Quentin Schoombie, GM of dished ends manufacturing company Tank Ends, last month became the youngest-ever winner of the Southern African Institute of Welding’s (SAIW’s) Harvey Shatlock Gold Award for the best technical paper.

“The 30-year-old former boilermaker won the award for his presentation on welding processes in the manufacturing of dished ends for tanks, tankers and pressure vessels.

“The manufacturing of dished ends is massively complex, particularly the characteristics of welding in the dished-end process. There are a lot of misconceptions in the market. I did my own research on welding and combined it with research already done by the original Tank Ends owner, Jack Moody.

“I presented this information to SAIW members around the country to provide insight into the manufacturing processes, controls and standards to try to establish some form of standardisation, conformity and delivery expectations across the board,” Schoombie says.

He notes that he was up against university academics for the award and is both proud and grateful to be the winner of the award.
However, he is quick to point out that it is not an award he can accept individually.

“I owe it to the people I’ve been able to turn to for advice and to the people who have supported and encouraged me, like Tank Ends parent company VBV Holdings directors Gary van den Berg and Peter Viljoen, as well as Professor Madeleine du Toit of the University of Pretoria,” he says.

“Quentin has always given 110% and is passionate about what he does. He has made Tank Ends a world-class manufacturing outfit and deserves every bit of recognition he gets. I see him going a long way,” comments Van den Berg.

Further, Schoombie has been approached by the South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering to present this information to its members across South Africa.

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