Gerard de Villiers

Gerard graduated with a BSc in Engineering from the University of Cape Town in 1977, and an MSc from the Engineering faculty of Stellenbosch University in 1981.

Since starting his consulting company in 1983, Gerard has worked almost exclusively on the design of wineries and distilling processes. He specialises in winery process design, which entails the flow of grapes, juice and wine from off-loading through pre-cooling, sorting, fermentation, maturation, blending, bottling, storing and distribution. His work often includes the civil and structural design of the buildings as well as the appurtenant services such as water purification and effluent treatment. It also includes bulk service supply to the facility and distribution in the facility of water, electrical power, standby power and cooling.

Gerard has been involved in the design of more than 150 wineries in South Africa, where he has been responsible for the process design as well as the civil and structural design. He has also been involved in the design and planning of wineries in California and the UK.

Gerard practises from his studio on a small wine and olive farm in Kleinood, outside Stellenbosch.

Dr Mervyn Smyth

Mervyn obtained a 1st Class BEng (Hons) in Building Services Engineering and PhD for solar energy research from the University of Ulster. He has over 7 years experience in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry prior to taking up the position of Lecturer in Building Services Engineering at the University of Ulster. Prior to this position he was senior lecturer / teaching fellow position with the School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is currently a Reader in Solar Thermal Technologies at the University of Ulster. Mervyn is the NI Regional Chairman of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers.

Mervyn has a particular interest in solar thermal systems and has been involved in the design, development, fabrication and evaluation of various types of solar water heating units. He has over 13 years experience in the experimental characterisation of solar energy collecting systems under real and simulated conditions and has over 4 years in the integration of passive solar systems and agri-frost protection, conducting numerous field experiments.

Mervyn is currently interested in the application of active solar renewable technologies within the wine industry. He returned last year from California, where he spent 6 months working in a solar winery. This work was funded through a prestigious RAEng Global Research Award to develop material for his recently published book investigating the design principles of energy usage and solar augmentation in winery operation.