UCT: 1991 to 1994, graduating with BSc in Mechanical Engineering

UNISA: 2004 to 2005, graduating with an MBL

 

I got married in 1998 to Juliet and we have two children, Alessandro and Antonio. We currently live in Durbanville.

 

My engineering career has been varied, starting with the design of automated equipment for the packaging industry, a few years for a US based firm, Dow Chemical and now working for a global engineering consultancy started in South Africa, Paterson and Cooke. I am currently managing the engineering of slurry pipeline system for a Moroccan phosphate mining company. The system will be used to transport the phosphate in slurry form from the mine, 189 km to the coast where some of it will be used to make phosphoric acid and the remainder will be dried and shipped. The system is capable of transporting 5000 tons per hour which amounts to about 25% of world production. The main pipeline is 900 mm in diameter with an outer shell of steel up to 25mm thick and an internal HDPE (plastic) liner. The main pump station uses 6 pumps in series each equipped with an 1850 kilowatt motor. The engineering is now 80% complete and construction is well under way. The remainder of 2012 will be spent on developing the software needed to run the system as well as providing support for the construction teams and assuring the quality of equipment that is can be shipped to the construction site. Commissioning is scheduled for early 2013.