Ben Wolfaardt

Blockchain Developer

Commerc.io srl•  September 2021 - Present

Commercio has created the Documents Blockchain, an eIDAS (electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services) Compliant Legally Binding Blockchain. We make use of the Cosmos-SDK, an open-source framework for building multi-asset public Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchains. In this role I: • Create, maintain, test, and debug the chain in Go. • This includes the core application logic, databases, data and application integration & RESTful web services / API’s. • Make use of Git, Docker, PostgreSQL, gRPC as well as principles from Agile software development. • Write tickets and report bugs, make code improvement suggestions, review MRs, provide constructive feedback & write Unix scripts.

Area Sales Manager

Turo Italia•  April 2021 - July 2021

Managed, both Technically & Commercially, multiple multi-million Euro projects with many of the world's largest EPC's (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) involved in a multitude of sectors: Mineral, Chemical, Waste Water Treatment & Paper to name a few. Some of my other responsibilities in this role included: • The expansion & management of our sales network in the African continent - agents, representatives & customers. • Market analysis (barriers to entry, upcoming projects, competition & potential agents) to develop long-term strategies for various African countries. • Provided detailed reports on the results (financial, market growth, individual product successes, etc.) of various countries. • Kept management informed by providing clear overviews of current and upcoming projects. • Ensured that the workload for Africa was evenly distributed across fellow Engineers whilst optimising the liaison between Engineering, Quality, Production & Purchasing departments. • Delivered all projects in a timely manner.

Export Sales Engineer

Turo Italia•  March 2018 - March 2021

Turo Italia forms part of the larger Egger Group which is a multinational pump manufacturer that has been a leader in the industry since its conception in 1947. Here I am: • Developing central & southern Africa markets - market research & analysis; establishing a market presence; technical presentations to prospective clients. • Gaining a holistic understanding of marketing & sales - from acquiring RFQ’s to technical alignments; commercial negotiations to project commissioning. • Serving customers - by identifying their needs and engineering adaptations of products, equipment, and services.

University of Stellenbosch

Mechatronics and Biomedical Engineering, BE•  January 2014 - December 2018

Mechatronic Engineering provided me with the skill set necessary to solve real-world problems by leveraging technology. It exposed me to a multitude of modules in Mechanical and Electrical & Electronic Engineering as well as Computer Science; what Mechatronic Engineering is comprised of, and why I chose it. Whilst attaining my degree, I realized that I had a particular knack for anything coding related; whether it be Computer System's (Assembly, C, or VHDL) to Numerical Methods (MATLAB). I particularly enjoyed the design modules as they put both my hardware and software skills to the test; requiring extremely efficient coding solutions due to the microcontroller's hardware constraints. I ended off my Engineering studies by delving into neuroscience and further developing my programming skills by applying Deep Learning (Artificial Intelligence) to Electroencephalographic Brain Responses of Semantic categorization - further details under "Projects" below; or contact me directly.