I have always felt that it is the responsibility of the older generation to pass on their knowledge and skills, instead of what is sadly the normal case of retiring and disappearing into the sun, resulting in a loss to the industry.
I have spent a large part of my career latterly actively mentoring and assisting young engineers to understand the basic principles and design philosophy applied to major Ammonia refrigeration systems. Realising there was so much more to give and looking for a vehicle to bring this to the South African Ammonia industry, I teamed up with Gerhard Koch from ATSI in March when we both went to the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) conference in California. There we met up with representatives from both the Ammonia Safety Training Institute (ASTI) and Refrigeration Engineering Training Association (RETA)
RETA is a US-based training organisation aiming to upgrade the expertise of already qualified operators and management in industrial refrigeration. They are the sole ANAB accredited service provider having met the ANSI 17024 standards and have recognised it is crucial to provide training and education to individuals entering the field, to ensure that they have the necessary skills and knowledge.
As you probably know by now, we both had an amazing trip making new friends and acquaintances as we went. It was a joy to see just how the industry works together and to sample good old USA hospitality. You will probably have noted elsewhere that there were two representatives of RETA at the GCCA African Cold Chain conference held on the 2nd to 4th August in Cape Town. We had discussed the upcoming GCCA conference with them but imagine our surprise when we heard they were actually coming and why. It was probably to visit Cape Town – but who can blame them.
During the recent IIAR conference we spoke to the RETA guys about their training programmes, and they discussed their organisation’s mission to spread their informative training knowledge out of the US, into the six continents of the world. Who needs refrigeration in Antarctica anyway? After our discussions they felt that they wanted to visit South Africa to see what we are getting up to here and they actually came. It has been a wonderful opportunity to chat and see where we are when it comes to adding skills to the industry.
One of the local problems is that due to the small pool of engineers, highquality training of individual engineers is a problem and is normally only provided by the specialist refrigeration contracting companies. What a fantastic solution when up pops RETA with their specialised training and willingness to share their programmes with us. It’s amazing when we look at what we are trying to do and the synergy between our objectives. There are no training programmes locally that extend beyond SAQCCGas Cat B training for plant operators and technicians. Sure, there is Cat C but that’s for something else altogether.
For me the bonus is the further technical training for young engineers that would like to make a career in the Ammonia industry. Without these well-documented and wellpresented training programmes and material, where are we going to find the new system designers and engineers of the future? The question is also who is going to present the material? Only a trained and proficient design engineer, and where are we going to find them?
I get excited when I hear of these initiatives so often – I have had to turn young engineers away when they talk to me about progressing in the industry. This is an initiative that we need to actively embrace.
One of the core values of RETA is the spread and dissemination of technical information. The way they promote this is by setting up chapters around the world where there are technical meetings and gettogethers generating a forum for discussions and support of all members. Imagine if you could rock up to one of these meetings and instead of being on your own with your own problems, there is someone to share with – someone who cares. Don’t you just love the one big community concept?
I get excited when I think of the concept but it’s not going to happen tomorrow. But if we all work at it – why not sometime soon? I’d love to get some feedback on this, is there anybody out there that thinks this is a good idea?
Until next month, stay safe.