Page 2 - DUT Edge

2 EDITOR'S NOTEs
VC's message to DUT first-year students in 2021
On behalf of Council, management, staff, students and our alumni, my rst task is to congratulate you on passing Grade 12 well enough to be admitted to the programmes you applied for at DUT. Given the challenges you had to grapple with in your matric year as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 across the world, you are surely made of sterner stuff. You are highly determined, focused and goal-oriented, to say the least. We are very proud of you. Congratulations!
Welcome to university! Welcome not just to a university, but a university of technology! Welcome to DUT, one of the top ve universities in South Africa!
Being at university ushers in a critical stage in your personal, intellectual, academic and professional development.You will certainly experience signi cant and life-changing events and developments that will change your life for good.All of these will be of great bene t to your personal good and the public good, too.
You will begin to realise that, unlike in high school where there is heavy dependence on teachers, university requires a great measure of initiative and independence in the work that you do.You have been admitted to and will enroll in a programme at the end of which you should be the master of the knowledge and high level intellectual and professional skills that that programme is about. It’s about you, not your lecturer nor your professor.
DUT seeks to produce creative, innovative and adaptive graduates whose contributions to the broader society once they exit our University will be impactful. Part of the preparatory work your lecturers and professors will take you through includes independent thinking
and critical analysis. As a university student, you cannot just say or do as others say or do.You don’t just shout old and hackneyed slogans and chants without a critical analysis thereof. Facts and evidence, values and principles, reason and logic, dialogue and debate, are the hallmarks of university education. If you have come here for something else, perhaps a piece of meaningless and fake paper, please don’t waste your money. This place is not for you.
Embrace this exciting journey to freedom of mind, thought and behaviour.You will surely be provided with all the arsenal to traverse and navigate it.Tread carefully. Its terrain is rugged with no one to level it plain and cut it straight for you to stroll through. It has hills and valleys, cliffs and plains, twists and turns.There are many pirates along the way – drugs, demagogues and all – that might lead you astray.
South Africa is experiencing many repulsive social and economic problems. In our communities, we see people driving around in expensive cars,dressed in designer labels, living in posh houses and generally being ostentatious about their riches, especially when they are ill-gotten. There may not even be facts and evidence, values and principles, reason and logic to justify their riches.
Knowing that some of those aunters hardly went to school, let alone university, you may begin to doubt the foundational value and import of university education. But it’s the engineers that universities produce that design and make those fancy and expensive cars. Sadly, the measure of success has been torpedoed to ownership of material things and not the intellect, high-level skills and innovations that produce those things in the rst place. I guess, in some unfortunate way, COVID-19 is showing us how important science, innovation and technology are as the world rummages for a cure or a vaccine.
I cannot guarantee that university education, and in particular, a DUT quali cation, will make you successful one day. What we guarantee, though, is knowledge and high-level skills.What we guarantee is a culture of reason and logic, facts and evidence, dialogue and debate to advance humanity, your family and yourself in ways that are embedded in strong values and principles.What we guarantee is that the award of a certi cate, diploma or degree at the end of your programme will be as potent as you would have made it to be as you travelled the journey. It’s about you, your mind, your thoughts, your behaviour and what you represent and not just present, out there in the world.
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Editor's Note
Professor Moyo, Deputy Vice- Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Engagement
Welcome to DUT, the leading University of Technology in South Africa!
The years 2020 and 2021 will probably go down in our history as the years of the challenging pandemic. The South African higher education sector has had to make several adjustments in terms of how it engages with its students and alumni. Revelations on the state of ICT infrastructure and capabilities to ensure online teaching and learning, research and innovation have been revealed and different institutions appear in different states of readiness. DUT has had to adjust fairly quickly to provide virtual engagement platforms as well. Coupled with this has been the lived experiences of our people – staff, students and DUT community members – in terms of the impact of the pandemic. It is during such a time that we look up to the stars in our community who continue to bring hope and break through cultural and traditional barriers that seem to be a perpetual distraction to many.
