Exemplifying woman power in chemical engineering Process Engineering trainee Kiara Govender (24) from Durban, who achieved the Dean’s Merit Award, the FFS Award for Top Academic Achiever (Master of Engineering), the IChemE SAIChE silver medal and IPET’s highest academic achievement in BTech Engineering (all disciplines) by a lady graduate, is looking forward to a promising career as one of very few female chemical engineers in the country.
U
nfortunately, Govender’s almost twoyear contract as a process engineer in training for Bidvest Tank Terminals (BTT) at their head office in Umhlanga ended in November 2020.
Initially, she was very involved with assessing and updating their engineering site drawings, but then her main responsibility became to assess the compatibility of new and current products to the storage tanks, to give a step-
by-step method of how to store a specific product and to recommend whether the current storage facility needed to be upgraded or modified. She regularly drove to Richards Bay and the Durban site to collect information to assess the storage systems to improve the equipment’s safety and efficiency. She began her journey at BTT Richards Bay in 2019, working under the process manager (BTT is a tank farm that stores fuels, chemicals, vegetable oils, gases, etc.) “From March 2020, there was no process manager. I was then given more responsibility and tasks,” she said. “As a process engineering trainee, I gained invaluable experience and grew personally.” Her father, being a high school Science teacher, birthed an interest in Mathematics and Science in her from very young by regularly testing her and her siblings or telling them the science behind everyday tasks. This also had an impact in the way she approached her studies. “I have always loved Maths and Science from a young age and I have always excelled. I tackle every challenge or task to the best of my ability.” Govender’s younger brother is currently in his third year studying Medical Orthotics and Prosthetics at DUT and her younger sister is 15 years old and is in Grade 10 studying purely Science subjects as well. “Can you see the trend here?” she asked, laughing.
Kiara govender DUT Chemical Engineering graduate (BTech)
DUTConnect // 34
