Directors
Dirk Janek
Director, Technology & Products
Dirk joined Spectra QEST in 1991, and became a member of the company's Board of Directors in 1998.
In his role as Director, Technology & Products, Dirk heads the management teams responsible for the future of the flagship QESTLab and QESTMix platforms as well as overseeing the professional services division.
He has extensive expertise in designing, integrating and implementing enterprise grade solutions for large multi-site operations. Dirk is considered a leading expert in leveraging software technology to allow engineering laboratories to extract efficiency, quality and standardisation from their operations.
Stephan Mavrakis, BSc, BE(Elec), GradDipBusEnt, MIEAust
Director, Resources & Markets
Stephan joined Spectra QEST in 1997, and became a member of the company's Board of Directors in 1998.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics (majoring in Computer Science) and postgraduate qualifications in Business Innovation and Commercialisation.
Stephan is currently responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of all the companies in the group, the growing marketing and sales office, and the human resources department. Other responsibilities include business planning, markets development and, in general, the development of the resources that will enable Spectra QEST to grow internationally and realise more of its considerable commercial potential.
Michael Sautner, BE(Civil, Hons), BSc
Director, Finance & Infrastructure
Michael completed his civil engineering degree at Adelaide University with first class honours in 2001. During his studies he worked on a part time basis in a construction materials testing laboratory gaining valuable experience in the workings of the construction materials testing industry.
After graduating he joined the Adelaide office of one of the world's most prestigious engineering firms, Haliburton KBR, where he spent the first three years of his obviously promising career, working on a variety of civil engineering projects.
While at KBR one of Michael's clients, Western Murray Irrigation Limited (WMI), impressed by his abilities and aptitude, invited him to apply for the position of General Manager. His application was successful and Michael moved to Mildura, Victoria, where he managed WMI for a year and a half. It was an interesting time at the company, because recent changes in legislation meant that the constitution of WMI needed to change to facilitate the freer trade of water. Michael with his staff of nine and the support of his Board, managed both the transition and the company well and learned a lot about corporate structures, liaising with over 400 shareholders, working with a Board, human resources and general management.
In mid 2005, Spectra QEST approached Michael and offered him a senior position within the company, which he took up in January 2006. In early 2010, Michael was appointed to Spectra QEST’s Board of Directors.
Dr. Manfred Sautner, PhD (Civil), MIEAust, CPEng
Director, Research & Development
Manfred established Spectra Systems (later renamed Spectra QEST) in January 1984.
He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering (University of Stuttgart) with a focus on experimental modeling of concrete behaviour.
Manfred identified a need for a comprehensive laboratory database and quality control system for premix concrete producers and used his extensive engineering knowledge and IT skills to produce Spectra's first product, the CACTP (Computer Aided Concrete Testing Package). He remained the Managing Director of Spectra for the next 14 years, evolving more ideas into products for related industries. Manfred stepped down as Managing Director early in 1998 to pursue related interests by taking a technical position in the construction materials industry, with his roles including Regional Technical Manager and later National R&D Manager in one of Australia's major construction materials producers.
Since 2007 Manfred has returned to Spectra QEST to head the concrete technology team, that is currently working on a $1.5M R&D program aiming to push further the boundaries of what is possible to achieve with software in the areas of concrete design, centralised mix maintenance/management and optimisation, production control and performance monitoring.
Management Staff
Vaijayanti (Vaiju) Joshi, BE(Elec&Comms), ME(IT)
Implementation and Support Manager
Lief Martin, BE(CompSys, Hons)
QESTConcrete Product Manager
Darren Fidler, BE(CompSys, Hons)
QESTLab Product Manager
Benny Thomas, BE(Comp. Sc.), MSc(Comp. Sc.)
QESTLab Production Manager
