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 Kevin
Bennett
Professor Kevin Bennett is the Director of the Energy
Research Centre. His past experience includes:
1970-1975:
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Electricity Supply Commission ‑ Johannesburg
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Mechanical Research Department.
Engineer-in-training.
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Mechanical Test Department. Engineer-in-training.
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Overseas training ‑ Brown Boveri, Switzerland.
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M.Sc. (Steam Turbine Technology) at the
Lanchester Polytechnic in Rugby, Warwickshire.
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Employed as a turbine engineer in the Design
Services Group of ESKOM's (Electricity Supply Commission) Design
and Construction Department. Carried out optimization studies
relating to the design parameters for a 6 x 600MW power station
(Matla) and assisted with the technical adjudication of the
steam turbine tenders for two 3 600MW power stations (Matla and
Duvha).
1975-1985:
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A PhD. at the Energy Research Institute,
University of Cape Town.
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The research for this degree entailed a detailed
sector analysis of energy utilization in South Africa and
included forecasts of the country's future energy requirements.
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Employed by the Energy Research Institute as a
Chief Research Officer.
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Engaged in a number of research projects with an
emphasis on alternative liquid fuels, especially for transport
applications. The methanol research programme, which involved
the development and testing of methods to use this fuel in
Diesel engines, is an example of this area of research.
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Responsible for the coordination of research
activities within the Energy Research Institute.
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Attended the PMD (Programme for Management
Development) offered by UCT's Graduate School of Business.
1985-1989:
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Department of Mechanical Engineering, University
of Cape Town.
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Appointed to the post of Associate Professor in
the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UCT. Undergraduate
teaching interest is in basic and applied thermodynamics and
fluid mechanics.
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1989-1993:
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Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
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Duties included responsibility for academic
activities of department (12 academics, 10 non‑academics, 400
undergraduate and 40 postgraduate students). The academic
activities include research activities, and the organisation and
control of the instruction, curricula and examinations.
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Programming experience in Basic, Visual Basic,
Fortran, C and Assembler.
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Supervised postgraduate research at both Master's
and Doctorate level.
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Consulted widely both locally and nationally.
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Major projects carried out for the marine
industry (the failure of the main engines of the salvage tug,
the Wolraad Woltemade), electricity generation (the development
of a computer control system for a hydraulic test rig to test
seismic snubbers (shock absorbers) in the Koeberg power station
reactors), and health services (the design and construction of a
patient support system for the proton therapy facility at the
National Accelerator Centre at Faure).
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Additionally have provided services to the
insurance industry in the fields of failure analysis and
specialised measurements.
1992-
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Promoted to full Professor in the Department of
Mechanical Engineering.
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Appointed to the position of Director, Energy
Research Institute. Duties include refocusing the direction of
the ERI and re-establishing it within the Department of
Mechanical Engineering
2000-2001
2005-
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