity Board.
In 1987 Ing. Ciantar was appointed chairman of Enemalta Corporation.
He has also been made a Member to the National Order of Merit for his distinguished career in engineering.
Joseph F.X. Zahra, co-founder and managing director of Misco Ltd, chairman of the National Euro Changeover Committee and recently appointed chairman of the National Commission for Higher Education, presented the award to the three winners.
In his closing speech, Mr Zahra stressed the importance for an engineer to incorporate within, values of leadership and innovation. An engineer is not only a technical manager but also a person who over the years has been able to pull down barriers in business, science and humanity. He praised the importance the chamber has given to "made in Malta" products.
Ing. Helga Pizzuto, president of the Chamber of Engineers, praised the high level of innovation and competence being achieved in a number of technological fields and stressed the importance of the positive contribution which the engineering profession is making to local industry and to Malta's competitiveness.
Last year's winner of the Malta Engineering Excellence Award for Innovation was presented to WasteServ; Ing. Raphael Micallef Trigona was awarded the Leadership award and Ing. Joe Muscat was awarded for lifetime achievement.
The winners are awarded a hand-made copy of the Cippus, a Phoenician marble column discovered in the temple of Melkart near Marsaxlokk, made by two brothers, Abdosir and Osirxamar, who had made a vow to Melkart to seek his protection and safety during their voyage on their safe arrival to Malta. On its cubic base is an inscription in Phoenician and Greek, which helped to decipher the Phoenician alphabet.