Full Name: Wesley Kondwani BANDA
Position: Research Engineer (Mintek)
What contribution do you see yourself making to the Young Professionals Council and the SAIMM?:
- I am an innovative thinker; I will bring new ideas in a different spectrum.
- I am a self-motivated and hardworking individual I will make sure tasks are achieved with excellent quality
- I have good leadership skills and I will surely keep the team motivated and working towards great achievements
- I will bring initiatives and ideas to make SAIMM grow and be competitive in the engineering field
Interaction/activities that you currently participate in within the SAIMM (if applicable):
- (2014-2016) YPC communications committee leader, and secretary.
- (2014-2019) Conference organising committee member
- (2020-2021) YPC Treasurer
- (2021-2022) YPC Secretary
Qualifications:
- BSc Chemical Engineering (Wits)
- MSc Metallurgical Engineering (Wits)
- Project Management Professional (PMP®)
Brief career history:
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July 2012- Jan 2013: I worked at Central Rand Gold Ltd. as an intern metallurgist. I was involved in laboratory-scale research project and reported to the senior metallurgist. I worked on an optimization project which focused on improving the electro-winning circuit recovery.
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March 2014- August 2014: I worked at Corruseal SF as Quality Assurance Technician. I was responsible for data capturing and quality assurance, SHEQ and maintenance.
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August 2014- August 2015: Project Engineer Intern at the Pyrometallurgy Division at Mintek. Training and execution of commercial and state-funded projects in the pyrometallurgy department, from laboratory to pilot-scale.
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August 2015- January 2019: Project Engineer specializing in the mineral extraction process R&D. I am a professionally registered process engineer (ECSA) and a certified project management professional (PMP®) with experience in all stages of the project management life cycle. My role also allows me to work as a consultant on commercially funded R&D projects from laboratory- to pilot-scale furnaces and fluid bed chlorinators. Some of the areas of research include ferroalloys, furnace containment, and titania slag chlorination.
Date and place of birth:
1991-03-06
South Africa
Other industry body affiliations?
ECSA Professional Engineer
Mintek’s Professional Association (MinPASS), Chair Person
What are your views on the 4th industrial revolution?
I believe technology has become part of our lives and thus we need to start using it to increase efficiency as well as embrace it. This means we need to start reducing the manual processes and even move activities done on laptops to our mobiles, since with the 4th industrial revolution, there is a drive to have instant information and results on the go.
If you were a precious metal what would you be and why?
Silver. Like how silver can be used in food and as a conductor, I am a jack of all trades, and have the shiny personality to support it ☺
How do you think industry bodies such as the SAIMM can better equip young professionals such as yourself?
Use technology to educate and mentor the young professionals, be more visible and engaging. SAIMM needs to make engineering fashionable and a trend. Have YPC committee members that are also brand ambassadors and can reach a magnitude of Young professionals no matter their locations because we have technology in our hands.
How do you see young professionals making a significant change in the industry?
We are influencers, we are the future, and we are collectively a force to be reckoned with. Using social media platforms we have the power to shape the industry as well as connect with the world at the tap of our finger tips. We need to realise this power sooner.
What gets you up in the morning?
Gym haha. I need to start my day with high levels of energy so that I can shine the positivity onto others, gym allows me to refuel my energy levels.
Social media links or information:
LinkedIn : Kondwani W. Banda
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kondwanibanda/
Instagram: Kondwani W. Banda
