Atlantis is an international hydraulic rock drilling company with operations in South Africa, Brazil, India and Zambia. Our company has 40% black ownership (with 20% owned by a black woman).We specialize in raise boring, which is an environmentally friendly vertical drilling technique, mostly used for ventilation and ore passes applications, which can be executed in various types of geology. Our service offering further extends to:- Box hole drilling, drain hole drilling, diamond drilling as well as drop raise and shaft enlargement.- Manufacturing and maintenance of raise boring machines- Hydraulic, engineering and pneumatic servicesWe utilize latest technology, supported by experienced resources to ensure that all our projects or ventures are successfully completed within budget and on time.

My role entailed supporting the Regulatory Services (RS) Head of Trade, Industry, Economy & Environment to enable contribution towards policy and regulatory certainty by providing clear line of sight for regulatory outcomes aiding sound business decisions. Overall, my responsibilities included influencing and positioning Sasol Group on key policy and regulatory issues that can have an impact on its strategic agenda; as well as influence and shape new industry related policy and regulatory developments in South Africa with a clear alignment to Sasol Group’s growth targets. Additionally, I was also responsible for creating internal awareness on key policy and regulatory issues facing the business as well as facilitate the development of position papers/strategic responses on relevant external regulatory issues (i.e. proposed new legislation, amendments of policies/regulations, Government strategies, Bills, white papers/green papers, etc.) that can have an impact on the business. This role also included liaising with different stakeholders within Sasol. The most critical aspects of this role was to continuously do research, benchmarking, read a lot of articles/newspapers, being up to date with current affairs, creating lots of Government contacts and liaising with both internal and external contacts to ensure that I stay abreast of any new strategic developments within Sasol as well as new legislative developments in the industry.

My role in the Strategy and Business Intelligence function was to assist the Head of Strategy with the development and execution of SIE strategies to improve business profitability and long term sustainability. This role involved influencing and facilitating the SIE strategy with a clear understanding of its mandate to enable our team to align and have strategic input towards shaping and implementing the Sasol Group Strategy. My role also involved supporting and liaising closely with the SIE EXCO members, senior management, and project teams (i.e. Country Presidents and international offices (e.g. Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Qatar) to provide intelligence and insight into targeted strategic business areas to enable informed decision making as well as guide and enable strategic thinking within the business. Overall responsibilities included to lead and manage interface role between SIE central office and the Nigeria Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) project/office, identify strategic growth opportunities for the business, identify and analyze countries (using STEPP analysis technique) that may present potential GTL opportunities that are relevant to SIE strategic growth drivers. The most critical aspects of this role was to continuously do research, benchmarking and read a lot of articles to ensure that I stay abreast of any new industry trends.

I was responsible for identification and evaluation of strategic business opportunities that could potentially be considered for enterprise development support through start-up phase assistance (e.g. advice and support on writing bankable business plans, etc.), business adviser training and growth phase assistance. My responsibility was to identify enterprises in the renewable energy sector (specifically companies pursuing “biomass to energy” opportunities) which has any business related gaps with the intention of filling those gaps by providing business and technical support where necessary. Overall responsibilities included facilitating support for SMEs in the biomass to energy space, liaison with all stakeholders (both internal and external), creating contacts with all role players in the biomass industry with an intent of developing biomass to energy portfolio for Sasol, do research and gather market intelligence on “biomass to energy” to determine if there are any possible gaps that could possibly be addressed by Sasol ChemCity, advise senior management and recommend potential projects that could be explored by Sasol.

My role involved supporting and liaising with different departments within R&D and other Sasol Business Units with their Mössbauer Spectroscopic needs to ensure that all the required project solutions and gaps were achieved. This spectroscopy technique was used to investigate the iron (Fe) catalysts, to assist in the identification of Fe oxide phases on the basis of their magnetic properties. My overall responsibilities were to perform experiments in the llaboratory, data sampling, processing, simulation as well as analysis, understand and interpreting data from various techniques then translate it into analytical solutions, compile research reports; make recommendations and distribute reports to relevant stakeholders. This role entailed doing continuous research and gathering scientific knowledge in my filed to keep up with new industry developments. I was also one of the Safety, Health & Environment (SHE) representative at R&D, representing our department (Material Characterisation Division).

I was responsible for managing the BOMEM Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy and Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) laboratories. Overall responsibilities included performing experiments in the laboratory, data sampling, processing, simulation and analysis, troubleshooting and identification of bottlenecks, project management, compilation of technical reports with relevant recommendations, making presentations at conferences, clients and internal teams as well as publish research findings in reputable journals, continuously doing research and gathering scientific knowledge in my filed to keep up with new industry developments. I was also involved in the CSIR Public Understanding of Laser Science programme with the objective of creating public awareness and teaching high school learners and first year university students about laser technology; mentoring other interns and undergraduate bursars doing vacation/practical work at least twice a year during university holidays; planning and coordinating yearly maintenance and services of both equipment (i.e. FTIR and PLD machines).CSIR Internal Publications:1. Tshepiso Mothibinyane (2007). Bursaries, Science Scope 2(2), pp. 31-322. Dr Patricia Truter, Merryl Ford, Sara Prins, Dr Sharon Biermann and Tshepiso Baisitse (2005). Recognition for women researchers, Techno Brief 14(2), pp. 22-23