Colin Dryland
Company: Woods
Job title: General Manager - Engineering
What Regional Chair position are you interested in? Auckland - North Shore
About Colin
I am a chartered professional civil engineer with 22 years of experience in land development engineering of all types and scale. I am also a qualified architectural designer, and independent hearings commissioner – appointed to the Palmerston North City Council’s commissioner pool. I am the current ACE Regional Chair for North Shore, and I also have a voluntary role as the director and chair of the Sunset West Wastewater Company – a privately owned community wastewater treatment and disposal facility servicing 90 residences at Sunset West, Baylys Beach, Dargaville, Kaipara District.
In my role as General Manager of Engineering at Woods, I am responsible for the engineering team, and serve a number of land development clients and their projects around Auckland. This sees me work closely with in-house planners, urban designers, architects, surveyors, and stormwater and water infrastructure specialists, as well as external geotechnical, structural, landscape and environmental consultants.
I enjoy working with a broad range of consultants with different perspectives, as it can result in some tremendous outcomes – which is what drew me to the ACE Regional Chair role.
Pepeha or whakapapa/family history
Growing up in Warkworth, I attended Mahurangi College. I moved to the Hibiscus Coast 24 years ago, where I currently live with my wife and daughter. The places that are special to me and my family are the local beaches and rivers, which has resulted in a desire to safeguard these places and resources through my engineering work.
What strengths do you bring to the Regional Chair role?
Being an engineer, I am naturally curious and a keen problem solver. If re-elected, I will bring my experience of four years as the current ACE Regional Chair for North Shore alongside 22 years of experience in civil engineering consultancy. I have a passion for the business of consulting and sit on Woods' leadership team – contributing to operational direction, strategy, financial performance, bids, health and safety, risk, recruitment, ISO 9001 conformance, training and development, and systems. Our respective industries challenge us constantly and demand that we are future fit. An association of peers such as ACE gives a great opportunity to learn from the experience of others, and I work hard to maintain a broad network to give the best value to ACE and members.
How would you support ACE's mahi in your region?
Having served as the ACE Regional Chair for North Shore for the last four years, I have had the pleasure of engaging with and supporting many member firms Auckland-wide. As a consulting engineer and business leader, I understand the environment in which we all practice and the issues we face. With so many member firms in Tāmaki Makaurau, I am excited to continue to meet more members and understand how I, and ACE, can add more value to membership. I hope to be elected for another term so that I can continue to welcome new firms to ACE through membership interviews, serve you and your businesses with support when you need it, and be your conduit to the ACE board for matters of industry significance.
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