The 2024 Leadership/Lifetime Achievement Awards honours an individual whose substantial and enduring leadership and achievements have profoundly and lastingly influenced the composites manufacturing industry.
This award recognises those who have not only achieved excellence in their field but have also made transformative contributions to the field of composites manufacturing that have shaped the industry’s trajectory and future.
Pictured – Kevin Skerman accepting his Lifetime Achievement Award from Composites Australia
Kevin Skerman has an unparalleled passion and curiosity for composites, which he has amassed during his career as an engineer at Wagners Composite Fibre Technologies (CFT). Kevin’s research, development and stewardship of Wagners CFT were engrained from the beginning shortly after he started at Wagners in 2001. Although he was initially engaged to develop manufactured sand from quarry crusher dust, it wasn’t long before he embarked on a journey of discovery, trial and error to establish the company’s first pultrusion machine, crossarms and manufacturing process.
Kevin’s practical approach to product and process development has been integral to the success of Wagners CFT. The crossarm product line has been the staple product anchoring the CFT business from 2002 to today. Wagners CFT Toowoomba facility has grown from a three-man startup to a staff of more than 140 people. Kevin has left a lasting legacy with Wagners and the Australian electricity distribution network, with more than 1.4 million crossarms now installed throughout Australia.
Kevin retired from Wagners CFT in 2023 and continues his lifetime passion for innovation in the composites industry with the start of his own non-profit organisation, StepUp Composites https://stepupcomposites.com/ Kevin aims to support and strengthen communities by re-purposing composite wastes into functional structures including patios, fences and park benches.
While this article is just a small snippet of the footprint Kevin has made on the industry and his achievements over more than two decades, the team at Wagners CFT want to express their congratulations on this remarkable achievement and the contribution Kevin has made to the success of Wagners CFT itself. Thank you for sharing your passion and commitment to excellence with us all.
Congratulations Kevin from everyone at Wagners, you have earned this well-deserved recognition.
