As I have noted in a previous editorial comment, the duration of the current economic downturn will exceed many previous ones. Organisations that do not continue to invest in skills development, R&D and marketing through this cycle will likely become insignificant and ultimately disappear. Bankruptcies in our country are escalating. So it is encouraging to read about enterprises that are doing the right thing.
Skills development and innovation
Hats off to SEW-Eurodrive and Festo who are running their second PneuDrive Challenge, which you can read about in our news and events section. These are two companies that are building a solid foundation of skills through investing in technical development of the country’s youth. And you can bet that when participating students graduate they will be committed users of Festo and SEW products.
On the process control side, Endress+Hauser continues to invest in skills development, having recently partnered in the opening of the Dr Georg Endress Training Facility at the University of Johannesburg (www.tinyurl.com/dacso4).
According to an article that I read recently, even in a downturn where many mines are being put on care and maintenance, there is money to be made for those with the right skills and initiative. In Australia, engineering companies are contracting to 'run' these non-producing mines, since their pumping systems, water treatment and utilities still need to operate and be kept in prime condition for the time when they return to production.
Continuing to invest
It is also encouraging to see South African companies like Optimal Energy continuing to invest in product development. Optimal Energy is a privately-owned Cape Town-based company that is developing the Joule, a battery-powered urban passenger vehicle. The management team has an impressive set of credentials and the company has received backing from the Industrial Development Corporation and from the Innovation Fund of the Department of Science and Technology. First deliveries are planned for 2010 with 2012 targeted for volume production.
With projects like Gautrain, Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) and the MeerKAT/SKA there are glimmers of encouragement that South Africa really can grow its reputation for innovation and application of science and technology.
In January the Gautrain Tunnel Boring Machine completed its last metre of tunnelling between Rosebank Station and Emergency Shaft 2, situated at The Wilds in Houghton. The remainder of the 15 km tunnel between Johannesburg Park Station and Marlboro Portal is being excavated using conventional drilling and blasting methods.
In the same month, PBMR announced that it had successfully manufactured High Temperature Reactor fuel containing 9,6% enriched uranium. Unlike conventional nuclear fuel which requires external cooling to prevent a meltdown, the tennis ball-sized fuel balls are thermally stable. South Africa, through PBMR, will be one of the primary producers of this new fuel, since PBMR holds all of the technology.
In April, the SKA project took delivery of what is claimed as South Africa’s largest mobile crane for the construction of KAT-7 – an engineering test bed for the MeerKAT radio telescope. The crane has a lifting capacity of 100 tons/metre, a maximum height of 38m and a reach of 20 m. The SKA project will use the crane to lift the composite fibre dish that is 12 m in diameter and weighs 4,5 tons. South Africa and Australia are the only two countries remaining on the shortlist to site the SKA mega telescope. A final decision on the site is expected by 2010 and construction should start in 2014.
Andrew Ashton
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