The 2019 Minister of Defence Awards for Excellence to Industry were presented on Monday by NZ Defence Minister Ron Mark at Parliament House in Wellington.
The awards were established by the NZ Defence Industry Advisory Council (NZDIAC) in 1998 to highlight and reward contributions made by industry to Defence.
EPE won the Award for Category 2: Provision of Product to Defence of less than $15 million for delivery of the Counter Explosive Hazards (CEH) project.
“The CEH Project is to enable an expeditionary bomb disposal capability for both Army and Navy,” Lieutenant Colonel Adam Modd from the NZDF Capability Branch explained. “Our personnel are required to go into harm’s way to protect people and property, and in doing so we’re trying to give them the best protection we can for them to achieve their mission.
“Working with a prime vendor such as EPE has allowed us to buy the right equipment in a timely manner and get it into service to meet the project timelines.”
“EPE was nominated because of their professionalism, they’ve gone the extra mile to be able to provide us with the information that we required,” Ministry of Defence CEH Project Manager Paula Brasovan commented.
“The Ministry of Defence Project Team working with EPE was able to deliver a capability that is scalable, interoperable, compatible with in-service equipment, with contemporary cutting edge technology,” EPE NZ Business Development Manager Andy Cross said.
The project gave EPE the opportunity to establish infrastructure in NZ, with a company office and a through life support workshop in the Wellington region, close to the Trentham Military Base.