As a university of technology, we have also continued to break boundaries on the research and innovation front. We were ranked in 2020 by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2021 to be among the top 500 universities and ranked 10th globally for citations (the rst South African university of technology to achieve this).This then placed us in fth position among all South African universities. It shows that ‘excellence’, which is one of our ENVISION 2030 values, has no boundaries. If you are excellent in what you do, you will make your impact even beyond your imagination. Since this ranking, DUT has been further ranked 90th by the World University Rankings for 2021 in the Emerging Economies category. Additionally, the World Universities with Real Impact (WURI) 2020 ranking placed DUT 43rd globally in the Ethical Value category.All these accolades mean a lot for both our staff and partners (both nationally and internationally).
Our innovation and entrepreneurship agenda has also not gone unnoticed and in this issue of the EDGE, I wish to congratulate our staff who continue to show that opportunities are everywhere around us. Even in this time of the pandemic, there is still a silver lining if you look hard enough. Hard work, dedication, focus and discipline can help one excel no matter what the challenges may be.Thanks go to our DUT Council and Management Team that continue to ensure that there is an enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. Look out for the launch of our ‘DUT Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’.
Together we can continue to nd ways to drive our futures through ENVISION 2030, with the exciting and rare opportunities it provides!
Alan Khan, Senior Director of Corporate Affairs
Welcome to the 2021 academic year.The last 12 months have been life-changing. Many of us have been affected by COVID-19, either personally or we know of people who were infected and in some instances, family and friends who sadly passed on. May their souls rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing.
Despite the challenges faced over the last year, we also had some positive news. One the highlights was when DUT was named one of the top ve universities in South Africa (as rated by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021).We are proud of our staff, students and alumni who continue to make such a positive contribution in our world. DUT has embraced ENVISION 2030, which is guiding us towards a decade of improving lives and livelihoods. Being people-centred and engaged, innovative and entrepreneurial, is part of our DNA.While our environment is changing, DUT is positioning itself so that we can participate productively in the development of our region, country and world.
Have a safe and blessed year.
Noxolo Memela, Communications Manager
Last month, we celebrated a year since COVID-19 hit South Africa’s shores. When 2020 began, none of us expected it to become the new ‘normal’. COVID-19 has brought people pain; some have lost everything – loved ones, jobs, homes and vehicles.While going through the ordeal and the loss you might think that it’s the end of the world. However, I believe that you are not given what you can’t handle; it all depends on how you look at and deal with it. It is absolutely normal to feel defeated when challenges loom, but nothing lasts forever, therefore, defeat cannot be allowed to dictate how your life should be.
As we are faced with the uncertainty of the slow vaccine rollout, it is quiet understandable for citizens to question whether Government is doing enough. We are living in fear of the unknown; we cannot even plan ahead because we don’t know when the third wave will begin, bringing stricter lockdown measures. We don’t know what will happen in the future and we have no control of it. Ours is to hope for the best and work towards excellence.
In 2021, we cannot have the same outlook on the ‘new normal’ as 2020.Therefore, let us take this year as our rebirth; we are still alive, employed, can study and have another chance to make the most of our lives. As we welcome our new colleagues and students, we say: Don’t dwell too much on 2020 but look at the new chapter of your life within the entire DUT community. Let us continue to work in unity, aim for excellence and be the best that we can be.We don’t know how this year will end but we know that when it does, we would have given our best to ourselves, university and families. It is by the grace of the Almighty that we are where we are today.You have this under control, and the power is in your mind, heart, reasoning and hands.
Have the greatest, most productive and ful lling 2021. Be kind and safe, and stick to COVID-19 protocols so that we can overcome this virus in unity.
How to contact us:
Mr Alan Khan: alank@dut.ac.za or 031 373 2906/2106
Miss Bongiwe Chiliza: bongiwec@dut.ac.za or 031 373 2106 Miss Noxolo Memela: noxolom@dut.ac.za or 031 373 2845 Mrs Waheeda Peters: waheedap@dut.ac.za or 031 373 2113 Miss Simangele Zuma: simangelez1@dut.ac.za or 031 373 2899 Mr Aman Mahomed: amanullahm@dut.ac.za or 031 373 2339 Mr Nkululeko Mbatha: nkululekom4@dut.ac.za or 031 373 2107 Mr Theo Mhlangu: nkanyisom1@dut.ac.za or 031 373 6529
Miss Nikiwe Sukazi: caadmin2@dut.ac.za or 031 373 6529