What every girl should know about a flat tyre

I really drive a lot! Lets put it into perspective. I live 45km (about 40 minutes) from work. I work about 360km (3.5 hours) from the Johannesburg, a city I travel to frequently for work, Engineers Without Borders meetings and to see friends. I got my car in January, and in less than 5 months I have reached my first service (15 000 km)

This means that I spend quite some time in the car, and most of this time is spent by myself on rural roads, traversing the countryside, meandering along mountain passes and singing along to 5fm (which wafts in and out of signal depending on which mountain I'm behind). This can get quite lonely, and the roads are sometimes very bad, strewn with potholes and basically falling away at the edges. I accept this is part of my job, and even enjoy the peacefulness of it, but the reality is that it can also be quite dangerous.

Why you shouldn't drive around alone at night:

Two Sundays ago, I was driving back from dinner with friends quite late at night and I somehow hit a crater with my left, front tyre. The tyre burst in two places. Luckily for me, my friends were not comfortable letting me drive home alone and insisted on seeing be back safe, so were in the car behind me when this happened. We managed to change the tyre, but the spare was a mini "mari biscuit" tyre and I was very eager to replace it. Typically, the tyre guys couldn't find me the right size of tyre (for some reason I had very a very unique size of tyre) in this town or the neighbouring ones (or so he said) and had to order me one. 

Note: a full-sized tyre is preferable, but if you ever plan to change a tyre by yourself, a biscuit might be a better idea. If you've ever tried lifting a full-sized tyre out of a car, you will know why I say that. Its simply huge! Also, its a good idea to know how to use a jack and where to place it under your car so that the load is balanced. You wont know how to do this until you've actually tried, so when you have a free half and hour, I suggest you go outside and practice jacking up your car!

Why you should have standard-sized tyres fitted on your car:

So this meant that I had to drive around for a week with a mari biscuit and no spare up and down the very dodgy, long roads between my house and work until the day I finally went in to get my new tyre fitted. This meant I had to drive extra carefully and was incredibly anxious about picking up yet another flat! I was leaving for Johannesburg that Friday morning, so I made extra sure that the tyre guy knew he had till Thursday to get me the tyre I needed.

Note: the size of your tyre can be found on your actual tyre. It goes something like this: 185 65 R15. The tyre people will ask for this number when you call in to ask if they have a spare. Make a note of this somewhere for your records.

Why you should ALWAYS do your own research and NEVER trust a salesman!

Lo and behold, I pitch up Thursday afternoon at the workshop and I can instantly tell from the terrified look on his face that something was wrong. It turns out that the fool of a salesman had ordered me THE WRONG TYRE! I couldn't believe it. It was almost 5pm and as far as I knew no town in the surrounding areas had the tyre I needed. After letting the salesman know exactly what I thought of him, I get into my car and take off home, (have a good cry) and call someone I knew who may be able to help. 

Note: not everyone is always looking out for your best interests. Even though I may be a mechanical engineer, women are often taken for a ride by mechanics who think they can swindle you because you don't know any better. It can never hurt to get a second opinion!

We know you're a strong, independent woman, but sometimes its okay to ask for help...

"Uncle R" first chides me for not calling him first, then tells me to sit tight. 5 minutes later he calls back and tells me to go to a shop in the next town, where a brand new, rightly-sized tyre was waiting for me when I got there. 

Note: Often when you have a blow-out or hit something, your car's alignment will go off. This means that all four wheels wont be positioned right. This can cause worse problems if left unchecked, so get the alignment done as soon as you change the tyre. This costs around R225- R350 and takes about 30 minutes.

So in the end, somehow everything worked out. I do think I should be a bit more careful on the road though. As tough and independent as I'd like to think I am, I have to admit that certain situations are best avoided at all costs, and for others I will need my friends' help. I don't need to prove to anyone that I'm Super Woman - getting a flat tyre really put that into perspective for me, so I guess it was a good learning experience. And now I can safely say that I know how to change a tyre! 

Becoming a Professional Engineer

So now that I've stopped working like a mad-woman buried under piles of documents, I can get back to the really important stuff...like blogging! So something interesting happened this week. My boss (the tiny but feisty female chemical engineer-I need to interview her for Engineer-Chic asap) got back from Greece and we had a nice long chat about my future! This is something that had been causing me mild distress recently, so I was happy to finally talk about it. Did you know there were so many different professional options you could follow as a young, grad engineer? 

Firstly, there is the obvious option of a masters program. This can be done later on in life and usually takes two years, full-time, but in this economy, many of my ex-classmates went straight into masters programs. Obviously if it is fully funded, and you know exactly what field you want to specialize in, then why wait? But if not, I don't think there is any harm in waiting a few years, getting some industry experience and figuring it out. Also, importantly, you can use that time to get professionally registered!

