Company Profile
Our Energywise team has over 60 years of combined experience in the field of lighting manufacture, design and energy saving.
Led by CEO Andrea Barausse – recognized as one of the foremost lighting experts in Southern Africa – we’ve had R&D instilled in us as a core ethos of how we operate. This combined with one of the top photometric lighting laboratories in the country housed in, and operated by Energywise ensures that everything we touch is measurable and verifiable against the highest international standards and that we treat lighting as the science it is. This approach has kept Energywise at the forefront of innovation in our field since 2006 and promises to for years to come.
We’re a small team of 31 staff with a proud heritage of accolades and awards and some staggering energy-saving figures to our name (verified by leading auditing institutes and universities in Southern Africa). The products we endorse, those we manufacture and the long list of big-name customers we’ve handed bespoke lighting solutions to over the years are testimony of our guiding principle: Better Lighting Through Research.
Our Team
Andrea Barausse
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Andrea is driven by a passion for lighting that few can rival. In 1978 he launched his first electrical company specialising in Tubular Lighting and Automation Control Systems. In 1991 he won his first major award in the category of ‘Most Innovative Lighting Design’ by Osram for an energy-efficient light fitting he created. In 2005 he launched Energywise and lead us on to win Energy company of the year for 2 years in a row. Described in three words: Innovative. Problem-solving. Italian.
Jonas Barausse
Chief Operations Officer
Having left the EW team in 2009 to run his own businesses, he rejoined in 2019 with a wealth of experience and in a short time has proved himself a driving force of innovation in the company. His mandate is as simple as it is daunting, to take Energywise to new heights. No small task, but one he has taken to with skill and an abundance of passion with results that speak for themselves.
Patricia Nyuswa
Head of Production
Patricia has been with Andrea since 1989. Beginning her career as the office tea lady Patricia has come a long way. Today she heads up production and the largest staff contingent in the company. The matriarch of her family and ours, Patricia is a truly South African female powerhouse and an incredible asset to the company.
Anthon Human
Head of R&D
As a mechanical engineer who practices Industrial Design, Anthon is a man driven by innovation. From conceptualisation to prototyping to the final product, Anthon is hands-on all the way. Born and bred in Durban has ensured a life subscribing to the local ethos of outdoor passions and never escaping a chance for an adrenaline spike or a smile.
Keshnee Augustine
Finance Manager
With a financial pedigree to make most fiscally minded people blush, Keshnee is the undisputed queen of the Energywise purse. She holds the reins, balances the books, controls the ledgers and generally holds dominion over all things finance.
Yousuf Vasanwala
Head of Procurement
Yousuf holds a BTech in Mechanical Engineering with expertise in product design and development. He is a manufacturing fundi in all fields from injection moulding, plastic & metal extrusion and sheet metal design to name a few. Yousuf also oversees the supply chain management and is our in-house I.T. guru.
Gcinokwakhe Dlamini
Graphic Design & Marketing Specialist
Gcinokwakhe is not just a designer; he is a visionary artist who breathes life into every project he undertakes. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for pushing the boundaries of creativity, Gcinokwakhe has established himself as a formidable talent in the design industry.
Struan Anderson
Design and Marketing Manager
Struan is the newest addition to the Energywise team and has had a giant impact on the company right out the gate. His astute eye for design, passion for marketing and genuine belief in both the products and ethos of Energywise have seen our company undergo a significant facelift. Struan has the ability to make the good, great, and is the perfect addition to a team that was probably focused a little too much on R&D and science at the expense of looks before he strode into the fray
Mbali Hlongwane
stock control manager
Nothing comes or goes at Energywise without Mbali’s involvement. She’s a walking supercomputer when it comes to stock counts, component variations and bridging the gap between accounts and procurement. Also helps that she’s borderline fanatical about ensuring processes are followed and will dish out the same amount of grief to whoever doesn’t cross their T’s or dot their I’s in this regard, doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO or the delivery guy. And that is just the way we like it.
Production
The Energywise production team is a SWAT unit in the production world.
Small, highly motivated and able to execute against incredible odds without batting an eyelid. They are where the rubber meets the road for Energywise. The laboratory, RnD department and grand schemes of our CEO all come to nothing without this teams ability to deliver.
We spend a great deal of time and resources ensuring that not only their environment but their procedures are human-centric in such a manner as to be conducive to a high output of quality goods on a daily basis.
We believe strongly in the idea of hiring young and investing heavily in an evenly spread gender environment where the emphasis is put on training in-house to produce the calibre of personnel we require. We work hard to maintain a high retention rate ensuring that the team is cohesive and constantly moving forwards.
Standards
All EW products are proudly assembled, manufactured and designed in Durban, South Africa and constructed using the best components from all around the world.
Our product ranges are aligned to global standards which is achieved through strong international partnerships and stringent adherence to local legislation. Energywise Systems is ISO9001:2015, SABS, GMP, MASC and RoHS compliant with a direct drive to help all our customers reduce their carbon footprint with efficient, long term and cost-effective solutions.
Our Lab
Better light through research for everyone
We are forever learning and believe that understanding the fundamental and intricate science behind light and colour is fundamental to creating quality products.
Wanting to know how good your light fittings actually are? The Energywise laboratory can offer you the following services to assist you in finding out about:
for more info info@energywise.co.za
Thermal
Measurements are taken via our thermal cameras capturing the effects of heat on luminaire performance. All testing is done with the aid of our incubator (oven) capable of handling fittings of up to 1.2m in length to test at different ambient temperatures.
Colour quality
Our laboratory allows us to read CRI, CCT as well as Scotopic and Photopic ratios of light sources tested.
Portable spectrometer
We are able to produce on-site results and comparisons using handheld portable Spectrometers. Results are emailed directly from the device to your inbox whilst on-site and Energywise have secured the distributorships for two global championship brands in this regard Ledmotive and Asenstek meaning we can assist you in either the testing itself or the purchasing of the spectrometers themselves to empower you to run such diagnostic tests yourselves.
Goniometers
We use type A & B with Goniometers with Gigahertz-Optic Spectrometers producing LDT and IES e-files. Our mini-Goniometer is excellent for quick reports at sources up to 80mm in diameter with Ocean Optics Sensor.
Electrical
We are able to measure the performance of light sources and luminaries ranging from Watts, Amps, VA, Power Factor and Harmonic distortion systems.
R&D
The epicentre of the Energywise HQ is our laboratory.
Our latest tech Viso goniometer for measures photometric performances of all types of luminaires and light sources up to 1.5 meters in length. Our lab equipment also includes illuminance meters including a Scotopic/Photopic meter, Power analysis meter, Incubator oven and thermal cameras. We are also proud owners of a mini portable goniometer which is paired with an Oceans Optic Spectrometer sensor for measuring photometric light sources up to 80mm in diameter.
Combined with the above we also have a range of 3D printing technologies which allows us to prototype in-house and drastically cut down on R&D turnaround time.
What all this incredible equipment means is that we are fully equipped with the latest technology to prototype and test fittings, measure actual photo-metrics, as well as all aspects of LED luminaire designs from photometric testing through to thermal testing and verification.
SolidWorks® 3D Design
The Energy wise team make great use of SolidWorks®. A fully immersive 3D design software that allows for quick and accurate luminaire design and visualization. The software can create realistic renderings to present clients with an image of how their product will look before a prototype is made. Designs made from start to finish in 3D allow us to export projects into traditional CAD format for manufacturing or into STEP files for seamless input into the Photopia software.