George Maltabarow chose engineering for his first degree because he was good at science and maths at school, and because his family, who came from Europe, thought that engineering was a good profession. Having won a scholarship to the university of his choice, he selected the University of Sydney because of its good name and the fact that it was Australia's oldest.

More than thirty years down the track, his abiding memories of Sydney are of spending as much time as possible on the University's main campus (rather than Darlington, where the Faculty of Engineering buildings are situated).

"This was firstly because there were more female students there," said George, "and secondly, I could pursue a wide range of extra-curricular activities. These included being a director and honorary secretary of the Student Union, editor of the Union Recorder and a regular at Union debates, dinners and the various bars."

George followed his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree at Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University in 1978.

The combination of skills, knowledge and experience he gleaned from both disciplines produced benefits for the energy industry and the public that would have been unlikely, if not impossible, had he studied only one or the other.

They also contributed exponentially to a career that has "reform" stamped all over it. Indeed, George believes his reforms would not have been possible, let alone as successful as they have been, if he had not had the combined expertise of his two chosen fields.

"Having exposure to both disciplines has been a happy match for me personally and enabled me to take a broader view of policy and management issues," says George. "A sound technical understanding of energy industries together with an understanding of the underlying economics at both industry and entity level has been invaluable."

Before his 2005 appointment as Managing Director of Energy Australia, George's career spanned central planning of power systems at Pacific Power; policy development and financial planning for energy industries with the former NSW Department of Energy and various roles in the NSW Treasury that involved monitoring financial performance, policy development and implementation and, as a member of the Treasury Executive, major energy industry reform projects.

George believes one of the most significant achievements of his career to date has been his contribution to the reform of the NSW government commercial sector in which key entities were either privatised or corporatised. Another was the establishment of the national electricity market, in particular the staged implementation of market reforms in New South Wales, and a third was the massive increase in EnergyAustralia's infrastructure investment, the first of its kind in Australia.

"I believe micro-economic and institutional reform are the key to improving both social and economic outcomes," says George. "While the effort is long-term and the road difficult, the results are more rewarding. I have always had a commitment to the long-term view and been privileged to hold positions where a contribution to society of this nature has been possible."

* In April 2007 the new EnergyAustralia Chair in Power Engineering, which is funded for five years by EnergyAustralia, was launched at the University of Sydney.


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