Nico van der Merwe - WIZBII Nico van der Merwe has published his/her professional profile on WIZBII. N v

Nico van der Merwe

Masters of Mechanical Engineering student (VDG)

31years • Pretoria

Summary

Current occupation: Masters (MEng) of Mechanical Engineering student in the Vehicle Dynamics Group at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. The Masters thesis is aimed to develop an ABS algorithm to improve braking on non-deformable rough terrain. I will complete my Masters degree by the end of 2017. Objectives and Interests: Through self-discipline and determination, I stay dedicated to responsibilities appointed to me. I strive to stay motivated through challenging tasks within dynamic engineering environments. I aim for quality and take great pride in my work.

Skills

Microsoft WordMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft PowerpointSolidworksMSC ADAMSMSC SimXpertANSYSpythonlabviewmatlabMatlab/simulinkMPLAB XDSPACE

Experiences

Vacation work student

11-2014 - 12-2014 Personal servicesVacation work was done at Southern Medical, a biomedical company which designs and manufactures various orthopaedic implants. It is situated in Irene, Centurion and is part of the Southern Group of Biomedical Companies. Vacation work included assembling medical instrument trays that are distributed to various surgeons, CAD inspection and manufacturing drawings for various implants, testing rig assembly for fatigue testing and the validation of a standard tolerance to be used for specific pedicle screws used in a specialised implant.

Vacation work student

06-2014 - 07-2014 Works / Construction sitesVacation work at Aurecon included basic conveyor belt design, auditing of site inspections of various mines and ESD (Environmental Sustainable Design) site inspection to various green star rated buildings.

Vacation work student

12-2013 - 12-2013 Energy / Materials / MechanicsVacation work completed at Philmech (Auto services) included assistance with general repair and servicing of cars and trucks and also larger repair works such as the replacement of gearboxes and clutch units.

Vacation work student

07-2013 - 07-2013 Chemistry / Biology / AgronomyVacation work was done at RCL Malelane sugar Mill. This included general maintenance with an artisan as well as the conduction of an audit on specified machines, in which a repair and maintenance plan was drawn up with a cost budget.

Education & training

University Of Pretoria

2017 - 2017 Pretoria, South Africa, PretoriaEnergy / Materials / MechanicsI was fortunate to receive a bursary to complete both Honours and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Vehicle Dynamics Group at the University of Pretoria. This group focuses on vehicle dynamics and mobility through a range of research and design projects which include: roll-over stability of heavy wheeled vehicles, tyre characterisation and modelling, terrain profile measurement and modelling, controllable suspension research and various other research platforms. During my Honours and Master years, extensive work has been done within the Vehicle Dynamics Group which includes the modelling of a test trailer in ADAMS from experimental results (Inertia and centre of gravity measurement), designing and building signal conditioning circuits, programming PIC devices and conducting experiments through a dSPACE testing platform. The Masters thesis is aimed to develop an ABS algorithm to improve braking on non-deformable rough terrain. I will complete my Masters degree by the end of 2017.

University Of Pretoria

2016 - 2016 Pretoria, South Africa, PretoriaEnergy / Materials / MechanicsI was fortunate to receive a bursary to complete both Honours and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Vehicle Dynamics Group at the University of Pretoria. This group focuses on vehicle dynamics and mobility through a range of research and design projects which include: roll-over stability of heavy wheeled vehicles, tyre characterisation and modelling, terrain profile measurement and modelling, controllable suspension research and various other research platforms. Courses completed at a postgraduate level (BEngHons) include:  Experimental Structural Dynamics  Mechatronics  Numerical Methods  Optimum design  Vehicle Dynamics  Vibration-based condition monitoring During my Honours and Master years, extensive work has been done within the Vehicle Dynamics Group which includes the modelling of a test trailer in ADAMS from experimental results (Inertia and centre of gravity measurement), designing and building signal conditioning circuits, programming PIC devices and conducting experiments through a dSPACE testing platform.

University of Pretoria

2012 - 2015 Pretoria, City of Tshwane Metropolitan MunicipalityEnergy / Materials / Mechanics, Design / Civil engineering / Industrial engineeringResearch work has been conducted in wind tunnel labs where extensive testing was completed regarding the final year research project. This project consisted of building and testing (calibrating) an adjustable Pitot tube rake. A user friendly program was also written in LabVIEW for the device to be easily incorporated into other experimental setups and configurations. Through working in the wind tunnel labs, valuable experience was gleaned in terms of testing procedure and problem solving in the context of a time constrained task.

My soft skills

Analytical
Innovative
Responsive
Team player

Languages spoken

  • English

    Native language

  • Afrikaans

    Native language

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