Confidence and Soft Skills Land TUT Female Engineer Internship With Industrial Giant

Lerato Nyama, an Industrial Engineering
student, to work for South Africa’s leading
engineering simulations organisations: ESTEQ.

Females in Engineering (FEMENG) is an organisation at the Tshwane University of Technology aimed at developing budding female engineers and assist them with their transition from varsity to industry. Lerato Nyama (23) is proof that this vision is reaping rewards as she landed an internship opportunity with industrial giant, ESTEQ, after attending a FEMENG soft skills seminar.

The seminar’s purpose was to empower young women through the transfer of soft skills, like technical report writing and communication. At the end of the seminar, students were given a chance to network with contacts from industry.

Nyama, who is studying Industrial Engineering, was in charge of guest relations for the event and she managed to talk her way into an internship after speaking to one of the guest speakers, Paul Naudé, Technical Manager: ESTEQ. She then went on to work at ESTEQ during the winter recess.

Chrisni Mc Donald, Digital Manufacturing Engineer: ESTEQ, said: “It was a pleasure to work with Nyama. She had a positive attitude from the beginning up until the end. At ESTEQ we want people who are passionate about technology and I could see that, after learning about our software, she was passionate about it. She was willing to do everything that I gave her and she did it well.”

“FEMENG’s mission is to make resources accessible to young females and our soft skills seminar did just that for Nyama. The opportunity presented to her has become the best mechanism of determining that FEMENG works,” said Maureen Ramaube, Lecturer and Chairperson of FEMENG.

“The purpose of FEMENG has been fulfilled to some extent because I, as a young female, received an opportunity through this organisation. It was a thrilling experience and I finally got to put my skills to the test. It was just the push that I needed and I am now even more motivated to work harder,” said Nyama.