Women in HVACR
STUDENTS RECEIVE ADVICE FROM A MENTOR
By Samkelwa Xaba
Oftentimes students find themselves in a position where they do not have the knowledge and information to accelerate their careers earlier on in the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry .
The aim of this article is to create and build an environment that connects students from various training institutions and companies with professionals within the HVACR industry to interact and have dialogue using this platform .
Each year there is an increase in the number of young people recruited by MERSETA offering them training opportunities via learnership and apprenticeship programmes within the refrigeration industry .
However , there is a lack of guidance , mentorship or even a community in both training institutions and companies that will assist students in their journey to professionalism and to become good service engineers within the sector .
With the aforementioned in mind , the RACA Journal is taking an initiative to create the said platform . In this first article two students were selected to meet up with a mentor and share their experiences as females within the known male-dominated industry . They were also given an opportunity to ask questions and in return the mentor offered them advice and guidance .
BRIEF BACKGROUND ON MENTOR : ESTER GLADYS GWEMBA Gwemba is currently working at RCL Foods Pies , based in Krugersdorp as a refrigeration technician . She has been with the company for almost five years now . Some of her most enjoyable responsibilities includes working on and maintaining chillers , cold rooms and freezers , troubleshooting systems , various repairs , welding , defrost , and start up of the ammonia plant . Her most recent task was to change all the R22 units to R404 refrigerant .
She did her training at Delta Beverages in Harare , Zimbabwe for four years and has worked for Maxima Global Engineers in the Eastern Cape , Sigma Facility Management in Johannesburg and Energy Solutions in Midrand before .
She says her first choice of study was electrical engineering but she was lucky enough to receive career guidance from one of the training officers to consider refrigeration since its both the combination of electrical , mechanical and refrigeration .
She finds the trade enjoyable and one of her key strengths is the fact that she can work under pressure and under minimum supervision . She hopes to see other young females dominating the industry .
The advice she gives students who are entering this field is that they should be brave , fearless and confident in the work they do : “ The work you do and all the effort you put in will market itself .”
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www . hvacronline . co . za RACA Journal I June 2021 51