Hanlie

Hanlie de Beer, a GIS Technologist, has been with Royal Haskoning DHV for 15 years now, a journey, she says, that has been nothing short of fabulous. “I remember when I first started with GIS I was like a kid in a candy store. It was like, ooh, this is so exciting, because every day is different, you know?"

Before joining RHDHV, Hanlie was a geography lecturer for 13 years after which she took some time off to raise her boys. “I reached a point where I was worried that my brain cells were fast disappearing when a friend told me, ‘Use it or lose it!’.

So, I took the plunge and studied Geographic Information Systems. It was an interesting challenge to study again at a later age. I was at least 15 years older than everyone else, and they could not comprehend that there were no personal computers yet in my undergraduate years – only main frame computers as big as street blocks!”

As part of her studies, Hanlie made contact with RHDHV (then SSI) and they later invited her to help out for a month to finish a project. “The month became two, then three, then fifteen years,” she chuckles.

Initially, Hanlie’s role involved mostly capturing of spatial data and creating maps for reports. It gradually changed to include all aspects of spatial data management and spatial analysis. In addition, she has been able to put her teaching experience to good use by training clients upon request.  “I still enjoy teaching very much,” she says.

“We were previously working behind the scenes, but we have now become part of the project team, which is something I really enjoy. Not only do I enjoy teamwork, but it is important to me to see the purpose, extent, and outcome of a project, and to be able to contribute to how the project is executed. Spatial data is the cornerstone for understanding the wider environment, in other words, geography provides the context for our engineering projects. It takes you from seeing just a bridge to understanding the traffic patterns, topography, climate, and, importantly, seeing how it can change the lives of the community the bridge will serve. As our world becomes more connected on more and more levels, projects cannot be looked at in isolation anymore. As geographers like to say: Everything has to do with geography.”

Since her boys have left school, Hanlie has been able to appreciate and utilize the learning opportunities the company offers. “Maybe I’m a late bloomer,” she says, “but because of this whole lifelong learning approach that the company has, it has sparked something in me, the part of me that wants to learn as much as I can while I still can.” She has had to find her own way and learn new approaches on some projects, and that has been really exciting. "So I think, over the last few years, I’ve really grown a lot,” she says.

She says her growth is largely due to the company and people taking an interest in helping her. “Every time that I have reached out, there was someone that could help me take one or two steps and then there was another one helping me and so on. They would encourage me to do more than just attend meetings, they let me make observations, give comments etc. And when these are favourably met you gain confidence, you know, and that helps you grow. I’m very lucky to have had supporting colleagues.”

Hanlie talks fondly about her favourite work memory which was when she worked on the 2010 FIFA World Cup. “It was really quite interesting because as transport engineers we got to do the travel planning for host city Tshwane. Initially, I started doing the maps, and then I got drawn into helping with a bit of the planning, and after that, I was drawn into training the volunteers because of my background in training. The next thing I knew I was the manager of the LC De Villiers park and ride. It was such an interesting journey, and such a positive time in our country. Being able to work towards the same goal with people from all backgrounds was just incredible. On the day that the World Cup started, we all got together and sang the national anthem, and it was like there was no colour, there was no age and no cultural differences. We were all just so excited to be there. And I think we have to hold on to moments like that and remind ourselves that on the ground, we are more alike than we are different.”

Hanlie laughs when I ask her what her colleagues might not know about her. “It’s pretty interesting,” she says, “I lived on the Cayman islands in 1991 and worked with the FBI on the forensic investigation into the liquidation of the BCCI international bank when it was forced to close due to charges of money laundering and fraud. And I got to scuba dive before work!”

That does sound pretty interesting…