Neil Cunningham
On Retirement, Scotland
and Photography
Following four years as AWA Technical Manager, and more than 20
years as a hands-on Technical Committee member, Neil Cunningham has
decided to retire from official duties.
E
ven after several decades ensconced
in the Australian window industry, Neil
Cunningham still has an unmistakable
Scottish lilt.
“And I’m looking forward to spending a few
months in Scotland with my wife Julie once
I’ve retired!” Neil says.
Members of the AWA are both sad and
excited to farewell Neil from his post
at the Association, where he has won
immense respect as a dedicated and highly
knowledgeable member of the window
industry.
Neil’s decision to retire comes in the wake
of a serious heart attack three years ago – a
very traumatic episode from which he was
lucky to recover.
As a fully qualified mechanical engineer, Neil
has spent many years supporting and sharing
our industry’s technical advancements,
6 Australian Window Association Summer 2015
dramatic change
contributing to the formulation of Australian
Standards and helping to keep industry
members up-to-date about fast-paced
innovations, regulatory reform and
manufacturing excellence.
Since the early 1990s, Neil says the window
industry’s technical processes have changed
dramatically. He recalls working at Boral
when engineers were still using drawing
boards, calculations were done mostly
without the aid of spreadsheets, and
calculators and pen and paper were the
primary tools of the trade. Computer-aided
design (CAD) systems were in their infancy.
Neil’s retirement closes a journey of windowrelated professional activity that began back
in 1990, when he took up the position of
Manager Applications Engineering with Boral
Windows.
It was Neil’s thorough grounding in technical
engineering processes that made him so
well regarded in the window industry at
Boral and other firms like A&L Windows, and
subsequently at the AWA.
“That position was actually a mid-career
move for me,” he explains. “My first job
after graduating as an engineer was with
the MMBW (Melbourne Metropolitan
Board of Works) – you learn a lot of things
at university, but it was during my seven
years at the Board that I received incredible
training in a lot of different areas - from
design and contracting to maintenance and
construction… the whole F