Alumni

Sabrina Rudolph

Masters

I completed my secondary education at Willow Academy in Gqeberha and thereafter began my tertiary education at Stellebosch University in 2015. My final-year project was supervised by my current postgraduate supervisor, Prof. Thorsten Becker. The project investigated the relationship between varying surface finishes achieved through chemical milling and the fatigue-life performance of Ti-6Al-4V, which was produced using Laser Powder-Bed Fusion (LPBF). Following the completion of my BEng degree, my postgraduate studies began in 2020 to broaden my knowledge in materials engineering. The focus of my Master’s thesis is to explore the printing capabilities of beta titanium alloys, Ti-5553 and Ti Beta 21S. The aim of the research seeks to establish dense parts using LPBF and subsequently characterise the mechanical performance of the beta titanium alloys in question.

Matthew Blackwell

Masters

Born and raised in the Western Cape. I matriculated from Stellenberg High School in 2017. Thereafter, in 2021, I completed my undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering at Stellenbosch University. In 2022, I started my master’s in engineering at Stellenbosch University under the supervision of Dr Melody Neaves (neé van Rooyen) in collaboration with Professor Thorsten Becker at the University of Cape Town. My research involves characterising the high temperature performance of LPBF manufactured nickel-based superalloys. Specifically, Inconel 718.

Devan Atkinson

PhD

I received my bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with Cum Laude in 2016 at the University of Stellenbosch and enrolled for postgraduate studies in 2017 with Dr T. Becker as my supervisor. I am primarily interested in using numerical methods and programming to solve problems in engineering. As such my project focuses on developing an open source Digital Image Correlation program with an emphasis on allowing the user to have more control over the correlation process than Is usually offered by commercial software. The aim of this project is for this program to be used by the Material Science research group in their research efforts.

Nicolas Macallister

PhD

Born in Kwa-Zulu Natal I completed my schooling in a unique adventure-based school in the Eastern Cape and transitioned into a mechanical engineering degree at Stellenbosch University in 2015. Having completed my undergraduate in 2018 I pursued a masters degree with Prof. Thorsten Becker as my supervisor, which I later upgraded to a PhD candidacy at the end of 2020. My PhD research focuses on the prediction of fatigue performance of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) produced Ti-6Al-4V components for qualification in aerospace and biomedical environments. With the project aiming to emphasize the understanding of the effect and cause of process inherent defects on fatigue performance, within a numerical modelling and small witness coupon testing framework; with the hope of eventually aiding in qualification and certification of LPBF components in an industrial setting.

William Makhetha

PhD

I am qualified with Master of Science in Engineering (MSc.Eng.) in Materials Engineering from the Centre for Materials Engineering, department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cape Town. I am currently a PhD Researcher at the Stellenbosch University with research interest in additive manufacturing (AM). My research forms part of two research groups through Stellenbosch University. The first group is the Resource Efficient Process Chain (REPC), which is aimed at finding the most efficient ways of making Titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) components for Medical, Aerospace and Automotive industries. The second group is the notional Collaborative Program in Additive Manufacturing (CPAM), which is involved with the qualification of AM for Medical and Aerospace applications. The current scope of my research is on selective laser melting (SLM) post-processing solutions. My aim is to develop a post-processing framework for SLM Ti-6Al-4V parts to meet functional requirements for the aerospace and medical industry application.

Marli Heynemann

Masters

I matriculated from Stellenberg High School in 2015. I decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stellenbosch University, starting in 2016 and graduating in 2019. I began my master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2020 under the supervision of Prof Thorsten Becker and Dr Johan van der Merwe (Institute for Biomedical Engineering). My research project merges the fields of Biomedical Engineering and Materials Engineering. The aim of my research is to use additive manufacturing of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy to create lattice structures that mimic the anisotropic stiffness of human bone.

CJ Barnard

Masters

Born and raised in Kroonstad in the Free State, I matriculated in 2016. Starting with a degree in mechatronics engineering in 2017 and completing my degree in 2020. I immediately started with my masters degree in 2021. I am doing my masters in additive manufacturing, specifically titanium powder bed fusion 3D printing. I am investigating the viability of the Ti6246 and TC11 alloys for additive manufacturing.

