Ruduan Joubert's portrait as a sculpture folded from a printed photograph

Build. Adapt. Own.

RUDUANJoubert

Software Engineer. Entrepreneur. Builder.

From engineering and cybersecurity to software development and entrepreneurship, I build technology, businesses, and solutions that turn ideas into reality.

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01 — About

Curiosity led me here. Building keeps me going.

I'm Ruduan, a South African software engineer and entrepreneur with a background spanning mechanical engineering, cybersecurity, software development, digital manufacturing, and e-commerce. I'm the founder of RU3D and Lodevant, two companies that reflect my passion for building, solving problems, and creating value through technology. I believe the most interesting opportunities exist where technology, creativity, and business intersect.

My journey has never followed one perfectly straight line.

I started in mechanical engineering, where I developed a foundation in mathematics, physics, materials science, CAD, manufacturing, and technical problem-solving. While studying, I became increasingly interested in how technology could be used to create practical products and independent business opportunities.

In 2019, I founded RU3D, initially building a 3D printing business from a single printer. What started as a technical interest developed into real experience in product development, e-commerce, digital marketing, customer relationships, manufacturing, and running a business.

My interest in technology eventually expanded beyond physical products into software, networks, and cybersecurity. I pursued a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, specialising in Security and Network Engineering, and graduated with distinction, achieving an average of approximately 81%.

I subsequently worked professionally as a software developer, where I gained hands-on experience building and maintaining production systems, integrating AI services, developing real-time applications, working with cloud infrastructure, and taking responsibility for technical projects.

However, entrepreneurship remained an important part of who I was. In 2026, I made the decision to move away from conventional full-time employment and focus more directly on building my own businesses. I formally registered RU3D and Lodevant as companies, marking another chapter in my entrepreneurial journey.

Today, my work centres around technology, software, digital products, automation, business development, and the opportunities emerging through artificial intelligence.

I don't see my earlier experiences as unrelated career changes. I see them as layers of knowledge that continue to build on one another.

  1. Engineeringtaught me how things work.
  2. Cybersecuritytaught me how systems fail.
  3. Softwaretaught me how to build them.
  4. Entrepreneurshiptaught me how to turn them into value.

And I'm still learning.

02 — Companies

What I'm building.

Lodevant

Lodevant (Pty) Ltd

Founder & Director · Registered 2026

Websites built to be found.

Technology, digital services, software engineering, and business automation.

A premium, founder-led technology business helping companies establish, improve, and grow their digital capabilities — built on the belief that businesses deserve more than generic digital solutions.

The name combines ideas of value, guidance, vantage, and competitive advantage through technology.

Core services

  • Premium website design and development
  • Website maintenance and technical improvements
  • Search engine optimisation and digital visibility
  • Custom software development
  • Business systems and integrations
  • Workflow and business automation
  • Digital strategy and technical consulting

Where it's going · ambition, not yet built

  • Progressive Web Apps
  • AI-powered tools
  • Custom business platforms
  • SaaS products
  • API integrations
  • Internal operational software
  • Data-driven business tools
  • Scalable automation

The ambition is to grow Lodevant beyond a founder-run consultancy into a reputable international technology company — serving businesses in South Africa and abroad, particularly the United States — with specialist teams, repeatable delivery and software products of its own.

Visit Lodevant

RU3D

RU3D (Pty) Ltd

Founder & Director · Since September 2019 · Registered 2026

Where I learned to build a business.

3D printing, digital manufacturing, design, custom products, and e-commerce.

RU3D started with a single 3D printer and grew into an operating e-commerce and digital manufacturing business. I've run the whole lifecycle — product design, manufacturing, online sales, the website, social media, customer service, production and fulfilment.

It taught me to build not only products, but the systems required to sell and deliver them. Along the way RU3D's social channels grew to a combined following of roughly 50,000 at their earlier peak.

Capabilities

  • FDM and resin 3D printing
  • Custom CAD and 3D modelling
  • Product prototyping
  • Personalised products and photo lithophanes
  • Small-batch production
  • Custom and corporate orders
  • E-commerce product sales
Explore RU3D

NextBlumaIn the works — more soon.

03 — Journey

Not a straight line. A stack of layers.

04 — Work

Built, not talked about.

FuelSure Technologies

Neurofeedback training platform

Junior Software Developer — significant end-to-end responsibility

A neurofeedback training platform built on fNIRS technology, running on a legacy application that needed modernising while adding real-time and AI-driven features.

