Litnet

Career

I graduated as a civil engineer – Wits Class of ’75 with a BSc Eng and later with an MSc Eng ’88.

Professional

I worked for several consulting firms before joining Jones & Wagener in 1986 as a senior engineer. In 1987 J&W sent me to Secunda, where I started up a branch office as an associate. In 1997 I joined up with the new firm LBE Nako in Secunda as the civil engineering director, where I remained until retiring in 2015. For most of my career I was involved with township development, mine infrastructure and industrial-type projects.

Institutional

I joined SAICE (South African Institution of Civil Engineering) in 1973 as a student.

I registered as a Professional Engineer in 1980 and became a corporate member of SAICE in 1981.

In 1991 I started the Highveld branch of SAICE. Here I was the chairman, treasurer, secretary and council rep on many occasions. I served on the council until 2021.

In 2011 I was elected a fellow and nominated as a vice-president in 2014. I served there from 2014 until 2017, and became the president in 2018.

Over the past 10 years I have been involved with, among other things, updating the SAICE constitution and bylaws, rules and committee terms of references, strategic plan and annual awards documentation. I still serve on SAICE finance and membership committees and chair the events committee. I am also the driving force behind the branch resuscitation project which has been ongoing since 2018.

From 2015 to 2017 I served on the Professional Advisory Committee (Civil) of ECSA (Engineering Council of South Africa).

Family/Personal

At university I played badminton, becoming club chairman in 1976. Here I met Sandy, a primary school teacher, whom I married in 1978.

After playing league badminton until 1995 I took up swimming again, and specifically open water swimming, and have completed over 100 dam swims, including 21 Midmar Miles.

We have three daughters: Bridgette (1982), who is also a Wits civil engineer working in Amsterdam, Lauren (1984), a school sports teacher, and Nadine (1986), a biokineticist. We have two grandchildren.

After my retirement in 2015 Sandy and I left Secunda and relocated to Nelspruit.