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Games and Cum Laude For DUT’s Joshua

Games and Cum Laude For DUT’s Joshua

From a young age, Joshua Dhanapalan, 22, wanted to become a video game developer. As far-fetched as it may have sounded to some people, Josh, as he is affectionately known, was determined to see his dream become a reality.

Three years ago, Joshua enrolled for a National Diploma in Information Technology at the Durban University of Technology. His passion and dedication saw him attaining top results in his course and on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, Dhanapalan will graduate cum laude and also receive the Dean’s Merit Award Academic Excellence.

Hearing the news, Dhanapalan was beside himself with excitement. “I’m very happy. This will count as a plus towards my CV,” he said. Seeing as computer studies was not offered as a learning subject at his high school, Dhanapalan found an alternative way of gaining ground level knowledge about programming and developing video games: the internet.

Soon after matriculating in 2008, he enrolled for a computer systems engineering course at DUT where he hoped to gain adequate knowledge about programming. When the course did not meet his expectations, failing two subjects in the process, he changed to Information Technology, developing a great passion for this course. “Doing homework and assessments was like second nature to me,” he said. And when it came to studying for tests and examinations, Dhanapalan preferred to study in advance, giving every chapter of his work the necessary attention. Even when no tests were looming, he would read over his chapters, doing tutorials and exercises regularly.

“When I failed computer systems engineering, my father was disappointed. I did not want to disappoint him again,” Dhanapalan said.

Making his family proud was Dhanapalan’s number one priority. “My parents and older brother, Duran, were always there to support me morally and financially (while studying for my diploma). I also want to pay tribute to my lecturer, Cassim Vanker for his support too,” he said.

Dhanapalan is currently studying towards a Bachelor of Technology degree in Information Technology at DUT. His current goal is to find employment either as a web designer, programmer or as an applications developer.

Ultimately, Dhanapalan wants to become a video game developer and he has already started working towards this dream. He has developed his very own game, a three-dimensional version of Snake. This is available at www.kongregate.com, a global website for game developers. The direct link to the game is http://www.kongregate.com/games/josh1zn/snake3dupdated.

Explaining the process of developing the game, he said he used a function called Blender 3D to make the objects and Unity 3D to compile the game. He said the game is similar to the one commonly found in Nokia phones. The same rules apply to playing it too. Although he is not yet a master in developing games, Josh knows he will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in future.

– Naledi Hlefane

Pictured: DUT IT student, Joshua Dhanapalan, who will graduate cum laude as well as receive the Deans Merit Award for Academic Excellence when he graduates next

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