Features

Meet the team at Jmar Engineering

April 17, 2024

Mark Hooper
Owner

A FREE thinker from a young age Mark Hooper knew he wanted to control his destiny even back in his younger days as an apprentice with Sheptec Tools, in McGill Street Shepparton, working for Gerry Van Zeist.

After seven years working for Sheptec, Mark’s continued need to grow and expand in his field saw him pack and head to Melbourne for two years to gain more experience in prototype machining.

In 1986 Mark married the love of his life Janice and the pair soon began a family, with three children enriching the life of the pair. On the day Jmar Engineering opened in 1994 their youngest daughter celebrated her first birthday.

Outside of the day-to-day rigger of Jmar, Mark fancies himself a bit of a “hot rodder,” with a passion for cars. Starting a 1932 five-window coupe “still to be completed”, but he also knows when to trust the experts, and sought help to build the next project a 1953 Ford truck.

“I’ve got a couple of projects in the process, one I’ve been building for far too long,” said Mark. “I’m better off paying someone to do it while focusing on the business and letting someone else do what they do best. But I do like my cars.”

Mark’s passion for the business is why Jmar has continued to grow, his love for his trade and the excitement he feels for the ever-changing world of engineering.

Janice Hooper
Owner

THE success of Jmar Engineering over the last 30 years rests in large part due to the hard work in the office by director and accounts manager, Janice Hooper.

Janice brought years of administration experience to the team from her time working in the office at Stanhope Primary School. It was a massive endeavour to begin a business with three young children. Janice and Mark’s oldest daughter Alex was in prep, a son Stuart was in kindergarten, with one-year-old Georgia under arm, who grew up in the workshop because she refused to go into daycare!

Janice first met Mark when he was working at Sheptec Tools through her brother Murray who was an apprentice there, but it wouldn’t be until years later for romance to blossom. They married in 1986 and have not looked back in nearly 38 years of marriage. With her three children grown, Janice loves spending time with her four grandchildren, while still being an integral part in Jmar’s success.

Maleesha Perera
Mechanical Engineer

THE new man cutting his teeth at Jmar Engineering is Maleesha Perera, who will complete his first year on the job at Jmar this May after completing his degree in 2022.

Maleesha is a Mechanical Engineer at Jmar, and despite being new to the team, he’s gained a wealth of knowledge from Mark and the team in such a short time.

“I am mostly into drafting, using SolidWorks software to design component parts in 3D for manufacture either for profile cutting or machining. That’s like the most interesting part of my job,” said Maleesha.

“I get some parts, I have to get the dimensions, draft them up, or sometimes customers come in and tell me what their idea is, and I have to get everything from their head and make it into a 3D model. So that’s pretty exciting.”

Maleesha’s passion extends beyond Jmar, with his love for sport and playing the guitar, but he won’t be trading in his day job and hitting the open road on tour anytime soon.

“It’s been a really good journey I’m looking forward to working here in the coming years as well.”

Andrew Hooper
Plate Division Manager/
Workshop Foreman

TWENTY-EIGHT years ago, a fresh-faced 16-year-old Andrew Hooper got a job with his Uncle Mark and Aunty Janice at Jmar Engineering and couldn’t imagine working for anyone else.

Andrew began his time on the shop floor working with tools and learning and applying his trade when a tragic accident left him in a wheelchair meant he had to shift into an office role as Plate Division Manager/Workshop Foreman.

“I was very fortunate after the accident because I still was able to come back to a trade that I love. I didn’t have to change, I just had to change what I did. Instead of being out on the workshop floor, I’m in the office. I’m still in my trade, and that’s what I love.”

Andrew is across it all at Jmar, but when he clocks off, he’s on the open road to car shows, out on the rifle range or skimming waves in his boat with his mates.

“The boys throw me in the boat, and I’ll drive it all day long,” said Andrew.

Mark Gibson
Fibre Laser Leading Hand

GOOD apprentices are hard to come by, but after 16 years, it’s fair to say Mark Gibson has been a great fit for Jmar Engineering.

Mark completed his apprenticeship in metal fabrication, before working his way up in a few different roles in the company and is now a Leading Hand, managing two laser cutters for Jmar. Depending on the thickness and materials, he can oversee 30-plus sheets cut or two to three tonnes processed daily.

A family man with two young kids, Mark and his wife love to climb into the four-wheel drive and tour up north where they can go fishing, mud crabbing, and hunting.

“Mark and Janice are great to work for. I’ve got a young family myself, and they’re really family-orientated and understanding with family. They’re really flexible and really good to work for an easy-going company.”

Brendan Ginnane
Assistant Manager

FITTER and machinist Brendan Ginnane began working on the floor of Jmar Engineering 25 years ago. After a time, he was asked to take over as foreman of the workshop.

Brendan’s quiet resolve and great work ethic soon saw him promoted again to Assistant Manager by Mark and Janice, a post he has held for 20 years. The role keeps him busy day to day making sure almost every aspect of the manufacturing side is taken care of from the quote to organisation of materials required, overseeing the job run through the workshop, and out the other side to invoicing.

Outside of Jmar, Brendan loves spending time on his farm at Wunghnu with his wife, where he runs a few “beefies” and some wheat. An outdoorsman who would rather let his work do the talking for him, which he backs by years of service to Jmar and their clients.