Frank Brugger
Franz "Frank" Brugger, OBE (7 March 1927 — 27 February 2000)[1] was a New Zealand businessman known for his car parts factory in Wainuiomata and production of a highly efficient wood burning stove.[2][3] He was born in Rottemann, Austria on 7 March 1927 and died in Wainuiomata, New Zealand on 27 February 2000.[1]
Brugger obtained a degree in industrial management at Rottemann University,[4] then emigrated from Austria to New Zealand in 1956. After working for Mobil, he set up his own welding business in Petone in 1959.[5] Noting that car assembly plants were required to increase the amount of locally manufactured components, he took the opportunity and built a factory in Wainuiomata in 1970. Wainuiomata at the time was growing rapidly and a number of Brugger's staff already lived there.[1] Brugger Industries made many components for cars, including car seats, panels, floor coverings, head linings and sun-visors.[1]
Further operations were set up in Auckland, Dunedin and Levin and Brugger also set up an engineering business in Samoa,[3] where he had the honorary title of Toleafoa.[1] Brugger represented New Zealand on trade delegations to Switzerland, Germany and Japan.[6] By 1983 the company employed 600 staff and had an annual turnover of $20 million.[5]
In the early 1970s, George Katzer at the DSIR Physics and Engineering Laboratory in Lower Hutt designed a new type of wood-burning stove, and the DSIR opted to make the design freely available rather than patent it. The unique design, though more expensive to produce than other stoves, had several advantages: extremely high efficiency, burning one load of wood for seven hours with only a small amount of ash residue; little smoke; and no soot or creosote in the chimney. The stove-top could be used for cooking, and a loop pipe to heat water could be incorporated into the stove. Brugger Industries approached the DSIR about producing the stove, and the 'BI [Brugger Industries] wood-burning stove' began production in Wainuiomata in 1978.[7] It was also known as the 'Ugly Duckling wood stove' or the 'Pyroclassic'.[8][9]
In 1985, Brugger received an Air New Zealand Enterprise Award.[4] He received an OBE in 1986 for services to industry, export and the community.[10] Brugger retired in 1986 and died in 2000.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Schouten, Hank (2 March 2000). "Car seat maker with grit, honesty". Evening Post (3 ed.). p. 7 – via Proquest Australia & New Zealand Newsstream.
- ^ US 4643165, Chamberlain, Joseph G., "Nonpolluting, high efficiency firebox for wood burning stove", published 1987-02-17
- ^ a b "Melton James Prosser, 1931 - 2018". New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Wellington City Magazine, December / January 1985-86". Wellington City Libraries. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Wainuiomata at work: Brugger Industries Limited". Wainuiomata Advertiser. 5 October 1983. p. 10.
- ^ "Wainui entrepreneur Frank Brugger dies". Dominion (2 ed.). 28 February 2000. p. 3 – via Proquest Australia & New Zealand Newsstream.
- ^ Mabbett, Hugh (1979). "'The most efficient stove in the world'". NZ Journal of Agriculture (Jan/Feb 1979): 38–39.
- ^ Isaacs, Nigel (2013). "Comfort in winter – solid fuels" (PDF). Build 134 (February/March 2013): 93.
- ^ The Clean Air Zone (Christchurch) Order 1977, Amendment No. 4 (PDF). 16 May 1988. p. 332.
- ^ "Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette" (PDF). New Zealand Legal Information Institute. 25 June 1986. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
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