Denel honors engineering students
Young people working from advanced technology environments have the potential to create from 10 to 1,000 jobs wherever they go in their productive lives. It is therefore important to develop these skills to build a knowledge economy, said Jan Wessels, CEO of Denel Dynamics, the company Missile and UAVS (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems) and Integrated Air Defense Solutions.
Wessels spoke at Denel’s Young Achiever Awards 2013 on Friday 25 January where a group of 60 engineering scholarship students from universities across South Africa were honored for achieving 150 distinctions between them in 2012. This event, held in Pretoria, is hosted by bursar sponsors Denel Dynamics; South Africa’s home of rocket science and a hub of engineering technology.
This highlight of the company’s calendar is part of a group-wide initiative by the Denel Group to increase maths, science and engineering skills in the country. The latest research reveals declining percentages of students taking science subjects in schools and a low math competence base. There is also a lack of skills in the engineering sector.
Denel Group is an active participant in the nationwide effort to increase top skills, starting at primary level with extra maths and science lessons, right up to postgraduate level where Denel Integrated Systems Solutions recently helped to develop a course in radar technology at the University of Cape Town . This is apart from a number of scholarships and training programs and an ongoing effort to encourage young students to consider careers in advanced technology.
Air show
Denel Aviation regularly transports students from remote rural schools to air shows, exposing them to a whole new world of aviation. Air shows are good opportunities to introduce young people to the exciting world of aviation. They have the opportunity to watch the aerial displays, but also to become more familiar with the technical and maintenance aspects of the industry.
In the quest to dispel the notion that the technical industry is a man’s world, Denel Aviation also reaches out to young girls through Cell C Take a Girl Child to Work Day and has also partnered with the Thusa-A-Girl-Child project to helping girls from disadvantaged areas with health essentials, such as sanitary napkins, and coaching on reproductive health issues to ensure they have an equal opportunity to attend and succeed in school.
Other measures include:
- Denel Aviation sponsors projects that provide extra maths and science lessons to students in the North West at Vaal Reefs Technical High School and at Rafedile Academy in Springs, while the company’s engineers teach students from Reiger Park Secondary School at weekends at the Denel Kempton Park Campus. Together, these projects reach over 1,000 students every weekend. This provides a pool for recruitment into an ongoing sponsored apprenticeship training program to qualify students as aircraft maintenance tradesmen. The company is also working with the Ekurhuleni community to facilitate a youth day careers programme.
- Denel Dynamics is sponsoring a Saturday Maths and Science School at Olievenhoutbosch Secondary School and Steve Tshwete Secondary. This provides a pool of talent for recruitment into a scholarship scheme and ultimately an engineer in training.
- Producing young engineers: Denel Dynamics’ Engineering Academy of Learning steers interns into boundary-pushing technology territory (EAL). For example, the 2012 trainees from EAL were tasked with designing, manufacturing and commissioning a 1 U Cube Satellite (CubeSat) and associated ground support systems. The results continue to raise eyebrows due to the ingenuity and innovation of these talented youngsters.
“Young engineers can have a big impact on job creation, and people with bright, young minds have a drive to build things that work through experimentation and product realization – exactly the kind of skills South Africa needs to nurture,” Wessels said.
