Spotlight on Alain Michaels
Meet Alain Michaels, manager for IWC Industrial. IWC Industrial is a division within IWC (Pty) Ltd that specialises in package cooling towers – from small plug and play EWK #coolingtowers to larger bespoke cooling towers (our FM Range).
When asked why he enjoys working at IWC, Alain responded,
“IWC provides me with the freedom to run my division and I value this opportunity as it provides me with the necessary experience to become a great leader. There is a can-do mentality at IWC and no challenge is too great or too small”.
Alain has a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s in Engineering, the perfect blend to ensure materials and method meet.
With his “Just Do It” attitude, Alain focusses on educating clients about the importance of cooling towers. “Customers don’t often understand the impact or importance of a cooling system and by educating and guiding our clients, we able provide them with the knowledge to manage their plants optimally .” commented Alain.
When asked where it all began, he commented “I grew up in the mother of all cities, Cape town and have spent 22 years of my life there. I then moved to a little town called Kriel on the Mpumalanga highveld, where I worked as process engineer on an Eskom coal fired power station.”
After 6 years it was time to head back to the big smoke where Alain was employed as a management consultant at Eskom Megawatt Park. “Working at Eskom provided me with a different perspective to business and I realised that a business has other aspects to it besides the technical side. I discovered that process and people are also key to business. I spent the next 4 years developing my skills and then decided to join IWC and have not looked back.”
True to the nature of an engineer; Alain is creative, responsible, and systematic “I believe creativity is crucial in a business for it to be able to stay ahead. Responsibility is necessary since each person in the business must take responsibility for their own work. And of course, scientific understanding is imperative in this industry.”
Not to disappoint, Alain advised that he enjoys reading engineering news publications. His favourite book is “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins and his favourite Ted Talk is “Forget the pecking order at work”. His other passion is food and as a colleague, I can confirm that he eats like a horse so it’s obvious why his hobbies are trail running and hiking.
