AFCON CUSTOMER PROFILE
Alvin Brown
Alvin, owner and manager director of Thermal Dynamics & Engineering and JNC Thermal Systems, has been working in the HVAC&R for 20 years. He has gained much experience allowing him to specialise in chillers, so we sat down with him to discuss how he began his career, where it has taken him and what he feels helped him get where he is today.
What is your general background?
Why did you go into this industry originally? My father was the Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning Engineer at Beacon Sweets for 23 years, this naturally drew my interest to the trade from my young high school days. He started teaching me to repair small scale refrigeration equipment in our garage from the time I was in grade 10. After matriculating, I did my apprenticeship at York International, qualified, then slowly moved my way up in the Industry, ultimately to opening Thermal Dynamics & Engineering in 2009.
Where did you study or do your apprenticeship?
I studied at UNISA, did my apprenticeship, and many plant specific training courses, at York International.
Where have you worked over the years?
Started off at Million Air Services(about 2 years), spent 4 years at York International, spent a short 7 months at Combined Air Services, spent 6 years as a service manager and share holder at DJ Thermal Engineering, opened Thermal Dynamics & Engineering beginning of 2009 until present.
Where did you gain your chiller experience?
Fortunately, I was well trained on chillers from York International days, grew and gained experience throughout my career, actually still learning now, you never stop learning.
How long have you been working in the industry and how long specifically with chillers?
Been in the industry for 20 years and have been exposed to chillers since the beginning.
What do you enjoy about working with chillers, which led to your specialisation in them?
I like to specialize in a field, you tend to always be needed in the industry.
What plants have you worked at in the past? Or do so currently?
Eskom Power Station in Drakensburg, Boxmore Plastics (Harrismith, CPT, Bloemfontein & Mauritius, Zambia), Coca Cola (PE, Mozambique & Mauritius), St Augustines Hospital, Sasko Bakery, Boxer Meats Factory in Ballito, just to name a few. All the plants at the above sites are chillers for production purposes. We also work on several cold storage facility plants which run on screw compressors (low temperature and medium temperature), a few ammonia screw sets used for food production blast freezers and many air-conditioning systems from chilled water to standard DX split systems.
