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Reasons to be Proud - #R2bP
 
Professor in Computing Sciences at Mandela University, Jean Greyling, has been selected as one of ten winners in the Future Learning category of the international, Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year 2021.
 
Falling Walls is a unique international platform for leaders from the worlds of science, business, politics, the arts and society. The Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year will be announced on 15 September, and should Jean’s project be awarded the title Breakthrough of the Year 2021 in Future Learning, he will be invited to present his work to a global audience at the Falling Walls Conference in Berlin on 9 November. https://bit.ly/3Deg2hM
 

Alumnus leads EP Athletics
 
Marvin Draai  BA’94 was elected EP Athletics President on 14 August 2021. According to Marvin his election came as a shock as the former president was a nominee as well.
 
He represented Mandela University (former UPE) at the SA University Championships for long jump. He then joined the Board of Athletics Gauteng North in 2009 serving as the deputy president until moving back to Gqeberha in 2013.
 
Marvin participated in a few Comrades Marathons as well as The Two Oceans. Athletics have always been in his blood as a hyperactive child, always running and on the track.
As EPA president a major focus area will be on development especially making the resources and opportunities within athletics available to every child in the city.
 
Marvin shares “It’s an eight- or 12-year plan because we have to look how EPA is going to have representation at the next Olympics. But for us to dream Olympics, we must dream of being SA champions first.”
 
Article Source: Heraldlive   
Written By:  Vuyokazi Nkanjeni
Adapted by: Liscka Hendricks
 

Inspirational activist releases children’s story book

 
Alumna Nozibele Qamngama-Mayaba published her second book “I am Still Zuri” on Wednesday 18 August 2021. Her Mandela University qualifications include a National Diploma (Marketing) “11, BTech (Marketing) “14 and a MA (Developmental Science) “19.
 
Nozibele said the reaction to her own story, “I Am Still Me”, had revealed the need to destigmatise HIV/Aids in children and the new illustrated storybook tackled many of the same issues.
She is being helped by her four-year-old niece, Iminathi Qamngama, who lives with her and her husband, Sikhumbuzo, in Johannesburg.
 
Some of other accolades, include being a Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber top 40 under-40 achiever, a Businesswomen’s Association regional achiever, a Fruits of Democracy award winner and a Vision4Women “Beyond the Balance Sheet” finalist.
 
She is also an SA International Youth Committee ambassador and an active member of the International Youth Forum. In 2020, her YouTube channel was named by Feedspot as one of the Top 15 HIV YouTube channels on the web.
 
Nozibele shares “”It was a natural transition. “I Am Still Me” was based on my life with HIV and publicly coming out. But, as we know, HIV affects and infects not only adults but also children who are born with it. In the advocacy work I’ve done, I’ve seen the challenge of caregivers in disclosing not only the status of a child who’s living with HIV, but also their own status.”
 
Article Source: Heraldlive
Written By: Gillian MCainsh
Adapted by: Liscka Hendricks: Alumni Relations

When the other shoe fits? 

 
Nadine Murray BTech (IT) ’06 is the senior software developer for Momentum TYB. She is also the owner of the online shoe store “Kitibella”. 
 
After 16 years in a male dominated industry, Nadine worked her way through the ranks, starting as a junior software developer in telecommunications. This followed by a four-year stint with the international automotive company, The Schaeffler Group. Her work granted her the opportunity to travel abroad and develop into a Senior IT professional. 
 
Kitibella, her part-time entrepreneurial business, was established because of her passion to empower women to dress with confidence, especially wearing her unique pieces. The online store specialises in trendy ladies’ shoes and accessories.
 
Nadine shares “Whether you are in corporate environment or own a business, its important to set goals and stay focussed. There are so many distractions and challenges around us during these uncertain times we are living in but don’t give up on your dream and don’t lose focus. You’ve got this! Keep going. You deserve to win.” 
 
#MandelaAlumni #WomensMonth #CelebrateSuccess #share2inspire
 
Alumna: Nadine Murray
 

Making your dream a reality

 
Rodwell Bacon LLB ’11 assumes a new role as magistrate in Boksburg on October 1. He had to drop out of university at the end of his first year in 2005 due to financial constraints. He was raised by his grandmother, who resided in Gerald Smith and stated that it had not been easy to achieve his dreams.
 
