Dobbie was established in 1990, and the firm has now been delivering results to New Zealand industries for over 30 years.
We operate from offices in Rotorua and Auckland and much of our design work is for the major process industries (dairy, meat processing, pulp & paper and timber mills ) or for the energy industries (geothermal, hydro, biomass and gas).
The balance is equipment design (pressure vessels, tanks, piping, stacks and cranes), building services (hotels, hospitals) or investigations.
The Team
At Dobbie we take pride in the high calibre of our staff. Our engineers combine international experience with local knowledge, which enables us to challenge traditional views and offer practical solutions for our clients.
Our permanent staff of twenty five includes professional engineers, graduate mechanical engineers, engineering designers and CAD designers. Our staff includes a Worksafe approved Pressure Equipment Design Verifier.
Hamish Bennett
Managing Director
Greg Moore
Director
Chris Macindoe
Principal Engineer
Stuart du Preez
SENIOR ENGINEER
Tim Burrows
Senior Engineer
Jacqueline Griffin
HR Manager
Jim Dobbie
Founder (Retired 2019)
Industry Partners
Quality Assurance
Dobbie is a member of the Association of Consulting Engineers of New Zealand. Our professional staff are members of Engineering New Zealand.
Both Dobbie offices are audited and certified by Telarc as complying with ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems.
Training And Software
Dobbie continually invests in staff training and software so that we can efficiently provide technically up-to-date advice and practical solutions to our clients.
Our staff have attended American Society of Mechanical Engineers design code courses in the USA and Australia and all staff participate in technical training or project management courses.
We currently use AutoCAD (mechanical design), AutoCAD PLANT (piping and equipment 3D design), Inventor (3D Solid Modelling), Nastran (FEA), AutoPIPE (pipe stress analysis), NozzlePro-FE Pipe, PV Elite (pressure vessel design), S-Frame (structural analysis) and the usual Microsoft products.
Our Awards
In July 2013 Dobbie was awarded a Silver Award by the Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand, for our design and supervision of the Ngati Tuwharetoa Geothermal Assets (NTGA) clean steam project.
Asaleo Care require a high quality reliable and economic steam supply to ensure operation of their Kawerau Tissue Mill. The steam was originally supplied by natural gas fired boilers. NTGA agreed to supply high pressure clean steam to Asaleo Care generated from geothermal energy. The supply had to be reliable so that it could replace the natural gas fired boilers.
The judges wrote: “Dobbie Engineers utilized technical innovation, reliability, environmental practices and heat exchanger selection to deliver for the client”.
In August 2007 Dobbie was awarded a Gold Award by the Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand, for our design of the Tauhara Geothermal Heat Plant near Taupo.
This project allows Contact Energy to provide geothermal energy to Tenon for heating nine timber drying kilns that were previously heated by gas. The new plant uses both phases of the geothermal fluid, two stages of heat exchanging and fully re-injects the geothermal fluid without pumping.
Thirty four projects made the finals and four projects won gold awards.
The judges wrote: “Dobbie Engineers demonstrated great technical skill, true innovation and excellent service”.
