A dynamic partnership between public institutions, business and an industrious student paved the way for the opening recently of the fourth Dr Georg Endress Training Facility, this time at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
Endress+Hauser MD, Rob MacKenzie (left) with the University of Johannesburg’s Prof. M. Case and Prof. T. Marwala at the opening
The seeds for the centre’s establishment were sowed in 2006, when the UJ identified the critical need to train more instrumentation technicians and technologists. The university subsequently approached process-field instrumentation specialist, Endress+Hauser, to build a centre of excellence at the university.
UJ’s invitation to Endress+Hauser follows the latter’s successful establishment of three similar training facilities at the Tshwane South further education and training (FET) College, the Thekwini FET College and the Namibia Institute of Mining and Technology respectively. The increase in enrolment at these facilities was proof enough of their success, as well as their educational and economic value.
In addition, one of the first successful trainees of a Dr Georg Endress Training Facility, Lita Mpahlwa, adopted the building of the UJ centre as his industrial project to obtain his BTech Degree at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).
With the support of Endress+Hauser and the mentorship of Nico Marneweck, Endress+Hauser’s training manager, Lita can today witness the fruition of his hard work and dedication. Lita also called in the help of Japie de Klerk from the Tshwane South FET College to assist with the supervision of the construction process.
This unprecedented partnership between two universities, a FET college and private business, demonstrates a commitment to a practical exchange of knowledge. Moreover, it acknowledges the complementary roles public and private stakeholders can play in providing much-needed training to alleviate South Africa’s critical skills shortage.
In addition to helping to finance the facility, Endress+Hauser also involved its partners in the project. Rockwell Automation provided PLCs, while Metso Automation supplied pressure, temperature, flow, level and analytical value equipment for Endress+Hauser’s field instruments.
The training facility’s state-of-the-art technology includes the installation of Profibus and HART on two interchangeable systems.
“The new technologies of plant automation hold several major advantages to production quality, efficiency and supply and demand optimisation to optimum efficiency levels,” says Gert Potgieter, lecturer in process instrumentation at UJ. “The students at UJ are already receiving training benefits from the project, and with the new 3-year Engineering Technology qualification in the pipeline, automation is foreseen to spill over into the fields of light current and heavy current alike.”
Endress+Hauser will continue to play an active role in the upgrading of the existing equipment and the addition of new technologies, to ensure the highest standards of training and skills development.
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