I am honoured to receive the IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship and the opportunity to further advance my work in strategic asset management. Through infrastructure strategy and capital delivery roles in Aotearoa New Zealand, I have seen firsthand what mature, disciplined asset management looks like in practice and the impact it has on community resilience, financial sustainability, and long term infrastructure performance. Working alongside First Nations and Indigenous communities across Canada, my focus is on bringing that same level of rigor, governance, and lifecycle discipline into Indigenous capital programs and regional infrastructure portfolios. Strong asset management is not simply a technical exercise. It is stewardship that aligns investment decisions with intergenerational responsibility and community priorities. The Professional Certificate in Asset Management Planning will further strengthen my ability to embed transparent and sustainable frameworks that support long term self determination and infrastructure certainty. I look forward to contributing cross jurisdictional insight and advancing asset management maturity across the sector.

I am incredibly honoured to receive the IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship. Through my work as an engineer at Forbes Shire Council, I see firsthand the importance of strong asset management practices in supporting the long-term sustainability of Council infrastructure. The relationship between asset management planning and day-to-day engineering operations is critical and must be closely aligned to ensure data driven decision-making and cost-effective investment in our assets. This scholarship provides me with the opportunity to further develop my knowledge of integrated planning, long-term financial modelling, and strategic asset management. Strengthening these skills will enable me to better link operational engineering insights with broader organisational planning and investment decisions. I am also looking forward to connecting with other asset management professionals and learning how they approach similar challenges within their organisations. I look forward to utilising their lessons learnt and experiences to support the continued development of resilient and financially sustainable asset management practices at Forbes Shire Council.

The Professional Certificate will strengthen how I apply asset management in practice, particularly around lifecycle thinking, investment prioritisation, and making trade-offs clear when funding is tight. I already work hands-on with long-term lifecycle models, AMPs and strategic investment cases, so this will sharpen how I connect technical analysis to the real decisions senior leaders and elected members need to make in Auckland. I am genuinely Excited to Attend the International Asset Management Summit, in my experience across New Zealand and the UK, councils face very similar challenges just in different contexts. Learning from peers, sharing practical solutions, and understanding what has worked elsewhere will helps us avoid reinventing the wheel and lift the profession in Australasia.