Meet Ian: Ian, more commonly known as String, followed a childhood dream to design yacht fittings in Australia by joining Ronstan in 1993 as part of the Product Design team. Today, he is a key internal member of the Melbourne-based Ronstan Tensile Architecture team. His role as Architectural Technical Services supports the Ronstan Australia & New Zealand sales team, Ronstan’s key export customers in Asia & the Middle East, and the Ronstan USA Architectural team.
String’s comprehensive knowledge and general technical problem-solving skills are regularly utilised. He possesses a unique understanding of the core architectural structural materials and corresponding production techniques, various surface finishes, and Ronstan’s production and supply processes.
Before joining Ronstan, String worked as a ticketed rigger in Sydney, Australia for 7 years. During this time, he focused mainly on yacht rigging and often used Ronstan products on the boats that he sailed on – including a 1.5 year stint overseas as part of international yacht racing crews.
Away from work, he is a regular road cyclist, a racing yachtsman of 45+ years (including 20+ Sydney-Hobart yacht races and numerous dinghy championships), XC skier, bushwalker, kayaker, rower, steam trains, and is a volunteer Scout leader at the local Sea Scout group his two kids attend.
Where does Ian fit within the scope of a project? Utilising his depth of both “hands-on” rigging experience and technical knowledge, String designs many custom rigging product solutions servicing the expanding Architectural & Industrial markets. Design of custom tension rod and cable products, cable behaviour and mechanical testing of products, engineering design and production costings, and project management of both manufactured and sourced product solutions all fall within String’s regular responsibilities.
Favourite Project? String’s been involved in an extensive number of different projects over the 25+ years he has been on Ronstan’s Architectural team, with Ronstan products used in various applications in every Australian capital city in addition to many other locations around the world. Some of favourite projects include the forecourt railing cable systems at the Sydney Opera House (2009), the Melbourne Cricket Ground façade (2006), and the stainless steel truss roof, cables, and tension rods at Surbana Jurong (Singapore, 2021).
