The Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment conferred seven Doctor of Engineering Degrees at the DUT Autumn Graduation ceremony held at the Olive Convention Centre on Monday afternoon, 22 May 2023.

The seven PhD graduates were the highlight of the second session of the Day 1 of the Durban graduations. The programme director for this session was the Senior Director of Corporate Affairs at the DUT, Mr Alan Khan. He highlighted those 8122 students graduated during the Autumn Graduation this season. Khan applauded the women at DUT for dominating the graduation. For the graduating class of 2022, 61% of the total graduates is females.

Presenting the graduands with their degrees was the Executive Dean: Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Professor Fulufhelo Nemavhola. The PhD graduands and research topics were as follows:

1. Olusegun Adigun Afolabi: Degree of Doctor of Engineering under the Supervision of Professor K Kanny and Co-Supervision of Dr TP Mohan. The tittle of the thesis read: Hybrid syntactic foam core based natural-glass fibre sandwich composite.
2. Ige Oluwafemi: Degree of Doctor of Engineering under the Supervision of Dr OA Olanrewaju and Co-Supervision of Prof K Duffy and Dr O Collins. The tittle of the thesis read: Integrated life cycle assessment and system dynamics model for prediction of cement production and environmental impact of cement industry.
3. Bonke Mncwango: Degree of Doctor of Engineering under the Supervision of Prof D Allopi. The tittle of the thesis read: Characterization of concrete with expanded polystyrene, eggshell powder, and non-potable water: -A case study.
4. Debasmita Mohanty: Degree of Doctor of Engineering under the Supervision of Prof K Kanny and Co-Supervision of Dr S Mohanty. The tittle of the thesis read: Improvement of Scratch and Abrasion Resistance of Automobile Paint.
5. Mufaro Moyo: Degree of Doctor of Engineering under the Supervision of Prof K Kanny and Co-Supervision of Dr TP Mohan. The tittle of the thesis read: Performance of Nano Clay infused plant fibre-reinforced hybrid bio composites under impact loading.
6. Isaac Olalere: Degree of Doctor of Engineering under the supervision of Dr OA Olanrewaju. The tittle of the thesis read: Optimizing Tool Ware and Workplace conditions monitoring via Cyber-Physical systems for smart manufacturing.
7. Fhatuwani Sengani: Degree of Doctor of Engineering under the Supervision of Prof D Allopi. The tittle of the thesis read: Advanced reliability analysis of road-slope stability in soft rocks geological terrain.

The youngest Doctor of the seven was Dr Bonke Mncwango (32) of New Germany, Pinetown who was excited after achieving this great milestone at such a young age.  He joined DUT when he first enrolled for his master’s degree. He is currently employed at the Office of the Auditor General as the Performance Auditor.
“I just thought that DUT is the place where I can expand my research aspirations. I joined DUT during my master’s degree journey coming from Unisa. I learnt so much from DUT about how to research and how to get more value from it. Walking on the graduation stage was surreal and it was a nice experience,” said Dr Mncwango.
A DUT staff member, Dr Isaac Olalere from the Department of Industrial Engineering was proud of himself for finally obtaining his PhD. He is a lecturer at DUT, specialising in teaching Design Projects and Work System.
“Hearing my name being called on stage was a great moment, exciting and really rewarding. It was a good moment and I appreciate all the love and support from my family and friends,” shared Dr Olarere.

Pictured: The PhD graduates from the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Dr Isaac Olalere, Dr Mufaro Moyo, Dr Debasmita Mohanty, Dr Olusegun Adigun Afolabi, Dr Bonke Mncwango and Dr Fhatuwani Sengani.

Simangele Zuma and Nikiwe Sukazi