Our people – George Zillante
My
love for architecture, planning and building really kicked off when I
began studying architecture at UniSA’s antecedent institution, the SA
Institute of Technology. Over the years I have moved from architecture,
across to planning and then building and construction. I love knowing
all aspects of the design and construction process and it is something
that I have passionately pursued throughout my career.
After finishing my degree I spent some time with a small firm before starting my own business. Years later, looking for a new direction, I moved into local Government where I spent some very exciting years working in and studying planning, building surveying, as well as management.
I geared all my further study to understanding more about my industry from many different perspectives. Some of the highlight projects I worked on during this time include the development of Greenhill road as a business area and the Urban Design for the then longest paved road in the world, King William Road in Unley.
I started at UniSA in 1991. In my first years I redesigned the construction degree to bring it in line with industry standards and also established the Centre for Building and Planning Studies where we focused on applied research and connections with industry. My discipline takes a problem based approach to a lot of its teaching as that tends to produce leaders of industry as opposed to technicians. My approach to teaching is to teach people how to think and not simply what to learn.
Our links with industry and the teamwork approach of my staff are the keys to our success. Students have access to a broad range of organisations and also have a six month industry placement before they begin their final fourth year. For the last 14 years our students have had a 100 per cent employment rate because of the strong industry focus. The UniSA degree is one of the only degrees of its kind to be recognised internationally and our graduates are employable anywhere in the world.
In between teaching, working in the research centre and completing a doctorate in building surveying, I am the chair of the State Government Building Advisory Committee, a member the Development Policy Advisory Committee for South Australia and the chair of the City of Campbelltown Development Assessment Panel. I also run a small consultancy, because with the industry constantly changing it is important that my knowledge remains current.
George Zillante is Head of Building with the School of Natural and Built Environments.