Young engineers are making waves in the Port of Saldanha through various engineering innovations that are improving infrastructure at the port.
With Youth Month recently celebrated under the theme ‘Live the Legacy: Towards a Socio-economically Empowered Youth’, Vernal Jones, Saldanha Port Manager says he was reminded of the young engineers in the port who have proven that they can shape the future of the Port of Saldanha and the broader industry, through their innovations and diligence. University of Stellenbosch civil engineering graduates, Jade Cloete, and Gareth Gertse successfully completed in-house designs that would have ordinarily been outsourced to external service providers. Cloete executed the design, project engineering and management of the Port’s Scour Protection Project, while Gertse designed the stormwater network for the port’s future Off-Shore Supply Base (OSSB).
Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) Young Professionals in Training programme continues to expose young graduates and professionals to practical in-house work experience.
Rising stars
The programme challenges students to explore their potential for achievement by nurturing their critical thinking, increasing scientific literacy, exposing them to all port and maritime activities, and enabling innovation. In addition to Cloete and Gertse the Transnet Ports Authority (TNPA) has empowered many young engineers including:- Wandile Radebe, an Electrical Engineer in Training
- Cassidy Gray and Johané Matthee who are close to completing their EIT programme at the port. Gray has chosen to specialise in electrical engineering, and Mathee aspires to be a civil engineer.
- Zukisa Misani, a Civil P1/P2 student in training, and Nondumiso Nolwazi Ntuli, an Electrical P1/P2 student in training, have also displayed engineering prowess during their tenure with TNPA.
