Michael was born and grew up in the Gauteng province of South Africa. He completed his schooling at the Springs Boys High School and, after leaving school, began an apprenticeship with South African Airways as an Aircraft Technician. Showing an above average aptitude for aircraft engines and airframes he completed the normal five year course in just three and a halve years of which nine months were spent with the South African Airforce on national service. During this apprenticeship he studied at the Witwatersrand Technical College and obtained a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. Shortly after qualifying, he moved to the Design Drawing Office and spent four creative years putting the thoughts and dreams of Maintenance Engineers into practice. His next move was to the high profile Flight Performance Engineering division of South African Airways. This opened the opportunity to study at the Boeing Company. On one of his business trips a casual conversation with a Concorde pilot and a brilliant Airbus Aeronautical Engineer, led him to define and implement the Reduced Thrust Take-off (Flex-Thrust) adopted by South African Airways in 1979. Computers then became his focus. Exposure to all aspects of business computing; programming, system design, operations, database design and administration provided a solid grounding for implementing SAP computer systems both nationally and internationally. At present he holds the position of a SAP Business Consultant for the iServe Company, specializing in the implementation and development of business solutions using SAP software. Michael is married to a loving and supportive wife, Marieta. They have three fantastic children and five amazing grandchildren.
