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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
AUGUST
2016
Dr Stephan Ramabodu has
been elected as president of the
Association of South African
Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS).
Dr Ramabodu's first practical experience
of the QS profession was as QS student
at B&L Bloemfontein while studying for
a BSc Quantity Surveying degree at the Univer-
sity of the Free State (UFS).
After graduation, he became a junior
lecturer at the university and did private work
for contractors or QS firms to gain further
experience. In 2006, he joined the construction
consultancy, Davis Langdon, as a director and
in 2008, left to start his own business, Ramabodu
& Associates. He was also reappointed as
lecturer at UFS where he completed a Master’s
degree in 2005.
Thereafter, he was promoted to Senior
Lecturer at UFS, and also elected as senior
vice-president of ASAQS, Fees Chairman of
ASAQS, and Editorial Board Chairperson of Acta
Structilia, a national journal for research articles
in the physical and development sciences,
published by the UFS Department of Quantity
Surveying and Construction Management.
He is now senior lecturer at the Univer-
Consultants, has been elected as vice-president
of ASAQS; and Yunus Bayat of Bayprop Projects
in Pietermaritzburg, as deputy vice-president.
Stuart Cassie, ANZ advisory
market director.
both our private and public sector clients.”
“With a focus on the rapidly changing
face of key areas of infrastructure such as
Transport and Cities, these leaders will work
closely with Aurecon’s chief digital officer Dr
Andrew Maher to develop Aurecon’s solutions
to support the digitisation of infrastructure.”
“Aurecon is responding to the enor-
mous demand around the world to improve
connectivity of people and freight.
“This is driving a surge in infrastructure
investment in places like Sydney and
Melbourne, as well as focus by organisations
to drive productivity improvements and work
their existing assets harder. This is delivering
growth in our AUD100-million core advisory
business, underpinned by the demand for
technical and engineering expertise, as infra-
structure stakeholders navigate an increas-
ingly digitised world.
“Responding to these market trends is
already seeing Aurecon enter into strategic
partnerships, rather than competing, with
established advisory firms,” he said.
“All three trained as engineers and have
built and sustained world-class supply chain
and procurement capabilities as well as advi-
sory practices across a number of industry
segments. I am delighted to welcome them
to Aurecon.”
“The engineering and infrastructure
industry faces huge change and challenges
over the next few years. In a commoditised
market, subject to disruptive technology,
we must respond to the constantly shifting
business landscape. This means knowing
our clients and their businesses better
than our competitors and excelling in
bringing innovation and expertise to the
table to help solve their most difficult
problems,” Swiegers said.
“Aurecon is responding
to the enormous demand
around the world to
improve connectivity of
people and freight.”
I
W
A
2
FROM GARDENER TO ASAQS PRESIDENT
sity of Pretoria's Department of Construction
Economics and has established a new personal
company, QS-Online.
The new ASAQS president came from a
particularly disadvantaged background and
had to do gardening work to pay for his high
school studies.
Spurred on by the promise of a bursary if
he managed to matriculate, the young Stephan
managed just that and enrolled at UFS for a
generic BSc degree which he changed to BSc QS
studies after an uncle who worked on a building
site – and gave his young nephew money for
transport and food – had introduced him to the
quantity surveying profession.
Dr Ramabodu, who obtained a PhD at UFS
in 2014, includes in his main aspirations as
leader of ASAQS transformation, including
gender equality; marketing the profession;
research; and “providing the ultimate service
to ASAQS members”.
Bert van den Heever, immediate past pres-
ident of ASAQS, comments: “Stephan is the
first black South African quantity surveyor to
be awarded a doctorate in his field. This is a
tremendous achievement when you consider
there are very few doctorates in the QS profes-
sion worldwide.”
Lydia Carroll, director of the Irene-based
company, Quantity Surveyors & Contracts
Dr Stephan Ramabodu.
>
Brad McBean as Aurecon’s global advisory
managing director.