SANRAL supports aspiring engineers in iGEMS Water competition: WATER WINNERS: Woolhope High School learner, from left, Siyanda Mvunyiswa, Daniel Pienaar High School learner, Owam Ntlemeza, Sanctor Secondary School learner, Mervonecia Groepe, and Douglas Mbopa High School learner, Xhanti Shai, were crowned the winners of the iGEMS Water competition, in Port Elizabeth, this week. The South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (SANRAL), SMEC, and Labco supported the event. SANRAL supports aspiring engineers in iGEMS Water competition Port Elizabeth, ## April 2018: The South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (SANRAL) supported 45 high school learners in Port Elizabeth as they took part in the iGEMS water engineering competition earlier this week. SANRAL in partnership with Labco, SMEC and the iGEMS programme hosted the one-day competition at SANRAL’s Regional Training Laboratory on Tuesday (3 April) which taught learners the practical civil engineering skills needed to plan, design, construct and operate a water distribution network. The competition created awareness regarding the importance of water conservation in South Africa. It exposed learners to the importance of team work and allowed them to come up with creative solutions to develop infrastructure to provide clean water. It combined the practical application of civil engineering with theoretical knowledge. “This competition taught the kids about water conservation and the importance of water in our communities. It is very important for the kids to learn the practical application of engineering,” said Tronel Strydom, Professional Technologist for SMEC who judged the water competition. The participating schools included Woolhope High School, Linkside High School, Sanctor Secondary School, Douglas Pienaar High School, Douglas Mbopa High School, Newton Technical High school and four other High schools, all from Port Elizabeth. The eleven competing teams compromising of grade eleven and twelve learners were tasked to design a model water distribution network to distribute three litres of water equally between three points on a grid using two different diameter pipes and various connection pieces. They were then judged according to a penalty points system. The teams had approximately one hour to complete the task which consisted of planning, designing, building and operating their network. Woolhope High … [Read more...]