Profile | SAICE/SAFCEC Awards
Meet SAICE’s
Engineer of the Year Danie Brink was named joint winner of the 2016 SAICE/ SAFCEC Engineer of the Year award. Brink, director, Jones & Wagener (J&W), shared this year’s award with Danie Badenhorst from Aecom.
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peaking to IMIESA about winning the award, Brink says, “I am very honoured to receive recognition from my peers and very grateful that I have had the opportunity to make a contribution to my profession. I have, throughout my career, worked as part of a team and the award is as much a recognition of all the colleagues with whom I've had the privilege to work.” Brink decided to enter into civil engineering two weeks before starting university, after being accepted to study a law degree – a defining moment in what became a prolific career. Five years into his career, Brink decided to join Jones and Wagener, where he had the privilege of being mentored by Fritz Wagener, opening the door for many opportunities. Brink became the CEO of J&W during a period of major political change in South Africa. As a result, he had the demanding task of identifying ways of restructuring the company so as to comply with BEE requirements. The continued progress of J&W is a testament to his success in implementing these measures. Having now stepped down as CEO, he remains a director within Jones & Wagener. He will be stepping down as a director at the end of 2016, but will continue to serve the profession and the company as a technical
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director, while passing on his experience and expertise to the next generation of leaders. “It was an immense honour to be given the responsibility to lead the company that has meant so much to me in my career,” says Brink.
Significant achievements Brink has worked on a multitude of major and challenging projects during his career, including designing the water management system for Syferfontein Colliery, fine ash dams 3, 4 and 5 for Sasol at its Secunda plant in Mpumalanga, hazardous waste landfill development and rehabilitation, and numerous tailings storage facility developments and surveillance. Brink was also on the steering committee that assisted with the drafting of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s Minimum Requirements for Waste Disposal by Landfill set of documents that revolutionised waste containment facility design in South Africa.
Mentorship – a foundation for success “I passionately believe in mentorship and skills transfer. Any young engineer should be given the opportunity to work with experienced and quality engineers,” Brink emphasises.
Brink played an instrumental role in setting up the South African Youth into Engineering Programme (SAYEP) almost a decade ago, together with Dudu Mkhize, and remains actively involved in its activities, currently serving as director. “I must give recognition to my friend, Dudu Mkize. Without her commitment and passion, SAYEP would not be the success it is,” he adds. J&W has remained a key sponsor of SAYEP, a registered non-profit organisation that identifies impoverished black students with academic potential, places them in engineering studies at suitable universities, and provides holistic support to the students throughout their engineering studies. The programme opens its doors to all engineering disciplines, with students coming from seven provinces. They are placed at one of three Gauteng universities: the University of Johannesburg, the University of Pretoria or the University of the Witwatersrand. Once registered at the universities, students are given financial support, which includes meals and textbooks. More importantly, their performance is monitored and extra academic support is provided, if necessary. All these activities are funded by external donations from private companies. “My advice to young people would be to get themselves into a position where they work with the best, are given responsibility, and remain on a steep learning curve – the rewards will follow,” says Brink.
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