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August 26, 2011 • Year 6, Vol.14
Tel: 015 962 1008
* By Ntsieni Tshisevhe
Meet Quality Engineer, Kate Mushi A Woman in a man’s world
* Please tell us about yourself. I am a young ambitious lady born in Mankweng hospital in 22 September 1986. I grew up with my two lovely sisters Mpho and Ditemana, raised by a loving awesome mother Mrs Liza Mushi. In 1993 I started my grade 1 at Makwarela Primary School where I saw some of my good qualities in interacting with other kids. I was a very confident kid who liked taking part in every activity and leading was one of my best attributes. This actually made me have my own group of friends and funny enough I use to be in a group of kids who were competitive, and who were the STARS of the school “academically” as we all know that “birds of a feather flock together”. In 2000 known as the year millennium was the year I started High school at Thohoyandou Technical High. My high school helped a lot in choosing my field of study on my first year 2005 at Cape Peninsula University of Technology. * What do you do at Ford? I am a Quality Engineer at Ford Motor Company. As quality engineers we ensure customer satisfaction with the products that we produce in our company, by providing improvements and standardization to our processes. We are also responsible for implementing containments and corrective actions to rectify the customer problems in cooperation with all other engineers. * How did you choose this career path? In my lower level grades in primary school, I used to say; “I want to be a doctor” but as I grew to higher levels I actually thought of diverting into engineering. That’s when I decided to go to Thohoyandou Technical high School since they offered engineering subjects (Civil, Mechanical & Electrical) in Grade 11-12. We had Physical Science (Physics Chemistry), which was offered to everyone, and while learning the indepth nature of Physical science, I fell in love with Chemistry
and in my first year at varsity I decided to take a course in Chemical Engineering which was even more interesting. We learned more about the extraction of Diamonds (how they are processed, cut and washed) and how coal and other metals are formed through chemical reactions taking place. * Do you know how water is formed and how it is purified? Well I got to learn more and more about the water we use every day, the processes it undergoes and the systems used and the designing of water purification systems. Basically, as chemical engineers we can work at any manufacturing company as process engineers, and still be Chemical Engineers. I once worked as a process engineer student at Nissan SA and Bevcan (Tin manufacturing company) and now I am a Quality Engineer at Ford Motor Company. Interesting huh? * What sort of challenges do you come across and how do you overcome them? As a woman working in an engineering environment where 90% of people and management are men, it was quite a challenge to me in the beginning. Men can be tough people when working with women in terms of convincing them of certain ideas that we initiate as engineering women. They tend to make us feel little, or they actually overanalyze whatever ideas we have before they come to pass. I realized that they just don’t want to admit that we can come up with better ideas as well. To them, men are always the ones who should initiate, but fortunately we are in a generation where women are no longer scared of facing challenges or doing what they love doing. - Continues on p2
Kenneth Muthige - Gautrain Driver * By Ntsieni Tshisevhe
The Gautrain is a state-of-the-art rapid rail network in Gauteng. It was
officially launched on the 2nd of this month. The rail connection comprises of two links, namely a link between Pretoria and Johannesburg and a link between OR Tambo International Airport and
Sandton. This modern train will offer international standards of public transport with high levels of safety, reliability, predictability and comfort. Travelling at maximum speeds of 160
to 180 kilometres per hour it will reach Pretoria from Johannesburg in less than 40 minutes. Limpopo is very well represented by Kenny Muthige, who is a driver of the Gautrain. - Continues on p3