Our Story
Building what matters
For over 25 years, Pensar has been shaping the foundations of communities across Australia, delivering solutions for the critical water, power, and specialist infrastructure that keeps our towns and cities thriving and our future moving forward. What began as a small Brisbane team has grown into a trusted, multidisciplinary force of more than 300 people, united by a passion for solving complex challenges and creating lasting impacts.
Karl's Story
Karl Yunker, Pensar’s founder and Executive Chairman, graduated as a civil engineer in late 1991 and landed his first role with Roche Brothers, a private mining and civil business. After two years working away from home, he was ready for a new challenge and joined Leighton as a project engineer, followed by a year with Delfin.
Think different, do different.
Those early years gave Karl exposure to a huge range of career experiences and shaped how he viewed the construction industry. He started to see the value in every function — not just delivery, but marketing, brand, and the idea that you’re ultimately building something you need to sell. Customer first, construction next.
By December 1999, he’d run out of reasons not to start his own business. He was ready to build a company with a culture that matched his style, values, and belief in doing things differently. On 24 February 2000, Pensar was officially created, and the Urban division kicked off project delivery.
Pensar’s first open tender win came later that year — Powerlink’s H22 substation. Momentum grew quickly, with multiple subdivision projects across South-East Queensland following over the next few years. In early 2005, Pensar moved into a new office on Donkin Street, West End, upgrading from its original space at Trussmasters in Meadowbrook. Around this time, Karl received confirmation of a major civil works contract in Springfield, supporting Maha Sinnathamby’s bold vision for Australia’s largest master-planned community.
By 2009, the business had again outgrown its space and relocated to a larger facility on Hockings Street, West End, reflecting the steady and continued growth of the company. These formative years laid the foundation for what Pensar is today — a long-term, sustainable business built on curiosity, capability and a genuine commitment to doing things differently. What started as a bold idea in 2000 has grown into a diverse, resilient organisation that continues to evolve, expand and back its people to deliver great work, year after year.
Brand Evolution
It’s in the name
Pensar — Spanish for “to think.”
In engineering, everything starts with thinking: analysing, planning, assessing risk, and approaching problems with method and intent. The name reflects exactly that — the discipline and mindset behind the work.
A close Yunker family friend created the original Pensar logo, marking a shift in the direction of the business and giving visual identity to Karl’s way of doing things differently. By late 2014, the brand evolved from its sharp, solid colours into a softer, more contemporary look, with rounded edges and a modern typeface. The transition to blue followed in 2017, along with a refreshed tagline.
This evolution signalled more than just a new look — it reinforced innovation as a core pillar of the Pensar brand and cemented Pensar’s position as “the infrastructure people.”
Our People
The Pensar story has never been about perfection — it’s about progress. It’s about people striving to be better today than they were yesterday, and better again tomorrow.
Pensar’s senior leadership team is united in its approach to recruitment and retention. They know that a business can have the best clients, the best systems, the strongest frameworks — but without capable people who live the culture, success is unlikely to follow. Guided by our Principles, the philosophy is simple: find good people, develop them, encourage them, challenge them, reward them. When you invest in your people, the business looks after itself.
“The only genuine IP you can have in the infrastructure game is people. Highly skilled, quality people — that’s what provides a competitive edge. Performance, plus cultural fit.” Karl Yunker
2000
Karl Yunker founded Pensar on February 24th with the Klump Road Busway HV Pits the first project delivered for the company under the Urban division. Pensar won its first open tender project, the construction of Powelink’s H22 Substation in late 2000.
2004
Aligning with the awarding of the Sinnathamby Boulevard, Pensar’s Civil division was started and was followed shortly after by the commencement of the civil works of Augustine Heights – multiple stages for Stockland.
2006
To complement the existing offerings of Urban and Civil, Structures and Building divisions were introduced when Tim Down joined Pensar in 2006. Projects included Augusta Parkway Duplication and Amberley C17 Pavements.
