Accredited private tertiary education company STADIO, which is listed on the JSE, has announced that it will start introducing engineering courses, with effect from next year. To this end, it is expanding activities at its School of Engineering & Architecture, located on its Bellville, Cape Town, campus, and has appointed an electrical engineer, Professor Herman Vermaak, as the Head of the School.

“We’ve long voiced our ambition to offer engineering and architectural qualifications to help serve the growing need for professionals in these fields in South Africa and beyond,” affirmed STADIO CEO Chris Vorster. “While our School of Engineering & Architecture currently offers the Higher Certificate in Architectural Practice, we have plans to expand our offering significantly, with the launch of the Higher Certificate in Mechatronic Engineering and the Higher Certificate in Renewable Energy Engineering launching in 2026, and more qualifications to come in 2027. Prof Vermaak is the ideal person to help us realise our goals, having been the Dean of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology at the Central University of Technology, Free State, for 18 years, and having worked as a project engineer before that.”

Vermaak earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Twente, in the Netherlands. He gained his MSc in Electrical Engineering at the Nelson Mandela University (previously the Port Elizabeth Technikon). He is registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa as an engineer and technologist. He serves as a senior member of the International Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. In 2018, he was awarded a Visiting Professor Scholarship at the University of Applied Sciences in Ulm, Germany. And since that same year he has been a National Research Foundation-rated researcher.

“STADIO wants to prepare engineering technologists who are capable of functioning within the contemporary technology environment and contribute to the socioeconomic development of the country,” pointed out Vermaak. “The School of Engineering & Architecture aims to facilitate career-focused expertise with students through the provision of knowledge and skills and the development of the appropriate attitudes in mechatronic engineering. This development will address the needs of the community to ensure upliftment through education and skills development and to maintain collaboration with stakeholders in the engineering environment.”

National and international trends in engineering education were taken into account when STADIO developed its engineering programmes. As a result, they include practical components, as well as work-simulation, and also project-based and problem-based components. The Higher Certificates to be initially offered will be followed by three Bachelor’s degrees – Bachelor of Engineering Technology in Electrical Engineering, in Mechatronic Engineering, and in Computer Engineering – which will be offered from 2027. A Bachelor of Architecture degree will also be introduced in 2027.

The School of Engineering & Architecture will also have a branch on the company’s currently in-development Durbanville, Cape Town, campus, scheduled to launch in 2027.