This year the SAICE Western Cape Branch decided to change things up a bit and combine our Regional Awards Ceremony with our Annual Dinner at Kelvin Grove. The motives behind the change were twofold. Firstly, we hoped that presenting the awards at a formal dinner would increase the prestige and attract more entries. Secondly, as older members will know, the awards dinner has sometimes been a loss-maker for the branch, and we hoped that a new format would allow us to create something high quality but still financially viable.

By all accounts the night was a great success. Guests were treated to a delicious three course meal, lots of time for networking, the usual fun quiz to test everyone’s brainpower after a few glasses of wine, and, of course, the presentation of the branch awards. Looking around the room it was great to see a very diverse crowd in attendance, from students to retirees, and covering a nice spectrum of members. This bodes well for the future of SAICE.

A big thank you to all companies who entered for the awards and to our judging panel for giving your time to review the entries and decide on the winners. And, of course, congratulations to the winners. Besides the snazzy certificates (and respect of their peers), all winners will be entered into the SAICE National Awards competition which takes place later this year. For the first time, we also tried out live voting via an app for the People’s Choice award which was given to the Oliphants River Bridge. The full list of winners is provided below.

Technologist of the Year Award
Mr Richard Emery, JG Afrika

Young Engineer of the Year Award
Mr Bobby Jarratt, JG Afrika

Technical Excellence Award & Structural Division Award
Oliphants River Bridge. Professional Team led by Aurecon, with SANRAL as the Client and Stefanutti Stocks as the Main Contractor

Community Based Project Award & Environmental Division Award
GIZ Phase 2. Professional Team led by JG Afrika, with GIZ and Department of Environmental Affairs as the Client

International Project Award
Emily Viper Pedestrian Bridge. Professional Team was led by Henry Fagan & Partners, with Mr. Koos Bekker as the Client and Beard as the Main Contractor.

Marine and Harbour Division Award
Strand Sea Wall Phase 1. Professional Team led by Mott MacDonald SA, with City of Cape Town as the Client and Civils 2000 acting as the Main Contractor.

Water Division Award
Stellenbosch University Grey Water Project. Professional Team led by JG Afrika, with Stellenbosch University as the Client and Umlazi Civils acting as the Main Contractor

On the finance front, the dinner ended up (almost) breaking even thanks to a very generous sponsorship from Sizabantu Piping Systems, whose support for the branch is greatly appreciated. If you would like to know more about Sizabantu and their plastic piping products you can visit their website here. A big thanks also goes to the team of budding videographers at Aurecon for putting together the very professional project videos. It is really great to see the diverse skills that passionate young engineers can bring to the table. This too bodes well for the future of SAICE

Lastly, a big thank you to all the companies that attended for their support. We understand that these are very tough times in the industry, so we appreciate your continued engagement and involvement with SAICE. If you have any feedback on the new awards dinner format, please let us know. We welcome your suggestions on how to improve for next year.

http://sizabantupipingsystems.com/about-us/

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