Constantino Manias, B. Eng.(Chem)
Managing Director
Con Manias is a Chemical Engineer with tertiary business qualifications. He has been a Director of FCT since 1995, appointed General Manager of the Australian part of the company in 1995, and CEO of the FCT Group in 1998. In this time he has overseen the growth of the company into a significant international supplier of industrial combustion and mineral process control expertise and equipment. He has also played a major role in the establishment of FCT Flames as a world class provider of spectacular flame effects.

Con has played a hands on role in many of FCT Flames’ projects, and has been directly involved in the marketing, contract negotiations, management and direction of major projects such as the Relay Torches for the Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the Main Stadium Cauldrons for Athens and Sydney, and the Olympic Rings of Fire of the Athens Opening Ceremony. Con is also assisting with the execution of the projects for the Doha 2006 Asian Games.

Con has previously held senior management positions within Adelaide Brighton Cement, and is an experienced manager and engineer. He has pursued a vision for the FCT group that includes a position as the leading supplier of flame effects for the world?s main events. To that end, he has established an extremely competent technical and engineering team within FCT, as well as a network of research partners, technical associates, competent contractors and business associates to provide the environment within which FCT Flames can operate.

In the cement industry, Con has world wide recognition for his technical knowledge and abilities, and is regularly asked to make presentations at prestigious international conferences, contribute technical papers to industry journals, and was one of the authors of the Book "Innovations in Portland Cement Manufacture" published by the Portland Cement Association of North America in 2004.

Mark Wellington, MBA, B.Ag.Sc
General Manager
Mark has worked in international project management and business development for 24 years.  He has worked in over 60 countries in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, and he spent nine years living permanently in South East Asia and the Middle East.  In addition to taking responsibility for the overall management of Flames, Mark focuses primarily on marketing the business and selling our products and services.  He also acts as Project Director on some major projects.  For example, he is Project Director of the company’s contract with the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee (DAGOC) to produce the Relay Torches for the Doha Asian Games 2006.  He also has overall responsibility for the delivery of several other high profile flame effects projects in the Middle East.

Jordan Parham, B. Eng (Mech.), PhD
Senior Flame Effects Engineer
Jordan joined FCT in 2003 after completing a PhD in combustion and fluid dynamics at the University of Adelaide. During his PhD he was part of the engineering team that developed the combustion system for Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Relay Torch and he is listed as a co-inventor of the “crinkle burner” first used in the Sydney Olympic Torch. His roles in Flames include conducting the research to design customised flame effects and developing flame effects into retail products. He is largely responsible for planning and implementing the small-scale modelling and testing of all flame effect designs. Jordan also manages a range of projects and with the formation of Flames as a legal entity on 1 July 2005 he formally took responsibility for all torch projects won by Flames.

Jordan previously managed the design, testing, manufacture and support of relay torches for the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch and is currently managing the supply of torches for the Doha 2006 Asian Games. Other significant flame effects that he has played a large part in producing are the Sydney 2000 Main Stadium Cauldron burner system, Sydney 2000 torch relay community cauldrons, the Athens 2004 Cauldron and Rings of Fire and he is working closely on developing the flame effects for this years Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Jordan also collaborates closely with the University of Adelaide on a range of research projects aimed at devising novel flame effect designs and systems.

Michael Steer, TUV FSEng ID-No.: 170/05
Flames Effects Systems Manager
Michael has extensive combustion control system design, project management and commissioning experience. This experience was gained while managing a company that FCT contracted to design and supply the control system and valve train for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Cauldron, and subsequently to design and build the Athens 2004 Olympic Cauldron and Rings of Fire control systems.  Michael’s responsibilities within Flames include designing and co-ordinating the manufacture, installation, commissioning and running of the control systems for customised flame effects.  He is responsible for ensuring the effects control systems integrate to the client’s requirements and operate reliably.

Michael has managed many diverse projects and with the formation of Flames as a legal entity on 1 July 2005 took formal responsibility for all Flame Effects apart from Torches.  Michael project managed the control system design, testing, site installation, commissioning and running of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Cauldron, the Athens 2004 Olympic Cauldron and the Athens 2004 Opening Ceremony Rings of Fire flame effect. He is also working on major flame effects for the Doha 2006 Asian Games. 

David Retallack, B. Eng, MBA
General Manager Projects and Engineering
David spent 15 years in the cement industry with the Adelaide Brighton Cement group in Australia, before joining FCT in 1997. David is a senior manager and director of the FCT Group.  His role encompasses technical and engineering matters, as well as marketing and business development. David played a leadership role in the design and supply of the combustion systems for the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games projects. He has directly led teams involved with several coal mill system projects, and managed a $9m R&D program developing new instrumentation for the cement industry.

David held many positions in the cement industry including Works Engineer and Manufacturing Manager on Adelaide Brighton Cement plants, and has an excellent understanding of cement plant operations and issues. He has experience with Preheater, Pre-calciner, long wet and Lepol kilns or cement manufacture, and also lime production in rotary kilns. David also worked in project management, maintenance management and capital works programs. David is familiar with the needs of a capital project, including specifications, tender document preparation, tender evaluation and contract documentation.

Jeff Botting, BE (Mech)
Senior Project Engineer
Jeff completed his mechanical engineering degree at the University of South Australia before embarking on a career of project management. Since joining FCT in 2005, Jeff has acted as Project Manager for several major projects, including important flame effects for the Doha 2006 Asian Games.

Jeff worked for Floteck Engineering, Bridgestone Australia and Kimberly Clark Australia on various projects before joining FCT as senior project engineer. Jeff brings with him the experience and skills to communicate effectively with clients and sub-contractors to deliver project outcomes in an efficient and timely manner. Jeff has experience designing, manufacturing and commissioning specialized equipment and control systems.

Steven Hill, BE (Mech)
Technical Manager -Combustion
Steven completed his Mechanical Engineering degree at Adelaide University before undertaking post graduate PhD studies in combustion research.

Steven is primarily responsible for the development of burner designs for FCT and their manufacturing techniques and quality. He was intimately involved in the Olympic Relay Torch and Main Stadium Cauldron projects for both the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and has played a key technical role in the Doha 2006 Asian Games Main Stadium Cauldron. He is a key site engineer especially for new technology, new industry or application of new designs. Steven was a key member of the research team that worked on the development of the Gyro-Therm technology for industrial application, spending much of his time during his PhD program working on industrial plant trials.

After completing his studies, Steven joined FCT as a combustion engineer, later becoming senior combustion engineer.  Steven is a very experienced modelling engineer, having applied these techniques throughout his university studies as well as the years since joining FCT.  He has added to and improved FCT’s modelling capability, improving the techniques the company used and adding new techniques. His fundamental scientific understanding and experience in scaling of modelling parameters and interpretation of modelling results is at the world leading edge for this technology. Steven is the principle engineer responsible for the design of burner systems using the outcomes of model studies at FCT.

In addition to his academic capability and skills, Steven is also a very practical and hands on plant engineer. He is involved in the mechanical design and manufacture of combustion equipment and also spends extensive periods of time on plant sites in a consultancy capacity looking at improvements or in the commissioning of FCT supplied equipment.

Steven has authored many papers in scientific and industry journals, and has written and presented papers at many conferences of international standing.

Russell Jackson B. Commerce (Hons), CPA
Commercial & Administration Manager
Russell has over 31 years experience in accounting, finance, tax, commerce and management in senior positions with CSR Ltd in the oil/gas and sugar industries, and with the Adelaide Brighton Cement, with whom he was Financial Controller/Treasurer.  He played a key role in managing the distribution of Relay Torches for the Olympic Games Athens 2004.