The runner up team was Simiso Ngubane, John Hlongwane and Senzelumusa Khuzwayo from Domino Servite School, KZN.  These learners won first year mechanical engineering bursary, local site visits to engineering companies, as well as AutoCAD Inventor software.

2007 Runner up trip - report written by team members 

The members from the 2007 runner up team, Simiso Ngubane, John Hlongwane and Senselumusa Khuzwayo and their educator, Mr. van Straten from Domino Servite in KZN started their trip on Wednesday 5 December 2007.  This is what the team members had to say about the trip: 

Wednesday 5 December 2007 –Bell Equipment and Unizul Science Centre

We had a warm welcome at Bell Equipment, where the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Gary Bell, greeted us.  Here we saw how the technological process is implemented in real life.  For this process to work well, teamwork is essential - something which is successfully put into practice at Bell.

What was extraordinarily is the way Bell Equipment transforms flat metal sheets into usable machinery like dump trucks.  This includes bending the materials, cutting it with laser and plasma technology and putting it together.  Bell Equipment grew from specialising with sugar cane loaders to being the only company in the world producing 50-ton dump trucks; today they are an international competitor with stakes all over the world.  The company has excellent management, utilising their resources in its most efficient way in order to maximise profit.  We could see that the company is growing fast and is very competitive globally.  The company provides opportunities for employees in various directions, from being a welder to an IT specialist. 

The trip to Unizul Science Centre teaches one to look at things from a different perspective – our minds are conditioned to look at objects in a specific way, but here we were challenged to see things differently, e.g. how quick your mind is to build challenging puzzles or how you can see different images in one drawing or how to walk in a circle looking through prisms, etc. 

In the evening we enjoyed a wonderful supper with two of the training staff from Bell.  There friendliness was tangible and we felt very spoilt. 

Thursday 6 December 2007 - RBCT

After a lovely breakfast we visited Richard’s Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT).  On our way there we saw a train going towards the coal terminal and were amazed by its length, which we later discovered was about 2 kilometres in length.  The locomotive usually pulls 200 trucks, each carrying a few tons.

At RBCT Millicent gave us a warm welcome and some refreshments.  We watched a video, summarising the work done at RBCT, and then left with Mr Julio de Santos to look at the terminal.

We found it fascinating to see how they use computer software and modern technology to co-ordinate everything from a 45-meter high tower situated on the premises. 

We then went to the SABS (South African Bureau of Standards) offices, which are also on the premises, where we saw how they test the coal in order to place them into different categories.  The reason why they do this is that different buyers prefer different varieties of coal (of which there are over 60).  It was mind boggling to see what role the SABS fulfils at RBCT.  They dry the coal in order to determine its true weight, they break the coal down into its various elements (like aluminium) and determine the different temperatures at which different kinds of coal ash change back into solids.  All these tests are important to help RBCT to supply the correct grade of coal to their customers.

RBCT clearly plays a big role in South Africa’s economy, as it is the biggest exporting terminal in the world.  700 ships are loaded annually, taking South Africa’s coal to countries around the world.  On average each ship carries 150 000 tons of coal.  Seeing the process involved in getting the coal from the train trucks to the dumping sites and finally onto the ships using conveyer belts was an eye-opener.  

Thursday 7 December 2007 – Murray & Roberts – NPC Construction Site

Apart from the rain, we enjoyed the time at Murray & Roberts.  We were met by Hannes Marais and started the visit with an introduction, which included a video showing the importance of having the right attitude before leaving the ‘change room’ (symbolising a change in mind-set once entering the site).  Seeing how a plant is constructed proved to be very interesting.  Each person on site needs to be sure of what exactly they need to do, always bearing in mind that safety comes first.  A lot of emphasis is placed on taking the necessary precautions, not only for ones own security, but also of those around you.  Teamwork therefore is always critical and the importance of safety on a construction site cannot be emphasised.

There are a few interesting structures: the plant has its own substation with huge cables carrying up to 11 000 volts; the main towers floors are 1,2 meters thick; huge storage bins, holding raw materials, weigh the content using pressure sensors; rotating furnace pipes, which heat up the material, radiate heat up to 50 meters away. 

All that was left to be said was yeas.  Looking back over the three days, it can only be described as sizzling.  Thank you to all those who gave up their time to host us, answer all our questions and to the companies for all the bits and bobs, like t-shirts, pens etc that they gave to us during our visits.  It will be a long time, if ever, before this trip is forgotten.  Thank you.