CPD 2 credits. CPD Ref. No. SAIChE-447 Provider: E4A (SAIChE-SPV-004)

Also called: Knowledge Management, Communication and Report Writing

Includes numerous Sub-Courses such as Technical Presentations, Audience and Message analyses, Wide range of Report samples, Technical Scoping & Communication impacts of ‘The 4^th Industrial Revolution’ and an overview of AI.
The report writing guidance also addresses a project’s economic objectives and benefits, as appropriate.
There is extensive time allocated to presentations for commercially driven engineering projects.

An important Course for all Engineers to practice clear and detailed communication channels in all workplaces, especially formal presentations of technical studies such as project proposals.

E4A addresses knowledge management with respect to current rapid change, complexity and the importance of current knowledge expansion. These topics are introduced as a lead-in to the key topics of communication and report writing. We address approaches to communication and technical report writing with an overview to important fundamentals such as audience analysis, needs statements, target markets, bias and vested interests, impacts on communication and matters such as attention markers or lead-ins to many communications and other report writing requirements. The course then presents analytical tools (system analyses, scope analyses, information analyses) to use in the importance of thorough background analysis for good professional technical reports. There is also analysis of how information can be better presented and the hazards of poor presentation especially in spreadsheets and graphical analyses. Further course content covers types of reports, types of styles and matters of report content.

Important guidelines, rules and good practices for each of the communication and report modes are then presented and discussed. Attendees will also develop and enhance their presentations, reports and overall communication skills. The expectations of the coming 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) to control processes with Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, Advanced Instrumentation and BIG DATA analyses are then debated under the 4thIR.

MAIN OBJECTIVES

The main objective is to improve technical communication and writing skills of the attendees, thus providing enhanced communication of emails, and technical records and procedures. The course also sets out to provide a sound understanding of the nature of knowledge and information and the dominant role it plays in all communication in modern economies.

Economic benefits are achieved through reduction of errors and miscommunications in the workplace and thus improved control of processes and operations.

Attendee comments:
“The course enlightened me well on the small details that matter in communication”, Tebogo P.;
“A great course. I will especially use the tools for report writing of my technical reports”, Siphamandla B.

2026 Cost:
Registered Persons Fees/Rates are R5950 (+VAT) for the 2 Live on-line days CPD Courses. 2 CPDs.
Book by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Dates: 26-27 January 2026, 27-28 May 2026, Other dates by agreement and on request.

All courses include:
a. Interesting pre-reading material is sent to attendees normally 2 days prior to the start.
b. Full course materials are emailed ahead to you for the course and your personal library.
c. Videos links through ZOOM or Microsoft Teams still enable samples of products to be shown.
d. The Course framework/plan is sent to attendees as an Excel Document enabling easy tracking.
e. Workshops which include case studies and worked examples are interspersed with tea and lunch breaks and all materials are sent ahead to attendees for these exercises.
f. A Certificate of Attendance with CPD points reflected is provided at the end of the event.

CPD 3 credits. CPD no.: SAIChE-438 Provider: E4A (SAIChE-SPV-004)
Registered name: Materials in Engineering Design, Important Trends, Innovations

Includes numerous Sub-Courses such as New Insights on many materials subjects, E4A’s Master Materials selection with Barriers, Corrosion, 3D Printing, Recycling, Innovative Materials.
The Course has many guidelines on choosing materials in all engineering fields and great cost saving designs.
The Pre, Mid and Post-Reading Files are packed with useful and unique articles and guidelines on materials.

This extensive Course covers an in-depth review of important materials in engineering design.

 Course Dates: 28-29 January 2026, 24-25 June 2026, 5-6 August 2026, 14-15 October 2026

Materials are central to virtually every engineering design and most engineering problems. This course is thus of interest to all engineers and covers a wide range of material types and applications in engineering. Every year we update with new trends and improvements with materials.         
We cover various high-performance grades of metals, non-metals such as plastics, concrete and glass. All courses of E4A are directed at practical application of the theories of each of the course main topics and thus the courses are introduced with a series of articles for pre-course reading/study, to provide an overview to the course and to broadly introduce the attendees to the subject matter.

This Course focusses firstly on the fundamentals of materials with important coverage of materials used in engineering design as well as many important material grades, special terminologies and understanding key topics such as extruded versus welded pipe materials. The need to understand the rating of metals and non-metals for pressure and temperature variables is dealt with in detail to ensure a wide understanding of materials.

The Course then addresses design requirements for equipment designs and engineering parts. The course covers selected applications in various processes, important materials properties and key details of manufacturing and assembly that should be carefully considered for successful long-term performance life in service. Much attention is paid to design lifetimes with alternate materials.              
E4A also focuses on key approaches to the designs, points of critical importance and prior recorded failures, and thus serves to make attendees aware of the wider but important design considerations. The use of industry standards and ratings of institutes (such as ASME for pipes) - both metal and plastic and the service conditions to which the nominal coding applies - are addressed.                
This course is thus to be considered as a broad-based and thorough overview of selection and design of materials for practical and reliable in-plant services.   

The third main section of the Course addresses special materials applications including composites (fibre-glass), material combinations such as barriers and structural elements, modifications of polymers including additives, modifications of metals including Duplex SS, sandwiches and foams, and a range of other amazing materials. There is also a short course on solar panel materials and 3D printing of a range of engineering materials.

The final summary of the Course that we present at the end of DAY 2 is prepared as a series of DESIGN STAGES OR STEPS in a master chart with control checklists, and the appropriate design standards and design limitations are discussed and finalized. Interesting and unusual case studies are also presented.

MAIN OBJECTIVES

The main objective is to develop skills of attendees to assess materials design as a total systems approach, and to evaluate a number of economically viable materials for each application considered.

Economic benefits are firstly achieved through the evaluation of different materials and assessing the most suitable and thus effective materials given the critical variables such as pressure, temperature, corrosion, load bearing and other important parameters. Benefits are also achieved through optimisation of the design and a deeper understanding of how design approaches and parameters can be leveraged to savings and profits.

Attendee comments:
“Thank you for presenting an excellent and very relevant course. I am looking forward to the next one”, Wikus P.;
“The training content was very good for laying the foundations”, Mbombi B.
“Workshop was very valuable, delivered a lot of new material”, Anusha S.

Presenter: John Broli. (MD E4A). For more information or to make your booking, contact John Broli at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cost 2026:
Registered Persons Fees/Rates are R6950 (+VAT) for the 2 Live on-line days and 1 private day CPD Courses. 3 CPDs.
Quantity discounts are available for group attendances or multiple bookings paid in advance.

All courses include:
a. Interesting pre-reading material is sent to attendees normally 2 days prior to the start.
b. Full course materials are emailed ahead to you for the course and your personal library.
c. Videos links through ZOOM or Microsoft Teams still enable samples of products to be shown.
d. The Course framework/plan is sent to attendees as an Excel Document enabling easy tracking.
e. Workshops which include case studies and worked examples are interspersed with tea and lunch breaks and all materials are sent ahead to attendees for these exercises.
f. A Certificate of Attendance with CPD points reflected is provided at the end of the event.