The 34-year-old resumed his studies in 2007 and after completing his degree started his articles at Karsans Incorporated in Kariega which he completed in 2011. He then joined the National Prosecuting Authority as an aspirant prosecutor in 2012. 
 
Rodwell said he was honoured to have been appointed as a magistrate. He encouraged young people who wanted to pursue their dreams to do so without fear of failing, of opinion or of judgment.
 
His message: “Do not expect others to believe in your dream or vision, it is your dream or vision. Do not give up, irrespective of the hurdles or speed bumps. More specifically, if you want to pursue a legal career, ensure that you have a passion for the law. It will become very difficult if the law does not excite you. Be persistent, be dedicated, read, think critically, always think how to apply the law from different perspectives, be willing to learn every day, from everyone and never give up.”
 
Article Source: Heraldlive
Adapted by: Liscka Hendricks – Alumni Relations
 

Engineering students collaborate in exciting GT racing project

 
#R2bP: The Advanced Engineering Design Group’s (AEDG) engineering students are in an exciting collaborative project with well-known racing team, Scuderia Scribante.
 
(Left to right) Jode Fourie, Zaahid Imran, Mohammed Lookmanjee, Arno Seyfert, Wian van Aswegen, Byron
Teengs and Roy Taylor.
 
Their project is to categorise the aero profile of their two Lamborghini Huracan GT racing cars, which compete in the newly established and internationally-compatible South African National GT Championship.
 
Scuderia Scribante have a long-established footprint in South African motorsport across several categories, and they are Gqeberha’s proud representatives in an impressive field of supercar entrants. The two sleek Lamborghini’s are prepared locally at Scuderia Scribante’s motorsport workshops and are raced by brothers Aldo and Silvio of the well-known Scribante family.
 
The project will see the AEDG student team members initially scan in the Lamborghini GT cars, followed by geometric conversion and then progressive aerodynamic simulations to initially benchmark the aero profile of each vehicle for comparative purposes. One of the vehicles being the latest EVO configuration, while the other is still in standard layout.
 
Read the full article: Nelson Mandela University News

 

 

Women’s Day Celebration 2021 

 
At Nelson Mandela University we salute all women, at all times, recognising their innate ability of strength, perseverance and determination to lead for the fight against inequality today. A special tribute is made to all frontline workers globally in the pursuit of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
Historically, South Africa commemorates Women’s Month in August as a tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women.  
 
The identified theme for 2021 is “Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights for an Equal Future. The digital offering provides some context and introduces a group of pioneering women, along with their sourced images, in celebration of their tenacity, resilience and fighting spirit for all.  
 
Communication and Marketing
 

IODSA CEO and Alumna shares Women's Day Message

“Women have a very valuable and unique role to play in uplifting business, the wider society and our country as a whole.  We need more of these women’s voices to be heard in our boardrooms and other leadership positions. To my fellow women, I urge you to continue showing up, speaking up and making a difference.”

Says Parmi Natesan BCom (Acc) ’02 & BCom Hons (Acc) ’03, CEO of the Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA).  She currently features in the National Women’s Day Magazine published by Business Day in which she reflects on the importance of women in corporate leadership roles.

Parmi has been with the IoDSA for 10 years and served on its Board for 6 years. She is a leading corporate governance specialist who has authored numerous articles and papers and presented at many conferences and events. She has also attained the Chartered Director (SA) designation.

In 2016 her alma mater recognised her as Alumni Rising Star and in 2017 was named as one of  Destiny magazine’s top 40 African women under the age of 40. She also served on the board of PPS Holdings Trust and currently serves a as a non-Executive Director of Alviva Holdings and  as a  Council member of St Peters College.

To read Parmi’s article in the Business Day women’s magazine follow the following link: https://businessmediamags.co.za/bd-insights/business-day-national-womens-day/why-placing-women-in-corporate-leadership-roles-matters/?fbclid=IwAR343RfwNkz0LeJVaffeB-FlMpttfAvg4hRHYq9mHTPC3IybWOO9Sweu4HQ

 
 

Alumna heads Transnet’s mega projects

 
 
Dr Bridgette Gasa was appointed as Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) new portfolio director for mega projects on July 15.
 
Her responsibility at TNPA will be to provide leadership on flagship infrastructure projects such as the finalisation of the KwaZulu-Natal port master plans and the development of the Durban hub port development programme.
 
Gasa, a 2012 Rising Star Award recipient, graduated with a BA (Architecture) ’98 and a PhD (Construction Management) ’12 from Nelson Mandela University. 
 