Hernu Viljoen

Masters

I was born in Mpumalanga and moved to the Western Cape in 2011. I matriculated in 2014, after which I completed a bachelor’s degree in engineering at Stellenbosch University. In 2019 I enrolled as a postgraduate student under Prof Nawaz Mahomed. The aim of my research project is to determine the effect of corrosion on the collapse pressure of a submarine pressure hull with special focus on corrosion rate determination through electrochemical techniques, Finite Element Analysis of the hull structure and material integrity analysis through non-destructive testing.

Wian

Masters

I completed my B.Eng degree in 2018 and started working in the industrial automation section in 2019 in Cape Town. After a year in the automation industry, I pursued my postgraduate studies under the supervision of Prof Deborah Blaine where we look at the gel-casting of titanium powder as an alternative to other additive manufacturing processes like metal 3D-Printing. Specifically, we investigate the polymer binder systems and chemical additives to see how these parameters effect the mechanical properties in a green and sintered state of titanium samples.

Gail Wheeler

Masters

I matriculated in 2016 from Springfield Convent Senior School. I then I pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Mechatronic Engineering at Stellenbosch University, graduating in 2020. In 2021, I started working at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station and I started a part-time Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2022. Under the supervision of Prof Deborah Blaine and Dr Gareth Erfort my research will be focusing on recycling fiberglass from wind turbine blades in South Africa.

Hernu Viljoen

Masters

Georgino Tshikwand

Masters

I was born in Lubumbashi, DR Congo where I grew up. I went to Kanzenze Conventional Catholic High School to study General Pedagogy from which I qualified as a primary school teacher in 2009. I briefly attended UNISA where I completed a year in Applied Mathematics in 2012. I then completed my undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering in May of 2017 at the Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. After a one year internship completed concurrently with my final year of undergrad studies at Magalam SteelCast Pvt. Lmt. where we worked on Energy efficiency improvement and promoting “Green Foundry” , I enrolled in February 2018 at Stellenbosch University to pursue my masters studies under the supervision of Prof DC Blaine and Co-supervision of Prof Anton Du Plessis. My masters studies is focused on the design and analysis of the mechanical behaviour of Additive manufactured Titanium lattice structures. The objective of my research is to investigate the influence of lattice structures ‘geometry and additive manufacturing techniques on the mechanical properties of Additive manufactured Titanium Lattice structures.

Ben Parker

Masters

I was born and raised in Johannesburg and went on to complete my bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stellenbosch University in 2018. I began my master’s degree in 2019 in Mechanical Engineering under the supervision of Prof Deborah Blaine. My research is aimed at developing a more economical way to produce the Ti-6Al-4V alloy using elemental and master-alloy powder metallurgy. My project is focussed on investigating the characteristics of the metal powders and how these relate to the suitability of the blended powder for use in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). Elemental and master-alloy powder blending allows for alloying compositions that can be easily modified, which has the potential to expand research into various Titanium alloys. This project is in conjunction with a master’s project at the Central University of Technology (CUT), which looks at the additive manufacturing (AM) side of the powder blends.

Jarryd Malcolm

Masters

Having completed a BEng (Mechanical) in 2017 at Stellenbosch University, I went on to work as a Junior Design Engineer at Filtec Automation in Mount Edgecombe, KwaZulu-Natal. There I gained knowledge in the machine manufacturing industry and grew my skills in project management and machine design. I enrolled in my MEng studies in mid-2019 under the supervision of Prof. T Becker in the Materials Engineering group. My research project is aimed at determining if chemical etching laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) produced titanium alloy in the as-built condition improves the surface roughness and, hence, the total fatigue life.

Mpho Maje

PhD

Mpho Maje completed her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cape Town after which she completed her Master of Science in Engineering at WITS University. Mpho has over 10 years of experience working in the Refinery industry as a Plant Engineer for the Utilities section which mainly produces steam for different processes. Mpho Maje’s experience with boilers has led to her pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stellenbosch University under the supervision of Prof T. Becker. She is primarily interested in the characterisation of creep damage of service exposed thermal power plant steel using small punch testing in combination with digital image correlation and scanning electron microscopy.

