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2020 HVACR Leader of the Year, Vinney Kumar, is an executive living the dream.

He loves to inspire others, influence change and provide constructive leadership.

“I enjoy life and work in general and remind myself daily that I am living the dream,” Kumar said.

“Being a mentor is something I enjoy I like to inspire younger members of my team to be the very best they can be,” Kumar said.

“I also like to challenge my engineering team to design systems that take sustainability into account. Leaders should be willing to fail sometimes but they need to be quick learners as well.

“The fantastic thing about the HVACR industry is that most people are so unaware of the importance and widespread touchpoints it has on everyone’s lives,” he said.

“We need to give credit to HVACR professionals for the support they provide and the contribution this industry continues to make to reduce our environmental impact.”

Kumar is Australia general manager and Oceania director of operations at Hussmann, a company that has been a leader in refrigeration systems for food retailers for more than a century.

He has extensive experience in the fast-moving consumer goods market and has held executive positions at Mildura Fruit Juice Australia and George Weston Foods.

In 2014 he completed the senior executive program at Harvard Business School.

Asked about the biggest challenges facing the refrigeration industry and Kumar listed two issues of concern. “The lack of young people entering the industry is a problem,” he said.

“There is also very slow technology adoption in this industry which is a challenge.”

Once again Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA) sponsored the HVACR Leader of the Year Award.

When announcing the winner, RRA general manager, Kylie Farrelley, said this award is important because it recognises high achievers that have contributed to the industry’s success.

“Winners of this award need to demonstrate vision, dedication and of course, leadership.” she said.