Dean of the Engineering Faculty, Dr Oswald Franks has been appointed as the CEO of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). He will take up this appointment with effect 1 October 2009.

The appointment comes after Dr Franks completed two four-year terms as an ECSA Council member.

“I am humbled by the opportunity to lead ECSA, along with the newly appointed Council, in fulfilling its legislative mandate and ensuring that ECSA contributes to the wellbeing of both the South African public and the professions which it represents,” said Dr Franks, who succeeds current acting CEO, Prof Hu Hanrahan.

The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), a statutory body that regulates the engineering profession, was established in terms of the Engineering Professions Act No 46 of 2000. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor and in terms of the new Act, it has widened its scope to include engineering technicians and certificated engineers, and the ability to register those who are qualified by experience.

ECSA is tasked with promoting the high level of education and training of practitioners in the engineering profession. ECSA further sets and monitors internationally accepted standards, assesses the competence of individuals and promotes the engineering profession.

The council works closely with the Council for the Built Environment and the Minister of Public Works on matters relating to the engineering profession.

Dr Franks, who has held positions in industry and the higher education sector in South Africa, is well placed to take up the duties of CEO.

A registered professional mechanical engineer with a Ph.D. in Engineering Science from the University of South Florida in the United States, Dr Franks’ academic career spans over 27 years.

He is a recipient of various research scholarships and grants from agencies like the British Council, the United States Agency for International Development and the New York-based African American Institute.

He has also served on several top national committees.

He was a member of the Ministerial Task Team, which was established in July 2007 in order to make recommendations to the Minister of Education on funding to Universities of Technology for the increased production of engineering graduates.

Dr Franks was also appointed by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) to participate in the four institutional audits conducted by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC).

Dr Franks said during his tenure as CEO, he would like ECSA to strengthen and build relationships with key stakeholders, which include other statutory Councils, business, industry, voluntary organisations, educational institutions and government.

CPUT Deputy-Vice Chancellor Academic, Prof Anthony Staak congratulated Dr Franks on his appointment.

Prof Staak said it is a prestigious appointment.

“We wish him everything of the best with this most challenging portfolio,” said Prof Staak.

Written by CPUT News

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CPUT hosts the DST-UNESCO Engineering Week on Bellville campus from 17 to 20 September 2018.

Prof Mellet Moll, Acting Dean: Faculty of Engineering, explained that the annual Engineering Week is sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) and is done in collaboration with a host university. “It is a great honour for CPUT to host the event this year,” said Moll.

The week focuses on addressing the challenges of the engineering profession in Southern Africa and the rest of the continent and is also aimed at attracting learners to subjects such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The event (DST-UNESCO Engineering Conference) rotates among the nine provinces of South Africa.

The DST-UNESCO Engineering Conference starts with a day-long student conference on 17 September, with students from Engineering Faculties from all South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) invited to take part.
“Postgraduate students from engineering faculties of South African HEIs submitted abstracts and the best submissions will be presented, with prizes for the best paper and best poster presentation plus a student function which provides a chance for the students from various institutions to network”.

“The formal proceedings of the student conference will be run by academic from CPUT, UCT and Stellenbosch in collaboration with engineering students who are members of CPUT’s SRC,” said Moll.
The main conference will take place from 18 to 20 September and is free and open to all people involved in the engineering profession including industry and academia as well as people in related disciplines who are interested in the topics that will be discussed.

“We have a line-up of speakers from across the spectrum including the DST, SANSA, NRF, ECSA, CPUT, our neighbouring universities UCT and Stellenbosch as well as industry specialists.”

“Engineering finds itself in a changing landscape, especially with the advent of the Industrie 4.0 era. A lot of things have to be reframed so we selected the theme ‘Enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution for Sustainability and Economic Growth’,” said Moll.

“The conference is divided into sub-themes which require dialogue, especially within the southern African context. These include Industrie 4.0 itself, Energy, Water, Environmental Engineering, Infrastructure, Beneficiation, Space Science, Women in Engineering and Engineering Education.”

*Students can visit the DST-UNESCO career exhibition in the Major Sports Hall on Tuesday 18 September and Wednesday 19 September between 9:00 and 16:00.

Written by Theresa Smith
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CPUT in collaboration with Eskom recently hosted the first regional Peaking Technologies Seminar to be conducted in the Western Cape.

The two-day seminar, which was held at the Bellville Campus, provided opportunities for the registered professional engineers and technicians to share their knowledge, work experience and provided solutions to the engineering problems encountered at ESKOM peaking generation stations across the country. Technical experts from ESKOM industries, academics, and postgraduate students from CPUT and the University of Cape Town (UCT) in the fields of Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, and Information Technology made their technical presentations. The Seminar was registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa for Continuing Professional Development points.

Prof Senthil Krishnamurthy from the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering (DEECE) was “well impressed” with the first regional Peaking Technologies Seminar. The technical presentations covered insight into available energy factors by the ESKOM peaking generation stations and how they addressed the planned and unplanned breakdowns and maintenance at the ESKOM peaking power generation stations.

“Simply more available energy factor means no load-shedding and vice-versa less reduced available energy factor leads to unplanned breakdown/maintenance, which the network operator needs to plan the load-shedding stages in South Africa," said Krishnamurthy.

Krishnamurthy who co-hosted the event with Prof Veruscha Fester: Assistant Dean: Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, said the seminar was the perfect opportunity to understand the industrial problems at peaking generating stations and engage with the industry to provide solutions through post-graduates and contract research projects. “It is a platform for networking and collaboration among utility professionals and academics. Our CPUT students had an opportunity to engage with the ESKOM team through this seminar.”

DEECE also arranged a research laboratory tour to showcase the research work at the Centre for Substation, Automation, and Energy Management Systems and the Centre for Power Electronics and Distributed Systems. About 100 Eskom professionals participated in the lab tour and were impressed with the state-of-the-art research laboratory infrastructure and the available modern tools and technology, that CPUT uses to train students with scarce skills for the next-generation workforce.

Krishnamurthy added that CPUT works closely with industries and prepares the next-generation workforce (technologies) through a modern equipped curriculum and state-of-the-art laboratory infrastructure, which provides an opportunity for students to be equipped with knowledge on the latest engineering configuration tools through the aid of modern technology and tools that are used to train students in the research laboratories.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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