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ALWAYS INTRIGUED BY ENGINEERING
By Benjamin Brits
Henry Townsend was drawn to engineering from an early age , and believes the mechanical field found him .
Townsend grew up and attended school in the mining town of
Carletonville located to the west of the Gauteng provice , where he elected to study towards a degree in mechanical engineering at PUKKE / NWU in Potchefstroom .
From as early as Grade Seven , he knew he wanted to become an engineer and when asked why ‘ mechanical ’ was specifically of interest , he says that perhaps it was all the fun he had with Lego Technic during his school years , which held a mechanical flair . He further recalls just not having any interests other than engineering .
After completing his Masters Degree thesis , his career started straightaway with an opportunity at an HVAC consulting company , and since then he has remained in HVAC consulting engineering . Starting at JH System Engineers , he then took an opportunity at Aurecon ( which included work in their bulk water division ). His career and experience then further progressed with SMEC and Royal Haskoning before joining WSP in mechanical HVAC , where he hopes to settle .
Townsend ’ s hobbies and interests outside of work include trail running , golf and spending time with his family .
What he enjoys most about his work is firstly seeing the initial sets of 3D models of his ideas and designs , and secondly seeing those designs enter real life , and all of the equipment on a site in operation .
What makes it to the top of his list of significant achievements is his roles in several projects he either started with little knowledge of the specific engineering field , or projects that he inherited with virtually no handover . Ultimately seeing those projects successfully through to completion along with the good and challenging times is very rewarding . One such project of importance that stood out for him was participation in a new brewery in Nigeria .
When asked what his view on where the HVAC sector is headed in terms of technology is , he noted the particular question is quite an interesting one and could hole a number of predictions . Personally ,
Townsend foresees an increase in smart / on-demand driven systems for all types of HVAC equipment and pushing the boundaries of reducing total energy consumption . He also holds the view that in the near future BIM360 will not only be used as a project design , documentation and collaboration tool , but will also be a post-project building fine-tuning tool with built-in BMS capabilities .
Henry Townsend
This ties into his ideas of improving or uplifting the industry overall . “ I would like to see contractors start buying into , and using 3D modelling , visualisation and team collaboration tools such as Revit , Navisworks and BIM360 – with the aim to improve their visualisation and understanding of the installation and building from construction startup . This would greatly assist in foreseeing possible technical issues early on in a project and therefore minimise delays and added costs later on . This would further assist with coordination on site , ensuring a more accurate installation with fewer clashes . Hopefully we will see contractors using smart devices with BIM360 to assist them with better information on hand for their required installations .
I also foresee large printed drawings hanging in the main contractor ’ s office being replaced with touch screens showing only the latest updated information ( immediate uploads and access to latest drawings , models and info ). This would also reduce the time and cost of printing and delivering drawings from office to site ( which sometimes is quite a distance ). Engineers and architects spend vast amounts of hours on detailed 3D coordination , and this coordination amongst the professional team really means nothing if all that information cannot be transferred effectively to the teams on site ,” he concludes . RACA
Henry Townsend forsees great prospects for coordinated use of technology to speed up work and reduce site challenges .
www . hvacronline . co . za RACA Journal I February 2022 35