Connect with us
Follow us on social media
高清福利片_
From chemical engineer to wine maker
22 March 2018
An engineering career develops into new fruits of labour
Winemaking is not the usual career path for a chemical engineer, but University of Sydney Alumnus Derek Fitzgerald has proven that mixing problem-solving and project management skills with creativity and passion yields success.
Derek Fitzgerald didn鈥檛 envisage becoming a wine maker when doing his .
鈥淚鈥檇 worked in various engineering roles both here in Australia and in the UK鈥�, says Derek. 鈥淏ut having developed a love of good wine from my wife Kirsten, I thought that winemaking could be a fun and interesting profession that still used the skills I鈥檇 learnt in my engineering degree.
鈥淚 love all parts of winemaking 鈥� balancing the science with the more artistic aspect of blending to create something delicious that people want to drink with their dinner.鈥�
Working in small-to-medium wineries around Australia has been a great experience for Derek as it鈥檚 enabled him to be involved in all parts of the business from capital projects and packaging to bottling, staff management and budgeting. After 20 years making wine, including an award-winning stint at Thorn Clarke, Derek and Kirsten felt the time was ripe to start their own winery 鈥� 鈥� in the Barossa Valley in 2016.
Beyond the funding and other challenges for any new business, Paisley Wines is trying to find its niche in the highly-competitive Australian market. In 2017, there was estimated to be 2468 wineries and 6251 grape-growers across 65 winegrowing regions in Australia, contributing over $40 billion annually to the Australian economy[1].
鈥淔or us the main challenge is getting noticed. There are numerous brands out there and new ones added every day, not only from Australia but from overseas, and the quality is generally very good to excellent鈥�, says Derek. 鈥淔or us it needs to be a step at a time, selling the wine to use the cash injection to make larger quantities 鈥� to become self-sustaining while producing excellent wines.鈥�
鈥淭he many skills and experiences I鈥檝e gained from my chemical engineering degree and in working as an engineer have assisted my career path in winemaking. Obviously, it鈥檚 the pure scientific principles from chemistry and engineering but also the problem-solving engineers do every day, and the management of teams or projects. Most importantly learning to being thorough and uncompromising has helped me every day.鈥�
听
[1] Source: , accessed 22/03/18
听