What is professional registration? Ever heard of a disciplined engineer or responsible engineer? Well, every country has their own unique set of laws/ professional associations/ requirements for you to register as a professional engineer, but basically what it means is that you will be able to take responsibility for certain things such as designs, changes or decisions you make for the company you work for. 

In South Africa for example, the two main routes you can take are either to get a GCC (Government Certificate of Competency) or a PR ENG (Professional Registration in your discipline with the Engineering Council of SA-ECSA). The latter means you'll have letters behind your name like this:

Engineer-Chic, PR Eng

Cool huh? So whats the difference? Well I'll forgive you for not knowing, I wasn't exactly sure myself until this week!

You get a GCC by taking a test. Once you've worked 2 years in the field (and by 'the field' I mean either a mine/ plant environment or a factory) you are eligible to sit the GCC exam. You have to study for it and apparently it can be quite tough. If you are a 'ticketed engineer' (have passed the GCC exam) you can take responsibility for major decisions that happen at the operation you manage, and your pay skyrockets of course. The downside is of course, if you've signed off on something that fails and injures someone, you can be held accountable!

The PR Eng option is slightly different. There is no exam, but at the end of a three-year training period after graduation, you have to submit a report proving that you've met certain objectives. These objectives must have been met through the work you have done over that training period. This means you and your mentor could structure the projects you work on to ensure that each one covers a different area and meets a different objective. At the end of three years, you put all those projects together in a report and submit it. If accepted, you will be recognised as a true professional in the field. For example, as a mechanical engineer, I would be able to design systems and components and sign them off myself! 

This still carries the risks of accountability if something goes wrong, and the benefits of the pay increase...of course!

So after many long months of deliberating (not really-I've known which route I wanted to follow since November) I have decided that a professional engineer I will be! And no, that not just because I want letters behind my name and I don't want to sit another exam! (Although they are good reasons)...

Any professional engineers or ticketed engineers out there who would like to share their experiences? I'd love to hear it!

Architecture after Apartheid: Remembrance and Forgetting

Okay I know what you're all gonna say so I admit, I am officially the laziest blogger on the net! But in my defense I am freakishly busy right now (but seriously-what's new?). And FOR ONCE the topic of my other blog lines up with this one (why didn't I think of this sooner?)...

...So....

Take a look at my latest blog post on

Africa on the Blog: Architecture after Apartheid

Do I get brownie points for 'recycling' posts? Just look how sustainable I am!

But in other news, I have successfully just finished the mountain of work I've been buried under for weeks! From tomorrow the audit begins and the real fun starts! Can you think of anything as much fun as an audit? Yay!

Audience

Does something look wrong with this picture?

Why is it that NOBODY in my own country is reading my blog this week???

Wonkie, I think its time for that guest-blog! CARTOON TIME-yaaaaayyyyy!

Smart-grid whiz kids wow DC

Engineer-Chic is going GREEN today.

I absolutely love hearing about young engineers achieving amazing technological advances. Without a doubt, energy is the HOTTEST topic in the engineering world right now and will be for a while to come. With peak oil looming and the remainder of the world's fossil fuels reserves becoming increasingly difficult to extract (and of course the effect of fossil fuels on global warming), developed and developing nations alike have been scrambling for alternate fuel sources to ensure their prosperity into the future.

We've all heard of solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy, but simply switching over to these is highly impractical (costly and risky as these depend on weather conditions etc.). Engineers have realised that we will need a combination of these alternate energy sources to supplement our existing energy grid as we gradually (as technology advances), switch over to full renewable energy sources. Also, new technology is able to monitor the energy usage of your home and turn off certain appliances that you never use, channeling it elsewhere in the grid for more efficient usage! The problem comes in controlling all of this.
Enter the smart-grid!

So, remember a few posts back I mentioned the Ecohawks and that AWESOME and super-sexy smart-grid they were building? This group of students from the university of Kansas's  smart-grid (above) has a solar panel, wind turbine and battery pack attached to a popcorn maker. The grid is designed to prioritise the renewable energy-source that is most effective at the time, (wind when its windy, solar when the suns out) and charge the battery when the device is resting. Its incredibly complex system of control is the true heart of this project. The great things is that this device may well be the future of energy for most of us worldwide! (Canada is already using it).

The Ecohawks they presented their project at the P3 (People, Prosperity and Planet) finals in Washington DC last week and got an honourable mention!

______________________________________________________________

WELL DONE ECOHAWKS! 

Engineer-Chic LIKES Green Initiatives that are 

SUSTAINABLE, INNOVATIVE

and most importantly

PRACTICAL!

Don't you just love people who are changing the world? 

