Power company Globeleq South Africa Management Services’ next round of scholarships for mechatronics students, who will be doing their second year of study in 2016, will start in September.

Following the completion of their second- and third-year courses, some of the engineering/mechatronics students will have the opportunity to apply what they have learnt through a 12-month on-site internship, as the scholarship includes a service obligation.

Mechatronics is an interdisciplinary field that combines traditional electrical, electronic, mechanical, control and computer engineering skills.

Scholarship Programme

Through its partnership with Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm, Droogfontein Solar Power and De Aar Solar Power, the company has invested more than R2-million in the scholarship programme, which it hopes will help to develop young engineering students for the renewable-energy and other engineering sectors.

“It is our hope that, through this programme, which aims to help meet the demand in the industry for qualified engineers, we will not only create a skills pipeline for our company but also support and contribute to the industry and the country as a whole,” says Globeleq MD Mark Pickering.

He adds that the scholarships enable engineer graduates from across the country to acquire the qualifications and skills required by the sector, particularly in mechatronics.

Students’ tuition, daily living expenses and learning expenses, such as textbooks and study material, will also be covered.

In 2014, 25 students were selected out of 150 applications for the programme from universities such as Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Tshwane University of Technology and Cape Peninsula University of Technology, as well as the universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town.

Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson’s announcement in April this year that 6 300 MW would be added to the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme suggests that there will be an increasing need for qualified specialist engineers, Pickering states.