Professor Annie Bekker
The SA Agulhas II, Flagship For Vessel 4.0
Stellenbosch University
Professor Anriëtte(Annie) Bekker discovered her passion for the vibration of structures as a third-year student in Mechanical Engineering at Stellenbosch University.
This field has led her career to diverse research topics including dynamic seat comfort of cars for Ford Motor Company and the prediction of bone fracture of vehicle occupants during landmine blast events for the Armaments Corporation of South Africa. In industry, she worked as the technical lead on noise, vibration and harshness for Optimal Energy Pty. Ltd. She joined the Faculty of Engineering at Stellenbosch University in July 2011 where she has been a professor since 2020.
She is a keen test engineer and has led multi-sensor measurement campaigns on the heavy mobile equipment fleet for Richards Bay Minerals and polar ships including the South African SA Agulhas II and the German Polarstern. Presently, her work aims to reap novelty from the use of operational data for decision aiding. She is registered as a professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa and Editor of the Elsevier Journal Cold Regions Science and Technology.
She currently serves as the Gibela Engineering Research Chair to drive research into South Africa’s new passenger trains. In 2025 she was awarded a second Chair position as the DSTF/SAIMI Chair in Naval Architecture and Design.