Associate Professor 
Department of Industrial Engineering
ann.lourens@mandela.ac.za
041 504 9124
North Campus, Building Nr 204, Room NumberC242

Biography / Background

Ann Lourens is an Associate Professor at Nelson Mandela University and Project Leader for Women in Engineering Leadership Association (WELA). Ann obtained undergraduate qualifications in Operations Management followed by an MBA (Cum laude) and DBA. Prior to a career in academia at the former Cape Technikon (Cape Town) and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (Port Elizabeth/Gqeberha), Ann worked in various manufacturing industries in operations-related positions. As an academic, Ann lectured a variety of modules on the Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, and MBA programmes. She has a keen research interest in the development and retention of students (particularly women engineering students) and to this end has developed and managed several co-curricular interventions.

Since 2011, one such project has been the design and management of the Women in Engineering Leadership Association (WELA) focusing on developing, supporting and mentoring women engineering students. Several conference proceedings and journal articles relating to this work have been published in addition to technology strategy research articles.

As current Head of Department and member of the Industrial Engineering team at Nelson Mandela University, close links are maintained with industry and several short learning programmes have been designed to develop employees representing various industries in and around the Eastern Cape. Notably, one of these programmes includes a leadership development programme for early-career male and females in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Production (STEP).

Qualifications

• National Diploma Production Management 1991 PE Technikon
• National Higher Diploma Production Management 1993(Cum Laude) PE Technikon
• Baccalaureus Technologiae (BTech) Business Administration 1998 (Cum Laude) PE Technikon
• Magister Technologiae Business Administration (MBA) 2001 (Cum Laude) PE Technikon
• Doctor of Business Administration  (DBA) Graduated 2011 NMMU
   

Awards and Achievements

• NMMU Teaching and Learning Best Team Award (2012)
• NMMU Emerging Researcher of School of Engineering (2014)
• NMMU Engagement Team Award (2014, for 2013)
• Authored chapter in textbook: Implementing Lean in South African Industry (2010)
• AIRBUS International Diversity Award – only short-listed candidate from South Africa (2016)
• The unique Centre of Business Engineering (situated within the Department of Industrial Engineering) boasts a simulated working environment, an advanced manufacturing centre and a computer laboratory for computer simulations etc. In 2019 more funding was secured and the laboratory was upgraded in line with Industry 4.0 principles.

Professional Activities

Member of the South African Institute of Industrial Engineers (SAIIE),
South African Society Engineering Education (SASEE) and American Society Engineering Education (ASEE).

 

Teaching Interests

During the course of my career as a lecturer at the (former) Cape Technikon (1994-1996) and as a lecturer at the NMMU/NMU, I have lectured a variety of modules. This includes undergraduate modules in Industrial Engineering, Clothing Production Management, Operations Management, and Management qualifications, in addition to postgraduate modules for Operational Management, Industrial Engineering and MBA students.
I believe a lecture room, where the lecturer is, but a facilitator must be a safe, open environment where students and the facilitator are able to learn from each other. I believe that ethics, responsibility and ownership must be embedded in the curriculum and that students must be encouraged to develop, grow and practise self-directed learning; to broaden their minds and their thinking and learn to look at things differently. They must be encouraged to practise lifelong learning and engineering-thinking as a way of life. I like to challenge my students with research projects, practical application and teamwork as this teaches valuable skills to prepare our students for life and the world of work.

In 2011, I became the project leader for Women in Engineering Leadership Association (WELA), which is one of the 5 projects supported by the merSETA Chair of Engineering Development. The goals of WELA are to develop aspiring and working women engineers on a personal level, academically and professionally to improve retention and success. To achieve these goals, I, together with the WELA project team, have designed and developed a set of co-curricular interventions which were formalised into a NMMU short learning programme in 2013, namely, the WELA Leadership Development Programme. The WELA programme has had a profound impact on many of our women engineering students, and the programme is growing from strength to strength. I have attended several international conferences where I presented papers on WELA-related topics. In 2013 I also initiated a longitudinal research project to determine the self-efficacy of engineering students at Mandela University. Four reports have been published (2013 and 2014 findings) and the reports have already led to two accredited journal articles.

Research Interests

In the process of becoming more aware and attuned to the diverse needs of our students and the possible impact that an academic can make and has the responsibility to make, I have become very interested in developing co-curricular interventions to assist students and to embrace a humanising pedagogy. Therefore, my research interest moved from Operations type questions, technology and strategy to engineering education. Furthermore, due to this interest, I have developed and organised several co-curricular interventions such as the Early Identification System, the Workplace Orientation Workshop, and the Part-time Students’ intervention. These interventions have led to collaborations with colleagues from Student Counselling and the Centre for Teaching, Media and Learning. The collaborations have resulted in several conference papers and journal articles. In addition, I was the Faculty representative for the Siyamphumlela project and have been involved in the recruitment of and the developing of the portfolio of the academic advisor. I worked closely with the academic advisor of all related matters, and together we have developed several questionnaires to understand our engineering students better and to design interventions and activities to improve their retention. In 2018, the WELA teams designed and offered the WELA STEP programme which is a management development programme for early career males and females in the field of science, technology, engineering and production. The programme is offered to both internal colleagues and to the industry we serve.