Meet Frank Vergan: Engineering know-how and clean water for crops
Who are you?
Frank Vergan – Site Manager, GE Power and Water, Australia and New ZealandWhere are you?
Miles, Queensland, about four hours’ drive north-west of Brisbane.
What do you do?
I manage a team of subject-matter specialists from all over the world who are here in Miles to build a 100-megalitre water-filtration system that will clean water brought up from aquifers so that it can be used for agriculture. I call them my A-team, they’re just so talented.
Ion Exchange Units to remove all hardness from the water
What’s the weirdest place science or engineering has taken you?
It wasn’t so much a weird place, but the most exciting was the Kenya water-treatment plant we recently finished at Chinchilla, Queensland. The plant is massive, it treats up to 92 million litres of water a day. It was a huge job, and helping everyone work together to get it completed to a really tight deadline was fantastic.
What’s the most interesting thing about your job?
It’s the diversity – the diversity of areas I’ve been involved in through GE, you know there’s chemicals, sales, engineering, and on a huge project like this when you have to work with different departments, it’s great to experience the inclusiveness of the business.
Reverse Osmosis units remove approx. 99% plus of all the dissolved salts from the water
What do your friends and family think you do?
I have construction and commissioning in my title, and that’s something that a lot of people understand. But it’s when I tell them that I’m cleaning up waste water so that it can be recycled and used for agriculture, that’s something that really inspires people. My family, even my kids, know how important that is, and they’re quite proud of what we’re doing.
If you could share a conversation with any scientist, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
It would be amazing to have a chat with Thomas Edison. He had an amazing rags-to-riches story. He founded GE and by the time he died he had 1093 patents for inventions, everything from light bulbs to cement. I’d love to sit down and talk to him about that time and show him what GE has become today.