contractors’ corner
3
Personality of the Month
The learning curve is always the best experience
ANDREWDickson has been at CBI-electric: low
voltage for the past six years. He started at the
company as senior design engineer and took on
his new role as divisional manager: engineering
and quality in September. Andrew is passionate
about electrical engineering. He is equally pas-
sionate about fair play and integrity within the
electrical industry where even a small mistake
can be fatal; and it is this integrity that makes him
determined to eradicate counterfeit electrical
products from themarket place.
However, a good life is about balance and
when he isn’t working, Andrew is a fun-loving,
sportsmad, adventurer whowants to see as
much of this planet as possible.
Sparks:
Wherewere you educated?
AD:
I attended St Stithians College fromGrade
1 to 12 and all my tertiary education has been
through the University of theWitwatersrand in
Johannesburg. I graduated in 2000with a BSc
(Eng) Electrical, then in 2005with anMSc (Eng)
Electrical and, hopefully, will be graduating in
December this year, withmy PhD.
Sparks:
How long have you been involved in the
electrical industry?
AD:
I have been involvedwith the industry for
about 12 years
Sparks:
When andwhere did you start your
career?
AD:
I officially startedworking as a contract pro-
grammer, usingDelphi 6, for the CSIR transport
division. However, mymain entry point into low
voltage electrical installations was in research
performed for the SABS on themandatory
application of SPDs in lowvoltage installations.
From there it has been lightning, surge arrestors,
breakers, earth leakages and energymeters.
Sparks:
What are the greatest changes you have
seen over the years?
AD:
Themost disturbing change has been the
great loss of technical knowledge and skill as
people have retired or left the country, with very
little knowledge being transferred to newand
upcoming engineers.
Sparks:
What major projects have youworked
on andwhat is your greatest accomplishment?
AD:
Probably themain project that I worked on
was for the SABS, as it was a single project with a
defined scope.The other work has been internal
projects, which I picked up in a variety of differ-
ent positions, so I can’t really take ownership of
them. One of themore interesting projects I have
Andrew Dickson.
been involved in has been the process of identify-
ing counterfeit products coming into the South
Africanmarket place, and achieving convictions
against the perpetrators. My greatest accomplish-
ment so far ismy current position at CBI-electric:
lowvoltage and, at the end of this year, another
great accomplishment will be the completion of
my PhD.
Sparks:
Have youwon any awards?
AD:
Yes, but most of those have been in the field
of music; nothing really inmy engineering career.
I havewon a presentation award at a conference
andwas runner-up in an SABS essay competition,
but that’s about it.
Sparks:
Whohas been your inspirationor have
youhad amentorwhohas influenced your career?
AD:
I would have to say that there are a couple
of peoplewho have influencedme: primarily,
professor Ian Jandrell, asmy supervisor for my
postgraduate studies as well as amentor with
awealth of knowledge and advice for a young
engineer in the industry.The secondwould be
my namesake - my Uncle Andrew, whowas a
mechanical engineer.When I hit a crossroads in
my life, he suggested that I follow the academic
route, which set me on a path that I could not
have hoped to concoct for myself.
Sparks:
What, to your mind, is one of the biggest
challenges facing the industry at this time?
AD:
I would say that a significant challenge is the
lownumber of graduate students who actually
enter the profession – they all seem to have a
greater interest in investment banking. We know
we have a brain drain going on, but we also have
a lot of folk retiring and there is very little knowl-
edge transfer.
Sparks:
What do you enjoymost about your job?
AD:
I used to give an introductory talk to high
school leavers about the electrical engineering
world, its possibilities and the career paths they
could follow. During this talk I wouldmen-
tion that somewhere, sometime during their
university careers they would probably blowup
something. However, they should not attempt to
do this with everything.
Every now and then you need to push the
boundaries and, although not everything ends
in success, the learning curve is always the best
experience. It is this experience that goes with
you into industry and,
particularly inmine, where we deal with safety
critical devices, we have to push the boundaries,
and that means blowing things up. But, by do-
ing so, we are able to provide better protection
for the users of electricity.
I also enjoy the tangibility of my work, where
I canwalk the factory floor andwatchmachines
produce the components required for the circuit
breaker and earth leakages. I can
follow thewholemanufacturing
and assembly process and at the
end I have something inmy hand.
Sparks:
Howdo youmotivate
your staff?
AD:
I believe in giving them the
freedom to learn and to take own-
ership of their work environment.
If that doesn’t work, a
knobkerrie
can be used!
Sparks:
If you could‘do it all again’,
would you change anything? If so,
what would that be?
AD:
No, I wouldn’t want to change
the path that I have trod. I can’t
deny I have had some of themost
amazing opportunities and scope
to see theworld, as well as do the
things I most enjoy. It has been
quite an adventurewith a couple
of unexpected twists and turns,
but I wouldn’t change that.
Sparks:
Would you advise a
person leaving school to enter the
electrical industry? Andwhy?
AD:
Absolutely. As you can tell, my
general theme is that this country
needsmore engineers, but they
need to have the passion for it.We
needmore peoplewhowant to
roll up their sleeve and get their
hands dirty.
Sparks:
What is your advice to
electrical contractors and/or elec-
trical engineers?
AD:
The Information Age is upon
us, and countries are no longer
isolated. Choose your products
carefully, performyour design
diligently andmake sure that
you check the system thoroughly
before you flip the switch.
Sparks:
What is your favourite
quote?
AD:
“I haveno special talents, I am
only passionately curious.”
– Albert Einstein
Sparks:
Name three things on your‘bucket
list’(things youwant to do before you‘kick the
bucket’).
AD:
Three of the things onmy bucket list are: Go
to Antarctica; learn Chinese; and learn to kite surf.
CONSULTING Engineers South Africa
(CESA) applauds the appointment of
Department of Public Enterprises director-
general, Tshediso Matona, as the chief
executive of Eskom.
“We believe that Matona brings with him
fresh ideas to resuscitate the ailing state
power utility and we are confident that he
will come up with fresh new strategies to
navigate Eskomout of power outages and
load shedding that has become the norm.
Eskom requires both the financial and tech-
nical vigilance tomanoeuver itself out of
the operational deficiencies and dire finan-
cial position exacerbated by lower tariffs
approved by the National Energy Regulator
of South Africa (Nersa).CESAmember firms
are ready to work with Matona as trusted
advisors and partners,”says CESA CEO
Lefadi Makibinyane.
Makibinyane adds,“Matona has the best
experience and exposure to take Eskom
forward and contribute to national power
security that will ensure the accelerated
growth of the economy of South Africa.”
Enquiries: +27 73 981 2066
CESA: “Eskom is in good hands”
