South African elected to board of International Solar Energy Society
8 February 2012
News
Mechanical and mechatronic engineering specialist, Professor Wikus van Niekerk of Stellenbosch University, has been elected as the Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa’s (SESSA) representative on the board of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES).
Professor Wikus van Niekerk
The largest, oldest and most comprehensive technical body dealing with the technology and implementation of renewable energy, ISES was founded in 1954 and has representation in more than 100 countries.
Making the announcement, SESSA chairman, Henning Holm, applauded Professor van Niekerk’s keen interest in harvesting the energy from the sun, wind and ocean and praised the work he had done in that field over the years.
“Currently the director of the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies in Stellenbosch, Professor van Niekerk holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and is a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South African, a fellow of the South African Institution for Mechanical Engineering and the Southern African Acoustics Institute, and a member of both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society for Automotive Engineering.
“With more than 14 articles in refereed international journals and numerous podium appearances at both local and international conferences, he is also an energetic and active member of SESSA, as well as his academic community. We are certain he will add tremendous value to numerous ISES initiatives, and assure him of the full support of the SESSA council and its solar office during his tenure,” said Holm.
He added that Van Niekerk takes over the seat vacated by Professor Dieter Holm, who has been actively working with ISES since 1974, in the latter years as SESSA’s representative. Holm thanked him for all he did to profile southern Africa’s needs and causes within the global energy community.
For more information contact SESSA, +27 (0)11 513 4071, [email protected], www.sessa.org.za
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