Meet the Team

Brent loves all things electronic and has worked in the industry since 1975. He reckons it’s the most stimulating industry to be involved! Brent is constantly impressed by the ability of those in the New Zealand industry to work with continuous technological developments, and to sell their products and services around the world.

Brent has been involved in the company since the very beginning (1993). He became the Managing Director of Radiola Aerospace after the employee buyout of the aviation services business from Radiola Corporation in 2003.

Brent has a background in finance and management and was a NZ Chartered Accountant in a former life!

As Chairman of the Board, he works with the Chief Executive and senior staff on strategic matters and planning and governance.

“I love working with the team at Radiola who are so talented, and who contribute so much to the success of the company.”

And when he’s not at the helm of Radiola he can be found spending time with family… and when he gets the chance, flying his small aeroplane

At a young age Richard remembers the thumping noise of newly acquired RNZAF Iroquois helicopters flying over his small coastal Otago village. This turned out to be the start of a long interest in aviation and his career.

After Joining the Air Force in 1978 (as an avionics engineer) Richard quickly discovered that the flying side of aviation was his real passion. He retrained in the air electronics field and became a member of 5 Squadron operating the Orion aircraft.

After leaving the Air Force Richard trained as a flight inspector which suited his passion for operating electronic equipment in aircraft while traveling to interesting places.

Richard joined Radiola back in 1993, when it was Radiola Corporation (later renamed Radiola Limited).  Initially working in the Defence and Aerospace Division then later becoming Manager of Defence and Aerospace, Richard led the business development of the ground-based air navigation business including installations, maintenance and flight inspection in both the domestic and international markets.

In 2003 he became Executive Director of the newly formed Radiola Aerospace – a staff buyout of the previous Defence and Aerospace division of Radiola Limited.
Richard has a breadth of experience which includes avionics engineering, air electronics, flight inspection of navigation aids combined with his astute project management and business development expertise.

He just loves finding new business, coming up with solutions to difficult problems and operationally challenging situations and satisfying end-user requirements.

Richard is passionate about the New Zealand brand while projecting the New Zealand ‘can do’ attitude to the world.

Outside of work Richard can be found in the outdoors either walking trails, or on his boat, or travelling to exciting new places.

Keri is a tech lover who enjoys being at the forefront of software development – the ideal choice to head up Radiola Land.

He loves being part of the fast-evolving technology industry – constantly innovating, dreaming up new ideas and creating solutions. With the aim always to ensure that passengers have easy and enjoyable experiences.

He has a background working in the public transport sector where he started out as a systems analyst for a local agency. This built valuable experience in understanding the day-to-day challenges at the operations level. He brought that wealth of experience with him when he joined Radiola in 2015.

So, what does Keri love about his job? “The variety of the work, the opportunities to get out of the office and the great team of people at Radiola!”

After hours Keri is a keen DIY’er who can be found most weekends at the local hardware store. During the winter, DIY takes a back seat to planning the next ski trip!

Contact Keri via email at kerih@radiola.co.nz

Carole forged her aviation career in the 1980s at a time when women in aviation were relatively rare in the air navigation technical field. Succeeding in this male-dominated field presented some interesting challenges that she overcame with her ‘get things done’ attitude, perseverance and tenacity.

Carole studied for and achieved her NZCE (New Zealand Certificate in Engineering) and requalified as a flight inspector in late 1980s which led to travelling around New Zealand and the Pacific Islands certifying navigation facilities. At the time she may have been the only female flight inspector in the world.

Later Carole trained as an aeronautical instrument procedure designer which complemented her existing technical and operational skills.

Carole has been with Radiola since 1995 when she returned to the flight inspection profession. She has been in the industry for 30+ years and is a member of New Zealand Women in Aviation.

Carole loves leading deployments to all corners of the globe. She has travelled to more than 110 countries both with work and for pleasure.

Flying in and out of remote locations across the globe is all in a day’s work for Carole who now heads up our flight inspection services.

She loves the customer interaction, visiting different countries, experiencing different cultures and working towards a positive safe outcome for clients. Carole is Radiola’s account manager in several large geographical areas with multiple clients.

Out in the field Carole can be found using electronics fitted to an aircraft testing terrestrial and satellite-based navigation systems, and when she’s back in the office, it’s full steam ahead on developing proposals, customer liaison and preparing for that next trip.

