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Jay Isaac

Head of Strategy and Offset, Saab Grintek Defence

Biography

 

Isaac holds a BEng in electrical engineering (Light Current) from the then University of Durban-Westville, as well as an MSc (Electronic Engineering) and an MBA from the then University of Nataland, institutions that have merged to form the University of KwaZulu-Natal

He is a registered Professional Engineer and currently the Head of Strategy and Offset at Saab Grintek Defence (a member of the Saab Group of Companies). His responsibilities include compiling the company’s strategic business plan, focussing on the four product areas, including electronic warfare, acquisition and communication systems, command and control and training and simulation, and lead systems integration. He also compiles industrial offset plans and ensures the successful execution thereof.

He was previously the Head of Civilian Business at Thales South Africa Systems (a member of the Thales Group of Companies) and was responsible for the management of a number of civilian mission critical projects in air traffic management, rail signalling and safety and security in South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Namibia and Saint Helena.

Isaac has considerable experience in strategic management, including 10 years on the executive committee of Thales Defence Systems in various executive management positions including Head of the Technical Business Unit, Head of Manufacturing and Support and Head of Projects. These roles mandated responsibility for the successful execution of a number of defence mission critical projects for the South African National Defence Force, as well as other Defence Forces in Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia.

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Item: 
Accessing global aerospace supply chains from South Africa
Speakers: 
Jay Isaac
Day: 
Order: 
6
Time: 
11:00

Wendy Dent

Director of Financial Services Research and Consulting: TransUnion Africa

Biography

 

Dent leads the Financial Services Research and Consulting Africa team, supporting the local South African market, as well as the rest of Africa. She is responsible for industry insights and driving relevant research studies.

Prior to joining TransUnion, she worked at Deloitte Consulting focusing on customer strategy, analytics and big data, as well as consulting for financial services, telecom and other industry clients. Dent has worked in various roles in credit, namely at Nedbank where she was responsible for credit policy, originations and impairments. She also worked at Edcon focusing on financial services and analytics.

Dent started her career in the mining sector as a metallurgist for Anglo American and whilst at Deloitte, was involved in organisational redesign of several mines, cost optimisation and strategic sourcing projects.

Dent has a BEng degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pretoria and a Bachelor of Accounting Sciences from the University of South Africa.

Chris Hlabisa

Deputy Director-General: Roads and Infrastructure, Department of Transport

Biography

 

Hlabisa was appointed Deputy Director–General (DDG) Road Transport in April 2013. His key responsibilities include managing road engineering standards, road infrastructure and industry development, road regulation, driving license card entity, public entity oversight and strategic integrated projects.

Prior to his appointment as DDG,  Hlabisa spent five years providing leadership, planning, overall management and strategic direction in line with the department’s vision of ‘Prosperity through Mobility’ to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, as their Head of Department.

His responsibility included road construction, maintenance, management of resources, as well as ensuring and promoting road and public safety.

With more than 30 years of road and infrastructure development experience across South Africa, Hlabisa has held some of the most senior positions within the private and public sector, including being a board member of the South African National Roads Agency Limited, former president of the South African Road Federation and council member of the Engineering Council of South Africa. He is a registered professional under the South African Institution of Civil Engineering.

Hlabisa holds a Bachelor’s degree in technology (Civil) specialising in road and rail, traffic engineering, geometric design, pavement and transport technology, as well as transport, urban and design planning from the then Natal Technikon in Durban, which has since merged with ML Sultan Technikon to form the Durban University of Technology. He also completed a Management Development Programme in Business Management from the then University of Durban Westville, now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Mohan Vivekanandan

Group Executive: Origination and Client Coverage, Development Bank of Southern Africa

Biography

 

Vivekanandan is the Group Executive: Origination and Client Coverage at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and a member of the DBSA’s Group Executive Committee. Vivekanandan is responsible for developing and maintaining new and current strategic relationships, as well as developing and originating new business that is aligned to the mandate of the DBSA. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Development Finance Resource Centre.

Vivekanandan is an advisor to a number of institutions and initiatives related to sustainable development and infrastructure financing. He advises the United Nations and SADC development finance institutions on financing the Sustainable Development Goals. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Advisory Council on Infrastructure and long-term investment and a leader of the WEF Sustainable Development Investment Partnership. He is also a member of the Business Day/Financial Mail editorial advisory committee on infrastructure.

Vivekanandan started his career as a management consultant with Bain and Company in Chicago. He has worked in South and West Africa and the United States of America (USA). He has expertise in corporate and business unit strategy development and execution, operational improvement and capital project planning. His previous work experience includes executive roles at South African Airways and Hollard Insurance.

Vivekanandan holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in economics and applied mathematics from Northwestern University in the USA. He has also completed an executive management programme in Project and Infrastructure Finance from the London Business School.

Peter Erasmus

Managing Director, Directech

Biography

 

Erasmus is the chief executive officer of the Directech group of companies. He founded the first Directech company in 1993. Erasmus started his career with a working bursary from Anglovaal where he studied electronics systems. After 10 years, he left Anglovaal to join Staro Process Control where he was one of four founding partners. Erasmus has a passion for engineering and technology and is an engineering specialist with over thirty years of experience.

Under his leadership, Directech has grown to a company employing more than 100 people. Over the years, the company has been recognised by industry and customers with awards from the Department of Science and Technology and Toyota.

Erasmus is passionate about South African business opportunities and firmly believes that the only way that South Africa can ensure continued prosperity for its citizens is to ensure the country can compete economically with its neighbours and competitors on equal grounds. He believes the way to achieve this is through quality education and development programmes for citizens. Erasmus supports the mentorship method of education and development where members learn while doing and he has assisted the company in establishing an internship programme, which has started many successful careers.

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