Our independent panel of judges for the Engineering and Technology Excellence Awards 2024 have relevant experience and understand what it takes, and the difference it makes, to think outside the box. They are part of our awards process to ensure a fair and impartial process. They will review all nomination forms thoroughly and select winning nominations that demonstrate excellence and delivery of outstanding solutions that empower our energy future.
Dr Keith Turner
Transpower Board of Directors Chair
Dr Turner has 55 years’ experience in the electricity industry, having held senior executive positions over 40 years in Meridian Energy (CEO), the former Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (COO), and its predecessor NZED.
Since 2008, he has been a professional Chair, Deputy Chair and Director on major New Zealand and Australian Boards including Auckland International Airport, Chorus NZ, Spark Infrastructure and its three asset companies, (South Australia Power Networks, Victoria Power Networks and TransGrid in NSW) and Fisher & Paykel.
In 2018, he was appointed as a member of the Interim Climate Change Committee by the New Zealand Government, which began crucial work on how Aotearoa transitions to a net zero carbon economy by 2050.” He has a PhD in engineering, is a Distinguished Fellow of EngNZ and holds the Sir William Pickering Medal for Engineering Leadership.
Michael O’Donnell (MOD)
MOD is a professional director, writer and advisor with a focus on digital, media and growth companies. He is chair of the craft brewing company Garage Project, deputy chair of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Chair of online global music company Serato and also a director of Radio New Zealand, PaySauce, realestate.co.nz and Sandfield Software. MOD writes the weekend business column for Stuff Media and is host of the TVNZ series Start Up.
MOD previously held CEO/COO/CMO positions with Trade Me, Vwork, G2G and AMP Capital. He's also a passionate motorcyclist and has biked the Silk Road, the North American Arctic and Southeast Asia.
Priti Ambani
Country Head, New Zealand at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Priti is the Country Head, New Zealand at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global leader in digital, IT and business services, present in over 50 countries with over 600K associates globally. She joined TCS New Zealand to grow the NZ business and leverage TCS' global capability for NZ businesses, communities and the environment. With a background in environmental engineering, she has lived and worked across USA, Asia Pacific and Europe bringing a cross-industry focus to leverage emerging technologies with business model innovation. She has helped organisations harness the power of networks, platform and crowd powered models to solve business, social and environmental challenges. Priti was one of the key contributors to the development of the Digital Sustainability Index, a metric that measures how organisations are leveraging technology to drive sustainable outcomes - collaboration between TCS and the University of Auckland. Priti sits on the Board of the Auckland Business Chamber and is an advisor to the Strategic CIO programme at the University of Auckland.
Priti has a master’s degree in Biological Resources Engineering and has completed an Executive Education Programme at INSEAD. She was born and raised in Mumbai, India and lived in the United States for 13+ years before moving to New Zealand in 2015.