Managing Director

Veerle Vanderplasschen

Veerle (or Vee in Australia) is the Founder and Managing Director of Absolute Translations. She founded the business in 2004 and to this day is as passionate about the industry as when she first started out.

Her respect for her team is immense and her devotion to her clients is second to none. She believes the company’s success is built on quality, integrity and exemplary customer service.

Veerle holds a European Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and Specialised Translation for the French, Spanish and Dutch languages, awarded with distinction by the prestigious Hogeschool Gent Mercator College in Belgium. The course was integrated in recent years into Ghent University.

In addition, she holds the Australian NAATI accreditation for English and Dutch translation.

Her Master’s thesis studied the interpreting decisions made by simultaneous conference interpreters when confronted with inadvertent ‘errors’ and ‘error corrections’ by the speakers. The research received a high distinction.

Whenever Veerle has time off, she can be found MTB riding on hazardous trails, flying off ski slopes in winter and exploring the country-side on horse-back.

Account Manager

Maïté René-Watts

Born and raised on the Atlantic Coast of France, Maïté, our newest addition to the team, was trained in both France and Germany. Maïté holds a European Master’s degree in specialised translation for English, German and French. After working several years in Berlin as a translator both in-house and as a freelancer, she moved to Australia in 2012.

In 2014, Maïté was recruited into a project management role in the language industry. She developed a passion for the role, working as a key link between linguists and clients to ensure successful multi-language projects. It was a fast-paced role, never a dull day, and this is what made it a thrilling position for her.

As her career progressed, Maïté realised that her experience in the industry could benefit clients, big and small, by developing a closer relationship to understand their specific needs and provide the best suited services to guarantee outstanding quality and outcomes. This is what led her to assume an account management role. Maïté strongly believes that despite the constant technology improvements in the industry, meaningful human interactions are still the key to successful projects and she looks forward to being personally in touch with all of Absolute Translations’ clients.

In her spare time, Maïté enjoys practising yoga and meditation. She also loves a good book with a cup of tea. Travelling is also one of Maïté’s passions allowing her to discover new countries and cultures. To date her most memorable trip is when she travelled to the Ukraine, where she spent 3 months in a school as a French language assistant.

Maïté lives in Brisbane with her husband and daughter and their purring companion, Millie.

Operations Manager

Samuel Pavin

Samuel Pavin is our Operations Manager. He brings more than 15 years of experience in sales, customer service, marketing and management to his role. Samuel is a dedicated and relentless multilingual professional who is devoted to achieving outstanding results for Absolute Translations’ clients.

Prior to joining Absolute Translations, Samuel worked in the tourism, financial, information technologies, education and marketing industries, in roles ranging from sales to marketing, management, operations, customer relations and business development. A wealth of experiences that he brings to the table not only for Absolute Translation but for our clients too.

Some of Samuel’s career highlights include some unique roles and projects. From a one-of-a-kind international sales role for small businesses at Arval (BNP Paribas) dealing with customers all over Europe to building, launching and managing IBM’s initiative for startups (Global Entrepreneur) in France as a founding member of the program or, more recently, accompanying hundreds of startups and founders as part of the ilab Accelerator program (by The University of Queensland).

As a result of having managed complex projects worldwide, Samuel has gained an excellent understanding of clients’ needs when it comes to global market targeting and expansion.

Samuel holds a Master’s degree in Foreign Languages applied to Business and Trade from the University of Rennes II, France. A solid business qualification and background topped with strong translation qualifications, at the core of his diploma, and dedicated work done in both the corporate, small business and startup worlds.

Finally, in addition to his passion for foreign cultures, travel and sports, Samuel is also the founder of Resumption, a sales and marketing strategy agency, a Community Leader for La French Tech Australia, and an influencer in the B2B (Business to Business) world; a jack of all trades who brings all his passions and experiences – and most of all, dedication – to his role at Absolute Translations!

Senior NAATI French Translator

Christine Moore

Christine is our senior NAATI certified French-English translator for all translation projects in Australia requiring NAATI certification.

Her translation experience spans a vast array of subjects and genres over several decades. She has worked professionally since 1987 as an accredited and now certified translator. Over a long period she taught French and more recently translation studies at the Australian National University (ANU), as well as continuing education courses in French with the Canberra Institute of Technology, the ANU Centre for Continuing Education, the Alliance Francaise and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Christine began her career with the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), managing the translating and interpreting testing program over a 6 year period as well as several prominent interpreting and translation conferences run by NAATI, before taking up a public service management position in a statutory authority within the Australian Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio.

Growing up in Newcastle, Christine moved to Canberra to study languages at the Australian National University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours and a Doctor of Philosophy, specialising in French language and literature and including studies in German and Japanese. She spent a year of her doctoral research program in Paris, funded by the ANU.

She now focuses on translation and spends her time between her homes in Canberra and the Basque area in southwest France. She enjoys all things French!

Senior French Translator

Richard Gliech

Richard Gliech was born and raised in France, where he obtained a higher education in materials engineering before moving to the United States in 1991 and starting a career in translation. He has been a certified member of the American Translators Association since 1998.

As a native francophone and bicultural expatriate residing in Burlington, Vermont, just south of the border with French-speaking Canada, Richard is uniquely qualified to transform English-language documents into French that is accurate, nuanced, and culturally relevant to the targeted reader.