Jessica du Toit

Masters

I completed my undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at Stellenbosch University in 2015. I then decided to pursue research in Materials Engineering and enrolled for a MEng in Mechanical Engineering. I completed my Master’s thesis under the supervision of Dr. Blaine (M&M Engineering, Stellenbosch University) and co-supervision of Prof. Coville (Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand). My thesis focused on graphitized hollow carbon nanospheres, specifically their synthesis, characterization and mechanical behaviour. I looked at the mechanical behaviour of the individual spheres as well as their bulk properties. Various testing methodologies were investigated including in situ TEM nanoindentation and bulk compression tests.

Arno Scholtz

Masters

I received my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2015 and commenced my studies in 2016 towards a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. My field of study is that of Materials Engineering under the supervision of Dr. DC Blaine. More specifically my project is concerned with the infiltration of copper into an iron alloy as well as the infiltration of aluminium into porous titanium preforms. The project is aimed at better understanding the infiltration mechanisms and determining the sensitivity of the final product to the processing parameters. Research focus is placed on the stages of infiltration, the sintering atmosphere and the increased machinability effect of infiltration.

Serguei Petrov

PhD (Visiting)

I was born and started school in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), USSR. At the age of 14, I moved to Namibia, where I completed my schooling. In 2001 I enrolled for the degree of bachelor of science in Mechanical Engineering. Upon completion, I joined the industry in a role of a forensic engineer, specialising in fatigue and fracture mechanics of engineering components and structures. In 2010, I completed his MSc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cape Town. The thesis focused on the fatigue life management of aging offshore structures exposed to continuous cycling loading. My current PhD focuses on the fracture properties of synthetic diamond composites. Registered at the University of Cape Town, I work closely with the Materials Engineering group, which facilitate for novel material property extraction techniques.

Jacques Piek

Masters

I was born in the Garden Route, George, where I graduated from Hoërskool Outeniqua in 2013. In 2014 I enrolled for a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Stellenbosch and graduated in 2017. In 2018 I commenced my studies towards a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Stellenbosch under the supervision of Prof DC Blaine. My project is focussed on gel-casting of titanium alloys in the field of Materials Engineering. The project involves developing a gel-cast process for titanium powder that results in a gel-cast form that does not contain critical defects, characterizing dimensional changes and using this to develop a 3D gel-casting mould shape model. The aim of my research is to investigate whether it is possible to design a mould for gel-casting a titanium powder slurry that will render a net-shape sintered product with dimensional accuracy and mechanical properties similar to design criteria for metal injection moulding.

Mathew Molteno

PHD

I studied Electro-Mechanical engineering at the University of Cape Town (BSc Hons, MSc), and MSc in Mechanical engineering (submersible remote field eddy current crack detection system – 2012). In 2013 I started my PhD working on the measurement of fracture parameters from digital images (PhD at Stellenbosch, 2013 – current). The first methods were developed for the surface using regular (white light, 2D) images (2014). More recently, 3D images have been made available through X-ray computed tomography, and will enable the extension of existing methods to 3D. The latter is in collaboration with Oxford University (2015-2016), and uses data made available by both lab (MXIF, Manchester University) and synchrotron based tomography (Diamond Light Source, Harwell).

Richard Huchzermeyer

Masters

I completed my undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cape Town in 2012, where I became interested in the field of fracture mechanics and failure analysis. Following a two-year period of employment as a training engineer managing projects in the chrome smelting industry, I decided to study towards a Master’s degree in Fracture Mechanics at Stellenbosch University. My project developed a method for applying Digital Image Correlation to Small-Sample Testing, extracting both tensile and fracture properties from a single sample using Digital Image Correlation.

Lucas Anderson

Masters

I completed my undergraduate B.Eng degree in Mechanical Engineering with Cum Laude in 2015 at the University of Stellenbosch. My research formed part of the CPAM program that aimed at qualifying of Selective Laser Melted titanium alloys. My specific area of research was in the measurement of residual stresses that occur due to the layerwise process and the inherent high cooling rates in SLM. This research entailed the use of FIB (Focused Ion Beam) milling to scale down the standard hole drilling technique to the micro-scale whilst using Digital Image Correlation to measure the respective stress relaxation.

Heimriks Nel

Masters

Born and raised in the Northern Cape, I spent most of my life living in Springbok. I studied towards my Masters in Mechanical Engineering after completing my Bachelor’s degree in 2014. The focus of my research was the development and subsequent characterisation of a carbon fibre reinforced ceramic composite. The ceramic in question has some exciting properties and is from a family of carbides referred to as the MAX phases.