Hatch civil engineer features on Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans to Watch 2018 list
 | Hatch civil engineer features on Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans to Watch 2018 list_approved | 2.09 MB | Download |
 Preview | Innocentia Mahlangu is a civil engineer and project manager at Hatch. | 3.63 MB | Download |
 Preview | Innocentia Mahlangu is on the M&G 2018 Top 200 Young South Africans list. | 706.54 KB | Download |
Mahlangu, who received her MSc Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2018, and her BSc in 2011, has extensive experience in the design and execution of rail infrastructure projects, including both project and construction management roles.
Mahlangu’s career at Hatch began in 2012 with a three-year stint in the design office, working on feasibility studies for railway infrastructure projects. Thereafter, an opportunity arose to act as resident engineer on a major construction project. Having spent a year on-site, Mahlangu was subsequently appointed as a construction manager at the age of 26, responsible for managing a multidisciplinary construction project. Shortly thereafter, she was appointed as an area project and construction manager, clinching a global award of recognition for construction excellence
“A career in engineering was not my obvious first choice, and only began to appeal to me in my Matric year,” Mahlangu states. She recounts how she created model houses from cardboard boxes while at school, even including electricity, and ultimately building her first model house from cement. “Such ideas came naturally to me,” she recalls. This abiding interest in both design and engineering eventually translated into a passion for civil engineering as a career.
While her main focus at Hatch to date has been railway engineering design and implementation, Mahlangu has progressed rapidly into project and construction management. “This offers me a greater impact in directing the manner in which engineering projects are delivered. I also believe engineers need to be ‘societal’ engineers, conscious of the fact that engineering and infrastructure projects are a vehicle to address economic and social challenges.
“I am inspired to be part of a generation of ‘societal’ engineers that has been instrumental in achieving our country’s National Development Plan vision, which recognises infrastructure as one of the key drivers of economic growth and social inclusion,” Mahlangu stresses. This aspiration was reflected in her Master’s research, which focused on Contractor Development Programmes.
Commenting on the perception that engineering continues to be a male-dominated field where women have not traditionally been able to excel, Mahlangu concludes: “I’m humbled to see an increasing number of young women thriving in this field. There are so many women who are breaking through the glass ceiling. We need more of these young female achievers to make a significant impact in this industry.”
See the listing at: http://ysa.mg.co.za/2018/innocentia-mahlangu/.
For more information, please contact:
Nomvelo Buthelezi
NGAGE Public Relations
Phone: (011) 867-7763
Fax: 086 512 3352
Cell: 083 408 8911
Email: nomvelo [at] ngage [dot] co [dot] za
Web: www.ngage.co.za
About Hatch
Whatever our clients envision, our engineers can design and build. With over six decades of business and technical experience in the mining, energy, and infrastructure sectors, we know your business and understand that your challenges are changing rapidly. We respond quickly with solutions that are smarter, more efficient and innovative. We draw upon our 9,000 staff with experience in over 150 countries to challenge the status quo and create positive change for our clients, our employees, and the communities we serve.
Find out more on www.hatch.com.