She is the founder of the Elilox Group, which provides services with a special focus on programme and project management as well as infrastructure development.
 
Gasa was the first woman, and the first African, to be appointed president of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Africa in 2008. She is both a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB Africa) as well as its Past-President for the African continent. She serves on the CIOB’s International Board of Trustees in the United Kingdom. Gasa also served on the Mandela University Business School board of advisors and was appointed by the President of South Africa as a National Planning Commissioner in 2010. 
 
Article Source: Herald Live 
Article adapted by Liscka Hendricks Nelson Mandela University Alumni Relations

 
Welcome to New Executive Dean of Health Sciences 
 
Nelson Mandela University welcomes Professor Zuki Zingela as our new Executive Dean of Health Sciences. Prof Zingela is an experienced healthcare practitioner and scholar with international experience and is part of a collaborative scholarly network in Africa and elsewhere. 
 
Prof Zingela has been a medical doctor late 1995 and qualified as a psychiatrist in 2002. She has worked in both the public and private sectors in South Africa and in the United Kingdom. 
 
Her last position was as Associate Professor and Head of Department (Chair) of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Walter Sisulu University and Clinical Head at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha, for six years. Her roles included clinical, academic and research responsibilities for mental health services across the Eastern Cape province and strategic leadership to improve mental health services. 
 
Her academic responsibilities included teaching and supervision of undergraduate medical students and postgraduate students in Psychiatry. As a clinician researcher, her areas of work included mental illness and HIV, the use of traditional healers in psychiatry, blueprinting of a medical school for the Eastern Cape, substance use and mental illness and neuropsychiatric conditions such as catatonia, the subject of her PhD research, which is in progress. 
 
Other research projects have included neurogenetic research such as the study of schizophrenia in the Xhosa population and partnering with principal investigators from both national and international institutions such as the University of Cape Town, Makerere University, Moi University, University of Addis Ababa, Harvard University and The Broad Institute in the Neurogap project focusing on the genetic study of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders in the African population. 
 
Other areas of interest have been leadership in the health field and mental health challenges in the workplace with intervention strategies delivered to healthcare workers to support their mental health during the pandemic. Her leadership positions include serving on the Medical and Dental Board of the Health Professions Council of South Africa and on the International Narcotics Board, a United Nations Body that has monitoring and support functions for member states to implement the three drug conventions that regulate controlled substances. 
 
“Taking over as Dean of The Faculty of Health Sciences, in this season of despair, a year after we lost our previous Dean, Prof Pepeta, to COVID-19, one of my core roles will be to pick up where he left off by ensuring we prepare our students well. 
 
“This we will do by equipping them with practical skills which are based on a sound theoretical framework, to produce innovative and affordable interventions that meet the community’s health needs. 
 
“The focus will also be on imparting essential skills such as health promotion and prevention while strengthening expertise in academic medicine through transdisciplinary learning and research and through building collaborative relationships across educational institutions and partnering with key stakeholders. 
 
“We owe it to ourselves and to all those we have lost to the pandemic to join hands and lead with hope and clarity of vision to propel the Faculty to even greater heights,” Prof Zingela.
 
Article Source: Nelson Mandela University
Prof Cheryl Foxcroft
DVC: Learning and Teaching
 
 

SAVE WATER NOW - 94 water tanks for campuses
 
 
 
With Day Zero rapidly approaching, a total of 94 water tanks, with a capacity of 5000 litres each, are being placed at various sites on our Gqeberha campuses.
 
These tanks will provide more storage to provide continuous water during intermittent supply from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, or during times of low water pressure.
 
Altogether 26 have been earmarked for critical buildings on North and South campuses, 48 for the residences and 20 for Missionvale Campus. The Missionvale tank base construction is underway, and being constructed by a newly appointed local SMME contractor.
 
According to the University’s Sustainability Engineer Dr Andre Hefer these tanks are mainly for drinking, washing and cooking supplies.
 
“Unfortunately, they are not for harvesting rainwater because the rain is too intermittent to guarantee supply, and the quality of this water for users is not suitable for drinking.”
 
He said Horticultural Services was also working with water tanks for small scale irrigation.
 
Save Water Now!
 
Report all leaks or water concerns to 041 5048000 or email water@mandela.ac.za
 
Water Crisis Management Team   
 
Article Source: Nelson Mandela University News