When work is over for the day Carole is into everything outdoors and loves running, hiking, cycling and water sports. Carole has competed in several triathlons and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.

Brent loves nothing more than tearing things apart to figure out how they work, recognising from an early age there would be a good future to be had in the emerging electronics industry.

He jumped at the chance to train as a data communications technician and spent 12 years in the Telco environment, initially as a fix it, installation man and then as a manager of a data communications engineering team.

Brent joined Radiola in 1996 as a product manager working on the microwave radio, multiplexer and land mobile radio products. It didn’t take long before he was managing aviation projects for our Defence and Aerospace division.

Working mostly offshore he was involved in installations of radio equipment for air traffic control systems, ground-based aircraft guidance systems as well as runway lighting systems. This work required coordination of civil works, electronic installations, and often flight calibrations and training services to finalise commissioning of the new equipment.

Brent enjoys a similar role today as Technical Director where he heads up a team of clever engineering staff that support our flight calibration and real time information system activities. He also manages flight calibration projects and helps out on-the-ground at airports whenever required.

He has a Technician and Supplementary Technician Certification, Electrical Service Technician Registration and qualifications in NZEng (Electronics) and NZIM Project Management.

Brent loves his job – the variety, the mix of travel and the brilliant people that he works alongside.

As busy as he is at work, Brent has plenty to keep him occupied at home.

He adores getting behind the wheel of old classic cars, saying the sounds and smells they conjure are fantastic and hard to match with the modern auto machinery. There is always an old car in his barn, usually one already on the road and one in bits!

Music is also a passion and during a moment of midlife crisis he bought an electric guitar to scare the animals with.

Brent and his wife are avid animal lovers so when not cruising around in their old muscle car they are busy looking after horses, cows, chickens, dogs, cats on their small farm.

Living close to a small airport in the Netherlands (Groningen Airport) Evelyn was fascinated with aircraft taking off and coming into land from a young age. She trained to be a pilot from the same airport in 2009 before moving to the United Kingdom for her first job as a pilot in 2011.

Evelyn joined the Radiola team in 2015 as a pilot and flight inspector and became Head of Operations for the Middle East and Africa in 2023. She works tirelessly to ensure flight inspection missions go well and that everyone is happy with the end result.

Evelyn loves the challenge and diversity that comes with each flight inspection mission. Travelling to different parts of the world means dealing with different cultures, environments and climates. Each comes with its own challenges, and Evelyn is adept at being able to adapt and think on her feet.

She holds a commercial pilots license and has a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).

Before joining Radiola, Evelyn commanded private charter and special mission flights around Europe, the Middle East and Africa. These missions included aerial survey operations, low level spraying and flight calibration.

To wind down after a full-on deployment Evelyn likes spending time with her family and friends, going for long walks and enjoying a meal out with good company.

Matt has always been interested in aircraft and working in the aircraft industry. As a kid he loved air shows and airports and flew model aeroplanes with his father.

After leaving school Matt joined the RNZAF and trained as an avionics technician, working mainly on Aermacchi jets at Ohakea.

In 2001 Matt joined Radiola starting out as an engineer, maintaining, servicing and installing navigation aids and soon became the Engineering Manager leading a team of engineers.

He also trained as a flight inspector and is now responsible for managing Radiola’s flight inspection engineering requirements and carrying out flight inspection missions both in New Zealand and internationally.

His combination of engineering and flight inspection knowledge was a great asset to the company when working on its UK CAA Cap 670 certification.

Matt enjoys working with engineers and technicians at different airports around the world ensuring the navigation aids provide a safe means for aircraft to operate. “I get a great deal of satisfaction when a job in a difficult country has been successfully completed.”

Away from work, Matt spends a lot of time in his garage tinkering with cars as well as driving and racing. He’s also got a passion for building stuff out of wood.

Stephen has always enjoyed learning how things work and helping others, a great asset in his role as Programme Manager for our public transport management side of the business.

In 2011 Stephen joined Radiola as a flight inspection support engineer but since 2016 has focused almost exclusively on real-time information systems for public transport.

Working in the public transport industry and building smart hardware and software solutions that enhance the experience for all involved strikes a chord for him.

“To be frank, we are doing some pretty cool stuff in the public transport space.”

