Dr Trevor Manuel, CPUT Chancellor and Minister in the Presidency in charge of the National Planning Commission, will be providing the guest address for graduates of the Faculty of Engineering in a ceremony on 16 April 2010 on Cape Town campus.
Dr Manuel was elected as CPUT’s first Chancellor in May 2008. He is an alumnus of the Peninsula Technikon and served as the South African Minister of Finance for 11 years, before accepting his current ministerial role.
Dr Manuel was in attendance at this year’s opening graduation ceremony on 12 April, where he called on graduates to make a commitment to life-long learning and return to CPUT to further their studies.
Director and co-founder of South African Women in Engineering, Naadiya Moosajee will address Engineering graduates attending the Bellville ceremony on 14 April. Moosajee currently serves on the FIFA 2010 Local Organising Committee and was voted the 2009 Most Influential Woman of the Year by CEO magazine.
Member of Parliament and nuclear reactor design and analysis expert Dr Nqaba Ngcobo will be guest speaker at the Applied Sciences morning graduation ceremony on 15 April. Dr Ngcobo chairs the Portfolio Committee on Science and Technology, a committee tasked with holding several government entities accountable for service delivery.
Sagie Pillay, CEO of the National Health Laboratory Services and former CEO at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, will address Health and Wellness Sciences graduates on the evening of 15 April.
Prof John Volmink, Chairperson of the International Partnerships Network and Member of the Board of the Universal Education Foundation, will be guest speaker at the morning ceremony on Saturday 17 April, where he will address graduates in the Education and Social Sciences Faculty.
Informatics and Design graduates will be addressed by internationally recognised furniture designer Liam Mooney at the 17 April afternoon ceremony. Dr Carla Enslin, Head of the Vega Communications School in Cape Town, will also address graduates in Informatics and Design, as well as graduates from other faculties, in the evening ceremony on 16 April.
Earlier this week, I & J Marketing and Sales Director David Pietersen and Group Executive and CEO of Metropolitan International Mervyn Cookson gave guidance to Business graduates at the Cape Town and Bellville first graduation ceremonies.
“Persevere and never give up, no matter what obstacles you face,” said Cookson, who also emphasised the values of humility, integrity and continuous learning as key to leadership.
Prof Michael Wormald and Prof Glen Holman of the Faculty of Commerce at the University of Cape Town and Gayle Kaylor, Chief Director at the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy also addressed the Business graduates.
CPUT expects to confer 6 300 qualifications during twelve graduation ceremonies this week, including 62 master's degrees and seven doctoral degrees.
By Ilana Abratt
Photograph: CPUT Chancellor Dr Trevor Manual confers a Cost and Management Accounting diploma cum laude on Business graduate Cardoso Dos Santos at the Bellville graduation ceremony on 13 April 2010.
