EPTEC GROUP

utes . We hired , begged , borrowed everything at the start and they ’ ve helped grow EPTEC from nothing to what we are today .”

He claims one of the company ’ s proudest achievements was working on US aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln , and recalls how he received the phone call for the project at home on Boxing Day .

“ I negotiated the contract over the next 24-48 hours whilst travelling with my wife and two children to my in-laws ,” he laughs . “ I mobilised on site in Perth on January 5 and between myself and operations superintendent Michael Ippoliti , we worked around the clock to deliver that vessel in 12 days with a crew of 70 guys .

“ We were 10 nautical miles off the coast of Fremantle and did it at sea . It was involved in the

war in Iraq , being the ship used to launch the first attack .”

With a civil engineering background in major infrastructure projects such as Port Kembla Grain Terminal , Mt . Piper Power Station and Sydney Harbour Tunnel , the then CEO of Transfield

Construction , Claudio Di

Berardino , introduced Viglione to Piccioli in 1992 . Piccioli at the time was the General Manager of Transfield Corrosion Protection .

Viglione remembers reluctantly accepting the role with Piccioli but

“ within two years of being in corrosion protection , I was running the painting division ,” he says . “ From understanding nothing , the small organisation gave me the opportunity to be valued for my contributions .”

When EPTEC was founded in September 1997 by Enrico Piccioli , with the support of Claudio Di Berardino , together

80 June 2017