Management & Operations

Tenacity best describes IFW leadership in its concept, construction, testing, and marketing efforts. Now having shown proof points in analysis by third party validation, the Werop has gained interest from clients at global expos, symposia, workshops and outreach seminars.

  • Simon Wijnberg, Founder & CEO

    Simon is the designer of the product and founder of the company.
    He has 30 years of marine experience ranging from naval operations and coastal engineering management to oceanographic field work within the international oil and gas industry. As a passionate commercial diver with over 33 years of diving experience, he has a natural feeling for the undersea world. His wide travels have seen him witness the suffering of many coastal communities who do not have adequate access to potable water, and this has been a driving force in his creation of the WEROP to provide solutions to a growing need for potable water, while also combating climate change. He is passionate about helping to solving these world issues in a win-win manner for all concerned.

  • Anton Berkovitz, Business Director

    Anton's background is in the Investments Industry, where he has over 20 years of experience, holding executive roles in Governance, Technology and Operations. He works through Ilanyezi, which provides strategy and project implementation through a consulting association. He specialises in designing and operationalising business strategies, and is well positioned to work with other parties to bring an holistic solution to clients.
    Anton is passionate about the environment and enjoys projects that prevent its destruction.

  • Craig Matthysen, Scientific Director

    With a dozen years as managing Director of Lwandle Technologies, Craig has offered fantastic support by giving us access to his oceanographic data collection equipment. He has a team of scientists (oceanographers and marine biologists) who can offer expertise.
    Lwandle Technologies (Pty) Ltd is a Level 2 B-BBEE company founded in 2003.

  • James Workman, Water Resource Marketing

    Workman creates natural resource conservation markets for fresh water, energy and marine life. He wrote the award-winning Heart of Dryness: How the Last Bushmen Can Help Us Endure the Coming Age of Permanent Drought, and the forthcoming Sea Change: The Unprecedented Rebirth of America’s Wild Ocean Fisheries. Workman studied at Yale & Oxford, taught at Wesleyan and Whitman, but his real education came from blowing up dams, releasing wolves, restoring wildfires, guiding safaris, smuggling water to dissidents after breaking down alone in Africa's Kalahari Desert, and becoming a father. A former investigative journalist, he was enlisted by U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to advance President Clinton’s conservation policies, later joined the World Commission on Dams under Nelson Mandela, and advises corporations, governments and international NGOs. Based in San Francisco, he writes for Environmental Defense Fund, and has co-founded AquaShares, the world’s first online market that lets families and firms monetize and trade water savings.

Research & Development Partners

This year we are testing the Werop in the third series of sea trials to establish the efficiency of the system, and demonstrate the technology to potential investors. This is the third year we are operating the R&D full time, since its inception in 2002, thanks to funding from the TIA (Technology Innovation Agency).

  • Gary Mills, Diving Operations Superintendant

    Gary runs the dive team Director at Mooring and Salvage Co, and provides divers as required by IFW. Gary has more than 30 years of salvage experience, and is extremely well connected.

  • Dylan Thomson

    Dylan provides the practical support. He is young but very able (his father is a Rear Admiral (JG) in the South African Navy). He has spent most of his life on or near water, whilst tinkering with mechanical systems in his spare time.

  • Jason Hayden

    JASON HAYDEN is a solid part-timer who adds his diverse oceanographic engineering skills to the team when he is available. An experienced Oceanographic Field Engineer, who has successfully conducted work for numerous offshore oil and gas companies .

  • Samuel Ginsburg

    SAMUEL GINSBURG (UCT electronics engineer and lecturer). He made up the instrumentation we used to measure the performance of the wave pump, and will assist with future research.

  • Andre van Rhyn, Managing Director, JAVAN FABRICATIONS

    Javan Fabrications specialises in the manufacture of medium to heavy mechanical equipment for the mining, energy, and marine based industries. They are the IFW construction partner. Javan Fabrications is ISO 9001 compliant as well as a BBBEE level 2 company.