Bob-Bond
Bob Bond s a member of the RETECZA Board and coordinates the initiative in South Africa. He graduated as an Atomic Energy Board technician in Nuclear Electronics and spent 14 years with the Atomic Energy Corporation in the capacity of Chief Technician responsible for introducing main frame based Computer Aided Design systems for nuclear plant design for the Reactor Development Division. He pioneered from 1981 the use of early generation main-frame based 3D modelling systems linked to a graphical design database for civil and HVAC infrastructure. When the South African nuclear program was terminated in 1991 he secured the exclusive South African rights for 3D Systems Stereolithography together with his brother John Bond and Dr. Robin Beale. They were instrumental in creating a whole in industry in SA for prototyping technology and pioneered the direct to metal technology of QuickCast patterns for investment casting. The company assisted all the local Automotive OEM’s and Component Suppliers to localise components for vehicles manufactured in the country. They were commissioned as principal contractors for design, tooling and commissioning of conversion of injection moulds, gravity die casting and progression dies etc. In 2000 he established a consortium consisting of Rapid Design Technologies, Intracast Precision Foundry, National Laser Centre, Wits University and Technikon Northern Gauteng to develop the Closed Loop Automated Manufacturing System (Clam) for rapid tooling, funded by a R12 million grant from the Department of Science and Technology. He holds international patents for the solution, and the consortium are seen as world leaders in the closed loop cast-to-form technology. The consortium received the SABS Prototype Design Award in 2005 and the Technology Top 100 award in 2006 for a developing enterprise. Bob is currently National Chairman of the SA Plastics Institute (PISA), and was National Chairman of the Rapid Product Development Association of South Africa (RAPDASA) from 2006-2008. He is a Board Member of the SA Plastics Federation and sits on the Plastics Chamber of the Manufacturing, Engineering and related industries sector training authority (MerSeta). In respect of the latter, he has pioneered New Venture Creation in training and establishing Black individuals in their own enterprises from a technological base.
