About Valupa
Valupa Director Steve Henstock has over 40 years of experience in aviation engineering and design. He began his career as a trainee at the Department of Civil Aviation. On completion of his training, he spent some years in the DCA Sydney Airport maintenance group, then the DCA NSW Electrical Planning Section. He later worked with the Federal Airports Corporation, the Civil Aviation Authority and Electrical Airport Design Services. Over this time, Steve developed significant expertise in Airfield Ground Lighting (AGL) and contributed to projects across NSW and Australia, particularly Sydney Airport.
Steve worked for Thorn Lighting on the Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, as the Airport Lighting Design Engineer, and during this time gained experience at several other airports in the Asia-Pacific region and in Chile. This international work expanded his knowledge of advanced AGL technologies and global best practices in AGL design.
Steve has undertaken numerous AGL facility designs, covering both non-instrument runways and instrument runways ranging from CAT I to CAT IIIA. His work has included design and contract specifications for runway lighting, taxiway centreline and edge lighting, Movement Area Guidance Signs (MAGS), runway guard lights, stop bar lights, T-VASIS (T-Visual Approach Slope Indicator System), multiple PAPI (Precision Approach Path Indicator) designs, and AGL control systems.
In addition to this design work, Steve has engaged in serviceability investigations, commissioning of new AGL facilities, and the installation and maintenance of Visual Docking Guidance Systems (VDGS). He has also under taken AGL Annual Technical Inspections, supervised and reviewed contractor work, and addressed various construction and maintenance issues.
To learn more about our projects and the airports we’ve worked with, go to Our Work.