______________________________________________

Check this out: P3 Video (the 1st guy talking is an EcoHawk)

and

Ecohawks power up small scale smart grid

Note to possible investors: this project needs funding to continue the amazingly advanced research these young engineers are doing. Smart grid is the future of energy usage in developed countries and perhaps the world. Contact me to get in touch with them.

Engineers Without Borders SA is Looking for YOU!

This is going to be a very short post as I need to head out to an EWB conference-planning meeting in a bit. Actually Its a bit of an advert for EWB-SA (don't hate-its a good cause)!

We're organizing EWB-SA's First National Conference, with the theme (to be confirmed) relating to coming together as an organisation for growth. The 3-day conference will serve a few purposes:

• Skills transfer and development for future student EWB committee members. They will attend workshops relating to setting up and managing EWB chapters and projects.
• Bring all stakeholders of EWB together to brainstorm and develop EWB-SA vision and identity as an organisation and plan strategically for the next year.
• Increase awareness of EWB in SA through marketing and exposure.

We're looking for people based in Cape Town and Stellenbosch who will be motivated and committed to the planning and executing of this conference. The conference dates are set for the first week in December, so the committee need to plan to be in Cape Town this entire week (flights will probably be arranged if they are not local).

 

We want inspired graduates or grad-students who have the time to commit to this project- i.e. not people who could potentially be delegates at the conference.

 

The following portfolios are open:

 

• Program planning and development- someone to plan the student and professional delegate programs and coordinate it on the day.
• Student delegate administration- someone to coordinate delegate applications and issues on the day
• Guest Speakers - someone to organise and coordinate professional guest speakers and look after them at the event.
• Logistics and venue- someone in Cape Town to drive out to the venues and help with selecting one and dealing with venue issues, coordinating transport for delegates

Please contact Michelle  on ewbsa2011@gmail.com asap if you want to be involved in growing EWB-SA.

So thats it...PLEASE share this to whoever you think may be interested in the planning committee or on the funding side.

Reality Check

I want to take a bit of a break from the serious discussion topic of diversity for a bit of a 'reality-check'. Here's a glimpse into the life of this Engineer-Chic!

I’ve been on the plant now for about 3 months now. I am actually supposed to be in the projects team working on the build of the second phase to this plant (a multi-billion rand project), but my General Works Manager thought it best for me to get some down-and-dirty, real plant experience for a few months and gain some background to the operations. After the initial rat-race of figuring out what to do with me, I was sent here and have been loving it (well mostly loving it). We were in the middle of a major plant re-build, I was running about getting my overalls dirty and climbing (literally climbing) into monstrous kilns, furnaces and ball-mills! (Many many ways to kill you, remember?). I was even getting frustrated with contractors (a clear sign that I was truly settling in to this job).

And of course, out of the blue, everything had to turn on its head!

I get an email from my GWM with a LOOONG list of project management documents I had to compile for us to comply with industry-standard best-practices. Ok, so I have my work cut out, but they cant expect me to work on all of this while busy on the shut down, do they? So I email my boss and ask if I can start working on the documents after my training period is over (I mean come on, when will I EVER get this awesome shut-down experience again?)…and get the shock of my life. We are being audited internally and I need to drop everything and get to work on that immediately. But wait…it gets better…the audit is in A MONTH! What? Yes, one month to (learn about and) compile an exhaustive list of documents, policies, procedures, registers etc. Most of which I’ll have to draw up from scratch?

So after being snowed under a few days trying to piece together bits of data from various places (remotely remember as my office is in the workshop on the plant), I call my boss and ask if I can work out of the consultants' office in Johannesburg. (I had to come up to JHB anyway this weekend for an Engineers Without Borders meeting and to see family). And she says that I'd better just spend the whole of next week there! (Did I mention that I had the most awesome boss ever?) My company also booked me into a really nice guesthouse for next week. Yay! Joy! Fun! I’m really super excited to work with the consultants and the planners - I think I’ll learn a lot.

So it looks like this Engineer-Chic is trading in her safety boots for a pair of heels again! At least for a week. I just LOOOOVE the versatility of this job. I can clip-clop around Melrose Arch Offices, snacking on salads in the AMAZING lunch-room one week, and be covered in dirt and assembling massive mechanical components inside a giant grate the next! (And don’t forget the long hours spent swimming through paper-work. But lets just forget about that for now ;) )

Picasso the Pekingese with his new hair-cut!

The only problem is my little lion-dog pooch…Sigh…well fortunately I found a really sweet lady who has a pet-parlour in the next town and boards dogs. She has these little courtyards so he wont be in a kennel. Wow. Its times like these that I really RESPECT working mums out there. I mean you can’t just dump your 3-year old  at some stranger’s place for a week, can you?  So cheers to all of you!