Wits bonds everlasting but...
- By Wits University
“We have prepared you for the world and not necessarily South Africa. When we taught you we were not training South African graduates but we were training global citizens.”
These words of bravado urging Witsies to be fearless and confident in their endeavours were delivered by Professsor Thokozani Majozi, to the class of 2014 at the graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Engineering and the Build Environment.
If anyone in the audience was unclear about what makes Wits and Wits graduates unique, Majozi laid it out for them in his address.
Wits bonds are everlasting but this is comes with certain conditions suggested Majozi.
“Whenever you achieve great things, we will be the first to own it. We will be the first to say he/she came from here. When you blunder we will be the first to disown you.”
While student may initially come to Wits with the aim of getting a degree, what they get is more than a degree, said Majozi.
In a direct reminder to student he said: “You did not come to Wits to get a degree. You came here to acquire knowledge. The degree certificates that you will be receiving today are mere evidence to the world that you have what it takes to make a difference. Making a difference will require your knowledge not the certificate.”
Offering guidance on how to build their careers, Majozi told the Wisties that it is crucial to have a mentor. He himself has one on each continent.
Majozi was speaking on 11 December 2014. A total of 454 engineering students graduated during the December graduation season.
About Professor Majozi
Majozi is a full professor in the Wits School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, where he also holds a NRF/DST Chair in Sustainable Process Engineering. His main research interest is batch chemical process integration, where he has made significant scientific contributions that have earned him international recognition. Some of these contributions have been adopted by industry.
He was also an associate professor in computer science at the University of Pannonia in Hungary from 2005 to 2009. Majozi completed his PhD in Process Integration at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in the United Kingdom. He is a member of various international scientific committees for leading Process Systems Engineering symposia and conferences and a member of the editorial board of Chemical Engineering Transactions Journal.
Majozi is also a member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa and a Fellow for the Academy of Engineering of South Africa.
He has received numerous awards for his research including the Burianec Memorial Award (Italy), a P-rating from the National research Foundation (NRF), the University of Pretoria Leading Minds Centenary Award, a S2A3 British Association Medal (Silver), the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers Bill Neal-May Gold Medal and the NSTF-BHP Billiton Category B Award.
Recently, he won the AU-TWAS Young Scientist Award. Majozi is the author and co-author of more than 150 scientific publications, including a book in Batch Chemical Process Integration published by Springer in January 2010. He is also an NRF B1 rated researcher.