The 5th Annual Women and Leadership in Engineering, Infrastructure, and Innovation Conference, scheduled for 11-12 March 2026 comes at a pivotal time when there is a global explosion of innovation, AI, data automation etc and applying these technologies to plan better, monitor smarter and invest responsibly is key.

SA-led speakers will prove that the growing demand for problem-solving skills and technological literacy is overdue with the theme of the conference being, It’s DUE with the aim to Develop, Unite, Empower leadership in STEM related fields.

The conference will be headlined by two MEC’s, Hon. Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, MEC for Roads and Transport in Gauteng, and MEC Tertuis Simmers, Minister for Infrastructure for the Western Cape Provincial Government, showing Governments’ support towards diverse leadership across all sectors.

Chairing the conference and adding her wealth of experience is Pfumelani Mbulayeni, Managing Director, PM Aviation.  Pfumelani is the first black female Aeronautical Engineer in South Africa and has over 20 years’ experience in Civil and Defence Aviation.

Moving towards a gender equal future for a sustainable future will be addressed by Dr Rakeshnie Ramoutar-Prieschl, Director at the University of Pretoria,

Integrating AI into engineering will be unpacked by Mpai Letebele, Chief Engineer. Eskom.

Tackling crisis deferring engineering by identifying risk and vulnerabilities in advance and applying targeted preventative designs and measures, to avoid a further collapse of services will be Mirriam Mosia (PrEng), Provincial Head, North West, SANRAL.

Positioning SA on the map of large-scale infrastructure projects to promote global trade and provide opportunities in healthcare and communications etc., will be addressed by Vishaal Lutchman, Group Chief Executive, GIBB.

Moving from a technical role to tech leadership – what skill sets is required for the transition process of leader will be presented by Stephanie Muller, Technical Lead Quantum Applications, IBM.

Examples of preventative Engineering to mitigate possible failure or disaster – using engineering minds to create a better SA ito transport, energy, digital infrastructure, water and sanitation and social infrastructure will be unpacked by Sadhna Manraj, SMD Production Manager, British American Tobacco.

Examining the specific challenges and successes of women-led globalisation projects using local engineering technologies as well as developing new commercial innovation which placed South Africa on the Global Innovation map will be tackled by Karushna Ramcharan, Commercial Innovations Product Manager – Zitec Africa (Zone Innovations & Technology) ABINBEV.

Sustainability Leadership in Engineering, Infrastructure and Innovation will be highlighted by Sandra Wakeford, Group Sustainability Officer at Raubex. Sandra Wakeford is the first-ever Group Sustainability Officer at Raubex, appointed in October 2022 to lead the Group’s sustainability strategy and reporting.

Co-existing and thriving in the workplace: Leading with empathy through the lens of lean practices to build diverse and effective teams will be presented by Malebo (Lebo) Mohale, Industrial Engineering Manager, Conlog. Malebo is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Practitioner, Malebo’s has facilitated over 50 lean principles and production training sessions to ensure process knowledge and improve business efficiency through continuous improvement initiatives.

“These industry case studies will give insight into differing possible crisis or failures, large-scale project opportunities, and lean practices etc. and prove that SA is competing on a global scale with home-grown talent.”  Says Pinpoint Stewards, owner and organiser, Sudhira Sewsunker. 

Empowerment partners are encouraged to host a table and invest in their human capital to engage with like-minded leaders across industry sectors.

To participate as a sponsor, exhibitor or to register for the conference email info@pinpointstewards.co.za  or register online at www.pinointstewards.co.za