Aquashot Awards Chch Man Shot Of A Lifetime

October 20, 2004

Aquashot Awards Christchurch Man Shot Of A Lifetime

An ambition to see his energy efficiency business concept evolve into a profitable, global enterprise has seen 34-year old Christchurch man Chris Mardon awarded the top prize in the recent Aquashot Shot of a Lifetime Competition.

The online competition, which included a unique AQ (Ambition Quotient) test, developed by Drs Howard Frederick and Peter Mellalieu, saw Chris being placed in the top percentile of just under 6,000 participants (i.e. those achieving scores of 175+; the average score being 142).

But it was his specific goal rather than his score that saw him awarded first prize - a five-month mentoring programme from Silverscreen/Oktober founder and managing director Geoff Dixon. Although filmmaking and energy efficiency may seem disparate businesses, Chris believes he can benefit from Geoff's proven track record in turning an idea into a highly marketable international business.

Christchurch-based Chris has a Ph.D. in Engineering and won the Young Professional Engineer Award in 2002. He currently sits on the board of the Institute of Professional Engineers - and although working as plant manager for a large manufacturing plant - has been working on his energy efficiency concept since the beginning of this year.

With a global goal in mind, Chris is already liaising with Government to action the first stage of his project in Canterbury next year, taking it wider in 2006.

"Winning the competition has come at a crucial time in the development of this project and can only help us to achieve our goals," he says.

The calibre of competition finalists was extremely high, says Coca-Cola Oceania Corporate Affairs Manager Alison Sykora.

"New Zealand is quite clearly home to some extraordinarily talented and driven individuals - ranging from people in their early 20s who've been running their own businesses since their teens, to those eager to help others realise their full potential."

Other prize winners in the Shot of A Lifetime Competition include Bryce Smart who won a Mindstore programme, Aashish Patel who won a library of business and success titles from Dymocks - and subscriptions of Unlimited Magazine being awarded to Kim Frances, Chris Dodd, Amanda Burrett, Ian Robertshaw and Rebecca Fenton.

ENDS

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