He enjoys taking part in the designing and building of a modular offering to transport operators that is applicable to agencies of all sizes saying it creates an interesting paradigm where functionality, requirements and cost all need to be delicately balanced. “This is an exciting problem to solve.”

Day-to-day Stephen is responsible for the real-time information project and programme management, development and implementation of our hardware solutions, and project/sales engineering. He is also involved in on-site maintenance and upgrades of the on-street and on-vehicle hardware.

Stephen has a Masters in Electronic and Computer Systems Engineering.
And when he gets the time, Stephen is into DIY… currently renovating his second house, saying they didn’t seem to learn how much work was involved the first time around! Other than that, he enjoys woodworking and playing the odd game.

Contact Stephen via email at stephenw@radiola.co.nz

James has a deep interest in technology and a desire to create impactful software. He has a passion for finding elegant and efficient solutions to complex problems – ultimately to enhance the experience of public transport users.

As a part of our Land team James loves the variety of the projects he works on, from the company’s web SaaS product – Dynamis® to signage at bus stops to screen displays on board.

He’s part of the team solving interface problems for onboard announcements – ensuring that’s what’s displayed on screen actually matches what’s going on outside the bus!

James says he loves working at Radiola. “We have a lot of interesting challenges with the software we are creating, the company’s a great size which means you get a lot of say in what goes on – your opinions matter.”

Day-to-day James is responsible for the development and implementation of our software solutions and managing our software development team.

James has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

When he’s not at work James likes to get stuck into cooking traditional Italian fare – it’s his way of destressing at the end of the day.

But it’s getting out into nature that really takes him away from the day-to-day. He’s done several of the great walks of New Zealand, with the Heaphy Track a firm favourite. With bookings hard to get on these popular walks he makes do with smaller weekend tramps in between.

Crystal has been in the software industry, following her passion for data visualisation, since 2016.

She says visualisations tell a story that data alone cannot – after all a picture is worth a thousand words (or in this case data points)!

Crystal enjoys the challenge of transforming complex data into something useful and easy to understand. She discovered this interest while completing her Bachelor of (Software) Engineering degree.

In 2022, Crystal joined the Land side of our business. She can be found bringing our state-of-the-art software to life through coding, peer reviewing, and collaborating with the team in discussions and meetings.

One of her favourite aspects of working at Radiola is the many opportunities for continuous learning as she loves being able to explore cutting-edge technologies. Crystal says there’s never a dull moment in the office and appreciates the quality banter from her colleagues.

Outside of work, Crystal channels her creativity into writing short stories. She hopes to one day publish a book. On sunny days she grabs her friends and heads down to the waterfront to zoom around on roller skates.

Ollie is new to the software development industry and new to the company – as a valued member of our Land team.

He has been involved in the web development community in some form for six years and graduated in 2022 with a Software Engineering.

Day to day Ollie does full-stack web development for our Land team. That means writing and reviewing code and helping come up with solutions to different challenges. He is loving the opportunity to solve interesting problems on a daily basis.

Even though he’s new to the industry he loves that his input is valued and that he can see the contribution he’s making to our projects.

Ollie says the beauty of working for Radiola is getting involved with all parts of a project, allowing him to learn and improve in a way that wouldn’t be possible at a larger company.

He also enjoys working closely with other knowledgeable and passionate software developers to come up with great ideas.

Outside of work he enjoys tinkering around on his computer; learning new programming languages and technologies and then applying what he learns at work to his own personal projects and vice versa.

Away from the computer Ollie and his friends have recently taken up longboarding – a good excuse to go outside!

Andrew is a key member of our Aerospace division enabling the safe operation of navigation aids.

Andrew joined Radiola in 2009, bringing with him a lifelong passion for electronics and computers. He studied Mechatronics at undergraduate level.

As an engineer, Andrew likes to get to the root cause of a problem and works hard to create robust solutions for equipment end users.

For Andrew it’s all about relationships. He likes staying in touch with customers and making sure they have everything they need. This might mean working on projects or maintaining equipment – more often than not, travelling around the world to deliver solutions.

He loves being a part of a small team that makes an important contribution to safe aviation.

And when Andrew is not at work, he’s a dab hand at cooking authentic international dishes from scratch, with Indian and Mexican cuisines firm favourites.