Tuesday, November 15th, 2016
Maptek has made two senior appointments to streamline delivery of its exciting Technology Roadmap to customers. The new positions are Chief Technology Officer and Head of Development, Mine Planning.
As Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Simon Ratcliffe will manage technology strategy and how this can improve the value of planning and operational information for mines. He will be supported by an expert research and development team tasked with a renewed focus on data management and solution integration.
‘We are, first and foremost, an innovative software and technology company and our highest priority is to devise and develop the best solutions,’ said Maptek Managing Director, Peter Johnson. ‘The new structure will allow us to take advantage of unexplored ideas.’
‘My new remit allows me to grow an innovation culture across the whole business, while also driving productivity and efficiency through better pooling of code and resources,’ said Ratcliffe who is based in the company’s South Australian headquarters.
‘This is so we can identify opportunities faster and accelerate delivery of high quality, groundbreaking solutions to our customers.’
Since completing Computer Systems Engineering at Adelaide University, Ratcliffe has progressed from Software Engineer to Software Research and Development Manager and accumulated a wealth of experience in successful high technology product commercialisation with Maptek. He has led the I-Site product team, of which he was a founding member in 1999, and more recently overseen the BlastLogic and Eureka development efforts.
‘We aim to maintain technical depth by developing our own world-class code in-house where this creates strategic advantage,’ Ratcliffe added.
‘Release of the Maptek Workbench earlier this year launched a mission that will ultimately provide our customers with a single, comprehensive platform for all of their spatial modelling, design and analysis needs.’
A top priority for the new CTO was to appoint a leader of software development for exploration, geological modelling and mine planning. Jimmy Howlum has now been named as Head of Development, Mine Planning.
Computer Systems Engineering professional Howlum joined Maptek in 2000 to write I-Site software before heading up 3D laser imaging software development for 8 years.
Howlum looks forward to steering Vulcan and Eureka development from a broad cross-product view. He sees the Maptek Workbench as the linchpin for data sharing and enhancing end-user experience. Solutions which span traditional products and respect business process flow will radically benefit modern mining teams.
Ratcliffe and Howlum will visit Maptek software groups in Viña del Mar, Denver and Sydney before concentrating on the implementation of critical roadmap items such as Vulcan 10.1 and Eureka 4 due at the end of the first quarter in 2017.
