Alastair McLean has been interested in plants and they work from a young age. With an absence of greenhouse courses in New Zealand, Alastair studied electrical engineering Two years into my studies my technology teacher suggested he contact a grower who had a large glasshouse on the outskirts of Auckland, who had seen one of his greenhouses when visiting the school. It turned out to be NZ Hothouse, one of the largest producers in New Zealand with 20-hectares of glasshouses.

Alastair was offered an ongoing summer internship by Carl Van Loon at Powerplants concentrating on producing small controllers for growers with unique challenges, along with custom niche projects and product development. Upon finishing his degree, he relocated to Australia to work for Powerplants, travelling around Australia installing small systems for growers, eventually relocating to South Australia to meet the demand of meaningful work with the community of Vietnamese growers, who had moved into substrate growers.

As Powerplants continued to expand, Alastair has worked on projects in Coffs Harbour, New Zealand, and more recently, parts of Asia. These days, Alastair is the Commercial Director of Powerplants focusing on developing sales/estimation teams and developing new geographical areas of expansion as well as building relationships with growers that have projects of significance.

Alastair McLean joined the PCA Board in October 2023 to fill a casual vacancy and was formally elected at the AGM.