Aspiring engineers in the community to gain skills at ElectroMechanica’s Mechatronics Academy
WNYBERG– ElectroMechanica Mechatronics Academy sets to help equip students with the necessary skills they need for the workplace.
In a bid to help upskill aspiring engineers in the community, ElectroMechanica’s Mechatronics Academy was launched under the title of ‘Merging Business and Academia in Industry 4.0 on 28 March in Wynberg.
This was thanks to Polytech Africa, a B-BBEE Level 4 start-up engineering consultancy/projects and training specialist who have teamed up with ElectroMechanica (EM) to assist in developing critical skills necessary for Industry 4.0 to be adopted in the country.
In her presentation at the launch, Astrid Straussner, Polytech Africa managing director and founder said, “Educational institutions cannot be islands on their own, and require the cooperation of both the government and the private sector.”
Straussner explained that the academy was the first training facility of its kind to be accredited by the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (merSETA).
She explained that the academy is where the EM’s active involvement would be crucial, as it is important that students are exposed to the latest products and developments. “This especially given the fact that Industry 4.0 and the ‘Internet of Things’ are a reality in South Africa.
“Everyone in our industry is aware of the hype surrounding Industry 4.0, to such a point that you quite often even hear politicians talking about it. In Africa, we need to upskill dramatically in order to be ready for this.”
EM director Andrew Nobbs welcomed the guests and stated they were upping the ante on the usual product training to offer a fully-accredited and recognised academy that plans to give students a skills-based education to prepare them for the workplace of the future.
The academy sets to focus on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 2 learnership. “This is based on essential aspects of precision mechanical engineering, electronics, and computer design systems used to control and automate mechanical products with electrical signals. EM’s specialised products in this regard include its Delta industrial automation range,” Straussner said.
She explained that upon completion of the NQF Level 2 qualification, certificate holders will be able to gain entry to highly skilled sectors such as mechanical and electrical engineering, pneumatics and hydraulics, robotics, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), computer numeric control (CNC), industrial information technology (IT), the automotive sector, and also precision welding.
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