Kiwi company makes global mark

Kiwi company makes global mark

International Earth Sciences (IESE) has been going for less than a year but the Auckland based company has already secured multi-million dollar contracts in Mexico, Japan, Germany, Indonesia and New Zealand.

The company works across a range of different sectors and specialises in geothermal and micro-seismic analysis. The business grew out of a project by the now defunct University of Auckland Institute for Earth Sciences and Engineering.

It was one of the world’s most well known and respected research institutes for geothermal sciences, engineering, microseismic analysis and monitoring work.

Last year chairman Ralf Muller and chief executive Dr. Hylton White took over the institute from the university. They rehired all the staff and picked up some of its existing contracts and after rebranding it as International Earth Sciences Ltd. (IESE) it is now returning a profit less than a year later and has expanded its reach into Asia and South America.

The company's team includes array of international experts in geology, seismology, physics and instrumentation and data analysis technology.

The International Earth Sciences team has been working with the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission and the Michoacan State government which are looking at the viability of two new geothermal energy projects. “We are one of the few companies in the world that can do exploratory analysis. For us it’s an important project and it’s fairly big in terms of revenue. It also opens up the market for us in Latin America.”

He says the company is also working on geothermal projects in Japan and Germany, along with seismic monitoring work in India.

This includes testing at the Koyna Dam in Maharashtra to see if the structure is the cause of seismic activity in the area.

“They send us data from instruments we’ve installed. But we don’t have to have people on the ground.”

And Muller says the company has some other contracts closer to home in New Zealand.

These include the NZ Transport Agency’s upgrade of Auckland’s State Highway 16 causeway between Point Chevalier and Te Atatu and work on the Wellington motorway network.

Muller says while it’s still early days he’s pleased with the progress the company has made in such a short time and says with its specialist staff and global reputation it has a bright future.

For more information on International Earth Sciences go to www.iese.co.nz

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