Bongani Ngcobo – Space Geodesy Hardware Specialist
Mr Ngcobo joined SARAO in September 2019. He is a Geodesy Hardware Specialist, managing stations equipped with GNSS receivers, supporting SLR, meteorological weather stations, water vapor radiometers, and seismometers. His department integrates and maintains geodetic stations that are equipped with GNSS receivers, Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) systems, meteorological stations, water vapour radiometers, and seismometers. His hardware team integrates, installs and ensures optimal performance of all instruments to deliver high-accuracy spatial geodetic data to various local and international stakeholders.
Mr. Ngcobo is a versatile professional with more than 15 years expertise in IT consultancy, circuit design, solar engineering, higher education, and large-scale project management. A self-taught electronics hobbyist since age 13, he began his career at Dhuva Power Station (1996–1999) and later led design studies at key coal energy facilities—including Kriel, Matla, Hendrina, and Kendal—while contributing to the electrification of over 30 villages through electrical reticulation projects.
He is a University of Pretoria graduate in Physics and Mathematics (with electives in Engineering and Computer Science), he advanced his career subcontracting for Dell, contributing to pioneering UNISYS wireless point-of-sale projects that were done in collaboration with MTN, Vodacom, and Nedbank.
He has also performed electronics repair and maintenance on antennas, HF/VHF/3G and Wimax repeaters, high sites, and communication equipment, including Motorola and Kenwood systems.
Since 2006, through his consultancy work, he has designed and installed IT infrastructure for prominent clients such as Vodacom, Telkom, MTN, the City of Tshwane, ABSA Bank, and the Reserve Bank, while also serving as a lecturer and curriculum developer (Physics, Electric Circuits, Computer Architecture) at the University of Pretoria and as a part-time lecturer in Engineering Mechanics at UNISA.
Since 2013, taping from the renewable energy physics courses he did at UP. he has ventured into renewable energy by designing and installing over 30 solar converters for residential and industrial applications in line with Eskom’s small-scale embedded generation standards. He has expertise in solar engineering, specialized Solar PV designer, and green solar installation qualifications. His innovative work has earned him multiple excellence awards at Dell, recognition as a laureate for education innovation by the University of Pretoria, and a recent accolade from SARAO.
He is an alumnus of the University of Pretoria (UP) and Wits and is currently pursuing post graduate studies at Stellenbosch University. He has received fiber optics training from Huawei and Triple Play and holds a CCNA certification.
When not at work, he enjoys analog circuit amplifier design, mentoring final-year students, cycling, fishing, experimenting with IoT home automation projects, and exploring geopolitics.
