Young Engineer's Rise Shows How One Firm Builds Tomorrow's Leaders

Karushka Moses did not simply receive a promotion. When she moved from Senior Engineer to Associate at Makhaotse, Narasimulu and Associates (MNA), she also took on expanded responsibilities in technical leadership, innovation and organisational development, a progression that reflects something the consulting engineering firm has made deliberate practice over more than two decades: building engineers from within.

That commitment has now earned MNA national recognition. The firm was named Mentoring Company of the Year at this year’s Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) Aon Engineering Excellence Awards, an honour that acknowledges its sustained work to develop future engineering leaders at a scale that stands out among smaller consulting practices.

Moses speaks to what that development actually feels like from the inside. “Speaking from experience, I can attest that our mentors do more than transfer technical knowledge,” she says. “To me, mentorship is about recognising the potential in others before they themselves do and investing in nurturing that until they realise their full potential.”

The numbers behind MNA’s approach are substantial for an organisation of its size. Over the past 10 years, the firm has supported 17 Professional Registrations and 33 Candidate Registrations, representing a significant portion of its technical workforce. In just the last two years, MNA recorded three new professional registrations, 14 internal promotions and five Associate-level appointments, with additional registration submissions currently moving through the development pipeline.

The firm’s mentorship model combines structured one-on-one guidance aligned with Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) competency requirements alongside peer-based mentorship, continuous professional development tracking and career development plans connected to the organisation’s grading and succession framework. Experienced professionals provide technical guidance, design reviews, project exposure and leadership coaching across MNA’s divisions in Transportation, Water and Sanitation, Buildings and Integrated Systems Engineering.

Managing Director Sagren Narasimulu frames the work as foundational. “Our approach to mentorship is founded on the belief that the success of a consulting engineering firm is measured not only by the infrastructure it delivers, but also by the growth and advancement of its people,” he says. “This recognition reflects the commitment of our mentors, mentees and leadership team to building a stronger, more capable and more inclusive engineering profession.”

In 2025, MNA formalised its mentoring history by establishing the M&N Enginuity Academy, designed to guide engineering graduates toward professional registration through a documented, outcomes-based training environment. The Academy combines theoretical and practical technical training with soft skills development, financial management exposure, entrepreneurial skills development, workplace experience and competency-based assessment. An enhanced Mentorship Policy that launched in April this year strengthens governance, accountability and mentor capability development while introducing monitoring and outcomes-based measurement across the programme.

By contrast, the significance of this award gains weight when considered against MNA’s scale within the broader South African consulting engineering landscape. As a relatively small practice, the firm has built and sustained a development programme that produces measurable results and positions it alongside much larger competitors in its commitment to the profession’s future.

“Smaller and growing firms can play a meaningful role in building the profession by creating pathways for young engineers, transferring institutional knowledge and deliberately developing people into the professionals and leaders who will contribute to the sustainability of South Africa’s infrastructure sector,” Narasimulu says.

He also used the occasion to look beyond MNA itself. “We want to recognise all consulting engineering firms, and employers in the engineering industry who continue to invest in the mentorship and development of our country’s young engineers. These efforts will strengthen the country’s engineering capacity in the years to come and ensure that a pipeline of responsible and capable engineers continues to be produced to meet the needs of our continuously developing nation.”

Whether other small firms take up that challenge in the years ahead may ultimately determine how deep South Africa’s engineering pipeline runs. More information on MNA’s approach to engineering development is available at https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/mnas-investment-in-south-africas-future-engineers-recognised-2026-09-03.