Australia: Ian Harwood was re-elected AIRAH President

As the Institute heads towards its 2020 centenaryIan Harwood, F.AIRAH, has been re-elected by his fellow board directors to the esteemed role of AIRAH President.

   

 Harwood joins fellow directors Paul Bannister, M.AIRAH; Liza Taylor, M.AIRAH; Nathan Groenhout, F.AIRAH, Bryon Price, F.AIRAH; Stefan Jensen, F.AIRAH; and Chris Flanigan, M.AIRAH on the board. “It is such an honour to be re-elected,” says Harwood, who originally moved into the presidency in January 2017 when the incumbent Ania Hampton, M.AIRAH, stepped aside due to illness. “I am proud to serve AIRAH as President, and will continue to work hard to achieve AIRAH’s objectives.” AIRAH is pursuing five primary goals. It aims to be:

• Australia’s recognised peak membership body in HVAC&R for both individuals and organisations.
• The leading provider of industry-recognised accredited training and education programs for HVAC&R professionals.
• The leading provider of HVAC&R knowledge resources, news and information.
• The leading independent voice for the HVAC industry on resilience, innovation, sustainability, compliance, and transition to a low-emissions future.
• A commercially savvy, contemporary and sustainable business.

“We still need to continue to see that AIRAH is financially stable over the next couple of years,” Harwood says when ask about his stewardship of the venerable Institute.“Yetgiven the lead-up to the centenary, there is much to prepare for the big event. I will be handing over the presidency part-way through the centenary year in 2020, and I would like to hand over the leadership of an association that is stable, has solid grounding to move forward, and is still positioned to lead the industry technically.”

Harwood says there are several issues confronting the industry right now, including the downward pressure on consultancy fees, offshoring, and the need to continually promote an industry that remains stubbornly below the radar.

“But one of the important issues we need to understand is how the HFC phase-down that began on January 1 this year is going to affect our industry,” Harwood says. “With this in mind, AIRAH is producing some communications tools to help industry understand the issuesand their impacts.

“The cover story of August Ecolibrium is a thorough exploration of the themesand impacts, but we will be doing much more than this.”