Rod Benard specialises in the management of large construction projects. He graduated with a BE in Civil Engineering and a BE in Surveying from the University of Newcastle, Australia. He further went onto study Project Management at Damlin and Deakin University, and obtained an MBA degree from Deakin University, Australia in Association with A.P.E.S.M.A. Rod is a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) and a registered construction project management with the South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions. (SACPCMP) Rod joined Kantey & Templer Consulting Engineers in 1994 and was involved in all aspects of Civil and Structural engineering including structural design of industrial and commercial building, flooding investigations and civil services design. He went onto work at Murray & Roberts Properties Ltd, as a Project Coordination before joining Arup (Pty) Ltd in 1997. Rod gained immense knowledge in project management covering the full lifecycle of projects, from conceptualisation and feasibility studies, through to construction and commissioning. He was promoted to Associate Director at Arup in 1999.