President Robert Mugabe conferred 164 graduates with degrees at the Harare Institute of Technology’s Third graduation ceremony.
President Mugabe, who is also Chancellor of the Harare Institute of Technology, capped 77 graduands from the School of Information Science and Technology, nine from the School of Business and Management Science, 63 from the School of Engineering and Technology, while 15 others were presented with degrees in Industrial Sciences and Technology.
The graduates received degrees in Chemical and Process Systems Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Sciences and Technology, Business and Management Sciences as well as Information Sciences and Technology
In addition, 82 recipients of degrees were drawn from the polytechnic colleges around the country.
Speaking at the colourful and well-attended ceremony, HIT Acting Vice-Chancellor Engineer Quinton Kanhukamwe highlighted that although the institution was holding only its third graduation ceremony, it had become the leading light in “technopreneurial” advancement.
Acting Vice Chancellor of the Harare Institute of Technology, Engineer Quinton Kanhukamwe told President Mugabe that the institution has embraced the principle of propelling the nation’s technological landscape to ensure that Zimbabwean graduates move in tandem with the global information and technological advancements.
“Your Excellency and Chancellor, your university, the Harare Institute of Technology, must perforce be viewed not in the context of its size or age, for indeed we are only just into our third graduation ceremony,” he said.
“HIT must be viewed within the larger and broader context of the innovation and technopreneurial framework as articulated. Your university is able, and has hitch-hiked to the national rallying cry for technological and technopreneurial advancement.”
“Your Excellency and Chancellor, we present to you graduands that are not only employable, but those who have been developed to be technoprenuers, creators of jobs and wealth,” said Engineer Kanhukamwe.
Eng Kanhukamwe noted that the hands-on approach, which is adopted at the institution, makes the graduates well equipped to contribute positively to economic development.
“Our graduates have gone through a grueling mill that has seen them acquire the hands-on approach as they embark on problem-solving projects from their first-year right up to the Capstone Design Project tackles in their final-year,” he said.
Eng Kanhukamwe added that HIT programmes are tailored to contribute to the revival of the manufacturing sector which has been hamstrung by the imposition of illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe. “We are cognisant of the country’s troubled industrial sector as a result of the illegal sanctions imposed on the country which have impacted negatively on many manufacturing, mining and agriculture firms, thereby seriously undermining the capacity of our economy to absorb our students for internship,” he said.
Engineer Kanhukamwe noted that through their degree programmes, the institution has produced a student in computer science who designed long bone hairline fracture detection X-ray images.
Another student in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering designed a yoghurt sealing machine for small scale industrialists, while the best student in Chemical and Processing Systems Engineering designed a gold processing system that can be put to use by small and large scale miners for processing gold.
The graduation ceremony was marked by joy and jubilee as relatives and parents joined the graduands in celebrating their lifetime achievements.
