Applied Marine Engineers Programme

South Africa is severely under-resourced in the engineering sector. According to 2014 statistics of the
Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), SA only has a total of 15 000 engineers and has one
engineer that services approximately 2666 people whereas internationally one engineer services 40
people.

Riodor believes that in particular, marine engineering shortages must be fixed to ensure that SA youth
will not only have the skills to secure dignified jobs, but they could also save the SA Navy vast sums
of money in turn by reducing dependency on expensive international agencies for maintenance
services.

If the SA Navy is to efficiently and effectively maintain its fleet, we need to equip South Africans
with the skills to adapt to and deal with unique demands of the marine engineering sector. At Riodor
we believe that the shortage of skills is currently a threat to the industrialization efforts of SA. More
graduates are emerging at entry level, but there is a severe lack of skilled and experienced employees
in the industry. This is where the gap lies and an area that we believe needs to be addressed.

We believe that intellectual and financial resources need to be channelled towards addressing SA’s
shortfall of skilled marine engineers. As things stand, we face a particular challenge, because many of
our most experienced engineers are set to retire in the coming years.

Understanding exactly what is causing the shortage of skilled engineers and technicians is a complex
task but we sense that the problem starts at school. In all likelihood there are not sufficient young
people studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects to enable them to pursue a
career in engineering. As a result, the talent pipeline is in danger of running dry despite attempts at
post-school levels.

A possible reason for this might be the myriad programmes designed to address this issue that are
often fragmented and uncoordinated. The technical colleges, TVETs, universities of technology and
traditional universities are attempting to address the issue with some success. To put it in blunt
business terms though, the current approach to rescuing the marine engineering industry uses an
inefficient delivery model and delivers a poor return on investment.

Riodor suggests that there are things we can do to improve that delivery model – and boost our return
on investment – through what we refer to as our conduit model to development.

Firstly, we need a new, more collaborative approach. Business, government and the engineering
community need to stop launching programmes in isolation and instead coordinate their efforts.
We recommended that the most effective way to address the challenge is to coordinate activities
through what we refer to as the Applied Marine Engineers Programme. This initiative aims to give
graduates first-hand marine engineering experience within Riodor.

The Applied Marine Engineers Programme helps students connect what they have learned in the
classroom with the marine industry and with opportunities offered by a career in marine engineering.
Riodor has the people and necessary skills to develop skilled engineers through mentorship
programmes. In essence our programme will exploit the talents of highly experienced Turkish Marine
Engineers who will train and mentor Riodor engineers in SA. This will take the form of a train-the-
trainer model where for a period of 12 months, the Turkish Marine Engineers will take our engineers
through their paces in equipping them with the necessary technical expertise. In turn, our engineers
will then train and mentor the aspirant marine engineers. All of this will take the form of on-the-job-
training coupled with training seminars when necessary.

At the core of our Applied Marine Engineers Programme is Application of Knowledge in order to
develop more practical applications. The philosophy of our Applied Marine Engineers Programme
is based on the Princeton University Learning Process where:

 70% of learning & development takes place from real-life and on-the-job experiences,
tasks, and problem solving. This is the most important aspect of any learning and
development plan. For example, the real learning from a skill acquired in a training
program, or from feedback, takes place back on the job when the skill or feedback is
applied to a real situation.
 20% comes from feedback and from observing and working with role models.
 10% of learning and development comes from formal training.

The following section details our training and mentorship model:

RIODOR’S APPROACH FOR TRAINING AND
MENTORSHIP MODEL
Our training model is an adaptation of the traditional train-the-trainer model

1. Attend Technical Seminars

The capable engineers will attend seminars covering the

technical aspects of the marine industry hosted by our
Turkish Marine Engineers.

2. Assessment of capable Engineers

The capable engineers will then be assessed on the

technical aspects of the marine industry by our Turkish
Marine Engineers.

3. Co-train at seminar

The capable engineers will then practice their training

ability to the aspirant marine engineers by co-training with
our Turkish Marine Engineers.

4. Train at seminar

The capable engineers will then train the aspirant marine

engineers without the aid of our Turkish Marine Engineers to
demonstrate competency.