Finally settling down to complete “The Mouse Over”. Thanks to Helen for the invite to take part and for her patience, and hopefully you, the readers, find some part of it at least somewhat interesting.

I don’t really have a typical working day as such. We offer a fairly broad range of products and services and each day of the week could be something completely different. I could be in the office one day completing a hydro feasibility study and I could be out on site the next installing a wind turbine.

I am an engineer so my favourite aspect of work is designing systems and working on site to see the finished product come to fruition. R&D will be an important aspect of our culture as we move forward.

I am an electronic engineer, qualifying from DCU in 1989. I have 17 years experience in the private sector working for companies such as Matsushita Kotobuki (Panasonic) and Maxtor. I was made redundant from Maxtor in 2006 due to a company takeover by Seagate and looked on it as an opportunity to start my own business which was always an ambition of mine. Eco Evolution was born. I have up skilled in several Renewable Energy fields and I am currently the only individual in the country to be registered with the Renewable Energy Installer Academy for the three generation technologies of Hydro, Wind and Solar PV.

We are agents for Mann Power Consulting Ltd., the Archimedean Screw Hydro Turbine specialists in the UK. The Archimedean Screw uses water to generate power. Archimedean screw hydro turbines are relatively new to the market, a 21st century application of an ancient technology. Archimedean screws were traditionally used as water pumps to lift water from one level to another. Archimedean screw hydro turbines work in reverse, water from a river or stream flows down the screw causing it to rotate, the screw is coupled to a generator via a gearbox and hence power is generated.
The Archimedean Screw has been scientifically proven to be fish-friendly and is efficient across a wide range of flows. We currently have a planning application submitted for a large project on an old mill site in Co. Carlow and it looks likely that permission will be granted. This will set a good precedent for similar hydro projects going forward.

Word of mouth and networking and we also get quite a lot of contact through our website.

Change comes in many forms and of course change is not always good or for the better, but in general we welcome change and progress. At Eco Evolution we will try to effect change rather than follow change. Alan King once said “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”.

We use various forms of communication. Snail mail, email, blog, website, online social networks, business networking, word of mouth and through partner companies. We also exhibit at a number of shows each year, mainly local.

Customer Service is a broad term but essentially to me it means providing top quality products and services that benefit the customer and at the same time add value to their business.

The internet is an important tool in our business. Our website, as well as being an information point for our potential clients, is an important contact point for us. Also our blog is regularly updated and we utilise many of the online social networking sites. Online video is also a valuable tool.

I try to but unfortunately I don’t manage it as well as I would like. Definitely room for improvement here but for the moment it is head down and get on with it.

To me innovation is really the differentiating factor that makes your product/service more saleable than the next. Innovation can have many forms but I suppose in the Renewable Energy world innovative solutions that are more efficient, more sustainable and better performing are commonplace. But to be innovative and successful there must also be a benefit to the customer, either directly or indirectly.

We solicit and use customer feedback to deliver better service. We like to think that we have the highest degree of courtesy and sensitivity to customer needs and are very skilful at resolving difficult or emotional situations. We welcome the opinions and view of others, always maintaining a high degree of objectivity.

Yes, we use both online and offline business networking and we find both of benefit to us. We have tried advertising and some of the larger national shows but we find networking and word of mouth much more beneficial to us.

Technology is an integral part of our business and renewable energy technologies in particular are very progressive and exciting and will play a very important role in our future energy generation. Generation for Generations to come.

I’ll get back to you on this, I’m a little tied up at the moment.

I am not the best at time management. I am conscious of this and I have made some improvements and hopefully I can continue to do so, if I get the time of course !!!

Two quotes come to mind:

“It’s always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see” – Sir Winston Churchill.

“Tough times never last, but tough people do” – Robert H. Schuller.

Lunch and then the first afternoon of the rest of my life.