Mechanical Technology June 2015

⎪ Industry forum ⎪

Xylem South Africa, a division of the global water technology leader, Xylem Inc, recently announced the appoint- ment of its new managing director, Pierre Fourie. After an exhaustive local and in- ternational search for the right candidate, Fourie’s skills set, technical background and solid management experience was a “perfect fit” for this important leadership role within the company. “I am extremely excited about work- ing with the talented pool of people at Xylem,” Fourie says. “Especially due to Xylem’s involvement with a vast range of clients in the mining; municipal and agricultural spheres. “Water is a global concern, in terms of scarcity and accessibility for day-to-day consumption and within commercial processes – especially within Africa. With the top-tier products in Xylem’s arsenal of products; including globally renowned brands such as Flygt and Godwin pumps; the company is poised to assist clients and communities to gain access to water for a variety of uses, while helping them to conserve fresh water and limiting en- ergy usage.” Fourie underlines this com- mitment to world-leading water solutions on the African continent saying, “we are uniquely positioned to deliver what cli- ents need within an African context – and our team is set to roll out a few excellent initiatives in the near future. I am proud to be a part of it.” Fourie is deeply committed to em- ployee development: “It is a key motivator for me to harness the collective skills of New MD at Xylem South Africa

Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum pump agency secured Integrated Pump Technology has secured the agency and distributorship for Oer- likon Leybold Vacuum, for sub-Saharan Africa. The agreement covers the full line of fore- and high-vacuum pumps, sys- tems, vacuum systems, vacuum gauges, leak detecting instruments, flanges, fit- tings, valves and accessories. Graham Russell, CEO of Integrated Pump Technology, points out that this will allow the company to broaden its product offering to include vacuum technology. “This underlines Integrated Pump Technology’s business philosophy of partnering with leading specialist suppliers of technology solutions that add value to complex processes.” The Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum is already well known in South Africa, with a relatively large installed base of products. Russell explains that fore vacuum pumps are used in general industrial applications such as pick-and-place sys- tems, food and packaging and as back- ing pumps for high vacuum application. High vacuum pumps are typically used in research laboratories and the coatings industry. pump-technology.com

Xylem South Africa’s new MD, Pierre Fourie.

all our employees into a cohesive whole. I want employees to feel free to approach me and their managers with new ideas. I want them to be able to identify and seize opportunities knowing that they are supported by management and the wider team at our company.” This ties in with Fourie’s strong focus on skills development for employees. Upcoming initiatives include: the opening of its new rental depot in Johannesburg later this year, which will be the largest pump rental hub in Africa; and the opening of Xylem’s first branch in the Eastern Cape. Fourie will be heading up these initiatives and managing the South African team from the company’s head office in Boksburg, Gauteng. www.xylemwatersolutions.com/scs/south-africa

A single stage rotary vane vacuum pump from Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum.

SANSA launches SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) reached another milestone with the launch of its high-resolution SPOT 6 and 7 National Mosaics satellite imagery and ortho-bundle (mapping) data at the CSIR Convention Centre in Pretoria. High- level researchers and representatives of various government departments, as well as public and private institutions attended the launch.

“Using satellite data provides repeti- tive, reliable and consistent information about the planet on a global scale. When combined with ‘ in-situ ’ observations, it’s an extremely powerful tool for monitoring our environment, including low-cost housing mapping, which helps government with future planning and development. More importantly, with the two satellite we are in a position to provide two seasonal mosaics per year,” says SANSA Earth Observation managing director, Dr Jane Olwoch. SPOT 6 will aid agriculture by making available information about vegetation and providing water quality analysis. Among other data, these products are strategically in line with the SANSA goal to collect, as- similate and disseminate earth observation data to support South Africa’s policy mak- ing, decision making, economic growth and sustainable development initiatives. www.sansa.org.za

potential benefits of the SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 satellite imagery products to further ad- dress national issues, including tackling food security, agricultural issues, energy, rural development and urban planning, especially at local government level,” says SANSA CEO, Dr Sandile Malinga. He adds: “SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 are crucial decision-supporting tools for South Africa. The defence, intelligence and police departments will benefit greatly from these highly responsive sensors that increase acquisition capacity and simplify data access.” SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 cover wide areas in record time and their agility capability makes them useful for disaster monitor- ing. Both products can accommodate last-minute urgent task requests with high levels of data detail.

With a resolution of 1.5 m, the SPOT 6 and 7 earth observation satellites are sure to enter the SPOT series into a new era. These two satellites form a small constellation, and were deployed into the same orbit on September 9, 2012 (SPOT 6) and June 20, 2014 (SPOT 7). The two satellites replace a single satellite, SPOT 5 that was decom- missioned at the end of March 2015. “We are very excited to harness the

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Mechanical Technology — June 2015