Richard is a certified member of the American Translators Association, Corresponding Secretary and founding member of the Burlington-Honfleur (France) Sister City Committee, and a member and former secretary of the Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region.

In his free time, Richard plays violin in a local community symphony orchestra, volunteers weekly at his local food pantry and has recently started a small company where he makes and sells small backyard wood-burning pizza ovens.

Senior Arabic Translator

Ali Alawadi

Ali is our senior Arabic translator. He holds a BA degree in English Language and Literature, and a post-graduate diploma in English-Arabic translation (with a focus on legal and political studies). In 2001, Ali started his translation career in-house and as a freelancer in Cairo.

Born and raised in Egypt, land of the pharaohs and pyramids, to a pure Egyptian family, Ali developed a passion for humanities and languages in general, and Arabic in particular.

In 2005, Ali moved to Europe. He visited and/or lived in Italy, Austria, Greece, Romania and others. More than 25 years in Egypt, and 20 years in Europe, shaped his passion for translation. For him, translation is a pleasure like no other.

Ali is married with 4 children: Amer, Kerim, Selim and Maram. He remained true to his kin, ancient Egyptians and Pharaohs who valued large family.

Ali believes that access to knowledge is a human right. He helped to localise Proz.com, the world’s largest community of translators, into Arabic. He speaks English and Romanian fluently. He knows some French, Turkish and Latin too. He has solid experience in technical and legal texts. Ali is dedicated to his work, with excellent skills in terminology research. He is proficient in using databases and internet as research and communication tools.

With Ali, quality is never compromised.

Whenever you need help, Ali is just a click away. If you can’t reach him, you can find him playing football, trekking through forests or simply re-installing Windows 11.

Senior Chinese Translator

Lin Guo

Lin Guo is our senior Chinese Simplified translator and reviser with near native-level English and basic Japanese.

Lin holds a BA in English from Sichuan University of Science and Engineering (China) and the postgraduate Diploma in Translation awarded by the Charter Institute of Linguist in London. He is also a full member of both CIOL and ITI (Institute of Translation and Interpreting, UK).

Lin was born and raised in Southwest China. He started his career as an onsite translator and interpreter at construction sites in Pakistan and Bangladesh, working with professionals from various countries. This three-year adventure of working abroad has gained him industry experience, cultural understanding and a global mindset. On returning to China in 2011, he became a full-time freelance translator out of love for the languages industry.

Lin spends quite a lot time in CPD (continuing professional development) activities, including attending industry webinars, learning online courses, reading published articles translated by other linguists on a daily basis, in order to continue sharpening his language and translation skills, so that he can provide the best possible quality.

He also learned and mastered subtitling skills to meet the growing needs of clients. He has joined the ProZ.com Subtitler Pool after completing many interesting subtitling projects for business companies, international organizations and educational institutions.

In his spare time, Lin goes on countryside walks and bike-riding, watches football matches at stadiums or online, and plays mahjong with friends.

Senior German Translator

Andrea Reinacher

Andrea Reinacher is our senior German translator and reviser with native-level English, fluent French, and basic Spanish and Italian.

While Andrea was born and educated in Southern Germany, she went to study in Scotland, she taught German in France and has been living in London for many years where she has made her passion – spoken and written communication – into a successful career.

Andrea holds an MA in French, English and Psychology from the University of Heidelberg (Germany) and the postgraduate Diploma in Translation awarded by the Chartered Institute of Linguists in London of which she is also a member.

In addition to the above, she has a Certificate in Marketing from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Diploma in Arts Marketing and Management from Birkbeck College/University of London.

She also lends her voice to voice over projects and is an accredited German teacher, having taught many students the intricacies of the German language. Furthermore, she acts as a German examiner for several British institutions.

In her free time, she does yoga, goes on countryside walks and enjoys the opera.

Senior Brazilian Portuguese Translator

João Marcelo

João Marcelo is our senior Brazilian Portuguese translator, with native-level English proficiency. He has been a professional translator since 2008 and has worked in roles requiring a second language since 1992.

He specialises in Engineering, particularly Mechanics, Electrical, Automation, Civil Construction, Railways, Metallurgy, Mining, Shipping, Oil & Gas, and Power & Energy (including Nuclear), with hands-on experience onsite. He has also completed professional courses in low-voltage electrical installations and fundamental automotive mechanics.

Having worked as an in-house translator and interpreter at project sites and industrial plants, João has an in-depth understanding of technical terminology and industry jargon. He was directly involved in the installation of equipment, machinery, boilers, turbines, steel structures, civil works, and electrical and instrumentation systems. His experience spans maritime terminals, mining companies, aluminium factories, and an alumina refinery construction site.

João also holds a Law degree and is a licensed lawyer, making him highly skilled in legal translation. He has provided legal translation services for a Brazilian Federal Court and at Brazilian Navy hearings. Additionally, he holds a postgraduate (Honours) qualification in Translation and Interpreting. He is also fluent in French, German, Spanish, and Italian.

Believe it or not, in his free time, he enjoys studying Mandarin, Russian, Japanese, and Arabic. But he still manages to find time for video games and cooking!