Electricity + Control May 2018

SOCIAL ENGINEERS

‘Let’s Write the Future’ – Investing in Africa’s Youth

ABB’s brand promise ‘let’s write the future’ initiated the ABB and University of the Witwatersrand Technology Centre partnership, has resulted in The University of the Witwatersrand Technology Centre, known as the Tshi- mologong Precinct. This is a digital technology centre that is powering digital innovation, catalysing Black-owned tech start-ups for participation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Located in Braamfontein (Johannesburg), it serves as the platform for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0. ABB provides seed funding for technology transfer projects and application of its own technologies in the African economic context. The Univer- sity has partnerships in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, and this fosters growth

amongst African colleagues, initiates conversation and transfer of learnings. Enquiries: Tel. +27 (0) 10 202 5090 or email shivani.chetram@za.abb.com Front: Professor Tawana Kupe (Vice-Principal at University of Witwatersrand) , Leon Viljoen (ABB's Southern Africa Managing Director). Back: Dr. Chunyuan Gu (ABB's President of AMEA region), Professor Barry Dwolatzky (Direc-tor of the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering at Wits University and Founder of Tshimolo-gong Precint), Claudio Facchin (ABB's President of Power Grids division), Sami Atiya (ABB's President of Robots and Motion division).

Adroit ‘TechTalk’

At another popularTechTalk on Friday, 13 April, DaveWibberley, managing Director of AdroitTechnologies, looked at a comparison of the main LPWAN technologies on offer and explained that when choosing a technology it is important to understand the application requirement, the cost implication, sensor, contracts, data rates etc. before making the best choice for that particular application. Dave Wibberley said, “There is no clear winner here and it is certainly horses for courses. That being said, there are very few sensors available for many of the technologies. It is why we have focused our efforts around Sigfox for now.” Jan Hendrik Rust (KP) and Moses Mayimela demonstrated how some of the Sigfox sensors can be used with an Adroit SCADA hosting model to support IIoT projects in the industrial and utilities markets, using the Adroit Hosted Demo Solution. Grant Joyce finished off the ‘TechTalk’ with an exciting preview of a soon-to-be-released Mitsubishi CS Drive. Enquiries: Samantha Brink. Email samanthab@adroit.co.za

Moses Mayimela (Adroit) and Andile Makom- fane (Khaebana Investments).

Jan Hendrik Rust and Dave Wibberley (Adroit).

Grant Joyce (Adroit) and Mark Dilchert (Intergr8 & Autom8).

Electricity + Control

MAY 2018

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