2007/8 NSTF Award Winners
Ms Allyson Lawless, Chair SAICE Section 21 Company Board and Managing Director of her own consulting company: WINNER IN THE CATEGORY C AWARD: ‘Activities other than research and its outputs over the last five years or less'
Allyson Lawless undertook a massive project across the country regarding the skills shortage in the civil engineering profession. The project, including interviews, questionnaires and workshops of and with students, graduates and other sources of input, culminated in the publication of ‘Numbers and Needs: Addressing Imbalances in the Civil Engineering Profession' and a second, similar analysis of the local government situation. These publications have changed perceptions regarding limited skills in South Africa where for the first time, the scope of the engineering skills shortage has been measured. The interventions suggested in the books are being very successfully implemented, e.g. the ENERGYS (Engineers Now to Ensure Roll-out by Growing Young Skills) project which was devised to start addressing the needs identified in the publication. UNESCO has proposed that the work should serve as a model for studies in other African as well as in certain first world countries.
Fltr: Honourable Mosibudi Mangena, Minister of Science and Technology, Ms Allyson Lawless, and Ms Lulu Khumalo, BHP Billiton. Our heartiest congratulations to Allyson!