2010 - 2011
The Water and Power Divisions, run by Patrick Newell and David Brown who joined in 2010 and 2011 respectively were opened, with Pensar identifying the opportunity to have specialist water and electrical delivery teams inhouse.
2012 - 2016
The divisions continued to deliver solid projects including the BAC Bankston Electrical Works, BCC Brisbane Bikeways, Flagstone Estate Civil Works, Mudgeeraba Water Treatment Plant Upgrade, Yarrabilba PS2 & Rising Main and Cooranbong Water Centre.
2018
Pensar’s service offering continued to grow and diversify with multiple divisions working together on one project. This multidisciplinary capability provided strong assurance that works would be carried out in-house by skilled technicians. In late 2018 the Pensar Stapylton office opened as the Power division continued to expand their delivery of works in South-East Queensland.
2019
Aligning with the opening of the Coolum office, Pensar as a partner in the WIS JV completed the ECI Phase of the Wamuran Irrigation Scheme resulting in the award of the $100m design and construction contract following an open market tender process. Working with local growers Twin View Turf and Pinata Farms, the innovative project was completed in December 2023 and provided local growers with climate-independent irrigation, while reducing demand on dams and creeks. In turn, the scheme solution delivered the client with an efficient solution for water reuse and sustainable irrigation. With Pensar’s presence expanding in and around Newcastle, the Newcastle office opened in late 2019.
2020
In its 20th year, Pensar continued to evolve, with the business making a deliberate shift toward the delivery of critical water infrastructure. With this new direction, the Urban and Civil divisions were wrapped up, allowing Pensar to offer the most value to clients and dive deeper into this specialist capability. This decision set the foundation for the next phase of growth, positioning the business for long-term stability, capability, and continued evolution.
Around the same time, Pensar secured the Stage 1 Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) project for Ravenswood Gold — the beginning of a five-year partnership that would go on to include a second TSF stage and the construction of a 170-metre-long, 28-metre-wide gabion wall. These projects further cemented Pensar’s technical expertise and strengthened its reputation for tackling complex infrastructure.
2023
On 1 February 2023, RSK Group Limited (RSK) formally announced its acquisition of Pensar. While Pensar’s brand and operations remain unchanged, joining RSK opened the door to significant new opportunities, giving our teams access to a global network of specialist technical and professional services, and strengthening the way we deliver across all areas of the business. RSK is a global leader in sustainable solutions, made up of more than 200 environmental, engineering and technical services companies and over 15,000 employees working across 40 countries. Collaboratively, they tackle some of the world’s most complex environmental and infrastructure challenges.
2024
With offices in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Newcastle and Somersby, Pensar maintained a strong presence along the east coast of Australia. The team approached 300 specialists across civil, mechanical, electrical and design engineers, along with estimators, project managers and construction managers, all contributing to the depth and capability of the business.
To support the company’s ambitious 2030 Strategic Plan, Pensar continued to broaden its geographic footprint, with a goal of increasing work outside South-East Queensland to 70 percent by 2030.
Along the way, Pensar has been trusted to deliver key water infrastructure projects, including the design and construction of the Great Keppel Island STP, an innovative solution supporting the island’s long-term water security, along with the successful completion of the ASMTI Shoalwater Bay Training Area WWTP.
2025
With operations continuing to expand in 2025 — and the team now surpassing 300 people — Pensar’s leadership structure also evolved to support the next phase of growth. Patrick Newell moved into the newly created CEO role, with David Brown stepping in as COO. Karl Yunker is in the position of Executive Chairman and also supports RSK Australia with future strategic initiatives. Michael Bissett and Tim Down continue to play key roles as Executive Directors.
Following the completion of the ECI and design phase for the Mt Crosby Critical Electrical Infrastructure Upgrade in 2024, construction is well underway, with completion expected in 2026. This is Pensar’s largest electrical project to date and an important milestone in the company’s growing capability. Adding to this momentum, Pensar formally opened its Hobart office in July 2025, further strengthening its east-coast presence and supporting long-term growth in Tasmania.