  • Modernised the legacy app into a component-based architecture, rebuilding 20+ pages and panels
  • Designed a messaging system to coordinate application components
  • Built real-time communication and training-room functionality
  • Integrated wearable sensor data and browser-based face-landmark detection
  • Built guided, voice-driven workflows with speech recognition, text-to-speech and AI transcription
  • Managed deployments and technical infrastructure
  • JavaScript
  • Web Components
  • WebRTC
  • WebSockets
  • MediaPipe
  • OpenAI Whisper
  • ElevenLabs
  • PHP
  • Laravel
  • Cloud

FuelSure Technologies

IoT fuel monitoring & analytics

Software Developer

Turning MQTT telemetry from fuel sensors and probes into a real-time monitoring and analytics platform.

  • Processed live sensor telemetry
  • Built application interfaces for monitoring and analytics
  • Integrated back-end services
  • Documented the systems
  • MQTT
  • IoT
  • Real-time data
  • Back-end integration

RU3D

RU3D e-commerce & production

Founder — design, development and operations

Running a manufacturing business online: listings, custom orders, payments and fulfilment, all depending on systems I built and maintained myself.

  • Designed, developed and maintained the online sales systems
  • Supported product listings, custom orders and payments
  • Ran digital marketing and customer interactions
  • Connected production to fulfilment
  • E-commerce
  • Web development
  • Digital marketing
  • Fusion 360
  • 3D printing

MWR CyberSec internship challenge

MWR CyberSec CTF assessment

Security assessment and report

A documented security assessment across multiple simulated vulnerabilities.

  • Reconnaissance and web exploitation
  • Privilege escalation
  • Vulnerability analysis and risk classification
  • Remediation recommendations in a detailed report
  • Burp Suite
  • Nmap
  • Metasploit
  • Gobuster
  • Linux

A past exercise — shown as background, not a service.

05 — Expertise

Depth, and breadth.

Software engineering

  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • React
  • Native Web Components
  • HTML & CSS
  • PHP
  • Laravel
  • CodeIgniter
  • Python
  • C
  • SQL & MySQL
  • REST APIs
  • Application architecture
  • Full-stack development

06 — Achievements

On the record.

Academic

  • BSc IT graduate with distinction (~81% average)
  • Eduvos Academic Top Achiever — 2022, 2023, 2024
  • Golden Key International Honour Society member
  • 100% Procedural Programming · 96% Ethical Hacking & Pen Testing
  • 95% Intro to Information Systems · 92% Advanced Networking

Cybersecurity

  • TryHackMe Security Analyst Level 1 (SAL1), March 2026
  • Previously ranked in TryHackMe's top 2% globally
  • First place in the Bronze, Silver and Gold leagues
  • CTF exercises and technical security reporting

Leadership

  • Head Boy, Hoërskool Frikkie Meyer, 2017
  • Residence Prefect
  • Multiple rugby captaincies
  • Class Representative — high school and Eduvos 2022–2025

Entrepreneurship

  • Founded RU3D in 2019
  • Built and ran an e-commerce and manufacturing business
  • Grew an audience of ~50,000 across social platforms (at its earlier peak)
  • Established Lodevant; formalised both companies in 2026

07 — What drives me

I believe in building, not just imagining.

I've always been drawn to understanding how things work. Whether it's a mechanical system, a software application, a business process, or a new technology, I enjoy breaking complicated problems into smaller pieces and figuring out how to make them work.

What motivates me most is taking something from an idea to a working reality. Technical knowledge becomes far more valuable when it's combined with creativity and commercial understanding — and progress requires adaptability.

“You don't need to remain the person you were when you started. You need to keep developing into the person capable of building what comes next.”

The next chapter is still being built.

My long-term ambition is to build sustainable technology businesses that solve real problems and create lasting value. Through Lodevant, I want to develop increasingly sophisticated digital solutions, software platforms, automated business systems, and AI-powered products. Through RU3D, I want to keep exploring digital manufacturing, custom products, and e-commerce.

Ultimately, my goal isn't simply to work with technology. It's to create businesses, products, and systems that can grow beyond my individual time and effort. Engineering, software, AI, automation and entrepreneurship together open enormous opportunities for people willing to learn, experiment, and execute. I'm interested in being one of those people.

Off the clock

  • Training hard and setting difficult physical goals
  • Competition and challenges that are hard to win
  • Taking things apart to see how they work
  • Learning, experimenting, and building for the fun of it

“Build the life others wait for.”