Wishing all students the best with the exams

3 June 2016

Official weekly newsletter of NUST

Namibia University of Science and TechnologyNUST_Namibia@NUST_Namibia

NUST BRIEFHotel School wins award at ExpoThis is the first time the School has participated in the Expo, giving students the exposure and experience they need as they prepare to enter the job market. The stand, managed by students, offered cooking demonstrations, an information desk and a restaurant serving a la carte meals.

Liesl Liebenberg, the Hotel School Manager, said: “This type of event is covered in the syllabi and it is important that students know what it is like to work at an event. Our students performed exceptionally well and the stand was so popular that we, in fact, ran out of food.”

The NUST Hotel and Tourism School received a Bronze Award for participation at the Namibia Tourism Expo, an event that is a centralised platform for key players in the industry to market their products and services. The award was presented in recognition of the quality of service that was offered at the stand.

The talk, themed, “Transforming an Economy: Challenges and Lessons for Namibia,” looked at global trade, industrialisation, wealth creation and the role of the public and private sectors in a developing economy. Whilst Stiglitz applauded Namibia’s economic strides in comparison to other African countries, he cautioned that all countries are in need of a structural transformation and that policies must constantly be re-engineered for improvement. “Namibia has been relatively successful in its growth, but has not done so well in achieving its shared prosperity. This country has the potential for taking better advantage of its resources,” Stiglitz claimed.

The Special Adviser to the NUST Vice-Chancellor, Prof Errol Tyobeka, alluding to a bold assertion made by Prof Stiglitz, calling inequality a choice, said: “This statement both awakened our sensibilities and challenged us at the same time. It is saying that inequality does not happen by accident, but is the result of policies and choices. It is also saying that we now have to take responsibility for these past choices, understand how we got to where we are, and start making new choices that will consign the reality of inequality to history.”

The event was concluded with a dialogue session that provided students and academics with a platform to engage with Prof Stiglitz.

Is inequality a choice?World renowned economist, Nobel Laureate (2001) and former Chief Economist for the World Bank, Prof Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, recently gave a public lecture jointly organised by Namibia’s three universities, NUST, UNAM and IUM. Prof Stiglitz presented combined principles from his two books, “The Price of Inequality” and “The Great Divide,” during the lecture that was attended by top government officials and key personnel in the country’s academic circles.

The Industry Advisory Board of the Department of Mining and Process Engineering recently held its first meeting for the year. The Board meets regularly to ensure graduates’ competencies resonate with the needs of industry. Front: Phillip Pendukeni, General Manager: Epangelo Mining Company; Dr Gabi Schneider, Executive Director: Namibia Uranium Institute; Veston Malango, CEO: Chamber of Mines and Industry and Advisory Board Chair; Prof Godfrey Dzinomwa, Managing Director,: Paasol Resources; Dr Harmony Musiyarira,  Head of the Department of Mining and Process Engineering. Middle: Dr Gunhild von Oertzen,  Principal Radiation Officer: Rossing Uranium; Nora Ndopu, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Manager: Skorpion Zinc; Angelique Botha,   Human Resources Manager: Areva; Fenni Nanyeni, Administrative Officer: Mining and Process Engineering Department, Prof Huw Phillips, formerly with Witwatersrand University. Back: Riaan Burger, General Manager: NamDeb Diamond Company; and Bernard Sililo, Lecturer in the Department of Mining and Process Engineering.

More than 20 staff members participated in the retreat to develop and complete their research writing, articles, chapters, proposals and theses. Over the years, NUST has taken a number of significant steps to bring greater focus on research and innovation efforts and to increase research output. These steps include developing the necessary policy framework and implementing several strategies to foster a culture of research and innovation.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic, Dr Andrew Niikondo, welcomed the participants and urged them not to be discouraged by financial constraints. “Ideally, this gathering would be held off campus, but because of budgetary limitations, this is not possible.

However, use this time wisely and pick the brains of the established researchers and ensure our research endeavours contribute to the economic and social development of the country,” Niikondo said.

Besides freeing up the busy schedules of the participants to focus on research, the retreat was also aimed at particularly providing assistance to writers who are stalled, isolated, off-track or working towards the completion of a project. Each of the six NUST Faculties was represented by a mentor who provided expertise in an assortment of research areas.

The next retreat is scheduled to take place in the second semester of this academic year.

First Writing Retreat held on campusA three-day Institutional Writing Retreat was held on campus recently to enable researchers to work on their projects without distractions from their daily routines and to afford them the opportunity to receive mentoring support from well-experienced researchers.

Prof Samuel Mensah, HPGSB Head of MBA Programmes; Dr Anna Matros-Goreses, Director of Project Services Unit; Dr Andrew Niikondo, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic; Rennie Munyayi, Projects Co-ordinator: Project Services Unit.

Hundreds of local and regional visitors flocked to the Expo which is said to be the biggest tourism event on the Namibian calendar. With statistics indicating that more than a million tourists travel to Namibia every year, the industry continues to be one of the biggest contributors to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

The Hotel and Tourism School offers state-of-the-art lecturing facilities which include a fully-fledged training hotel with a restaurant, bar, accommodation and conferencing facilities. Liebenberg said that there are plans to participate in more exhibitions next year, depending on the availability of resources.

Mining Advisory Board meets

The NUST team members at the Namibia Tourism Expo are pictured with Chef Lecturer, Ralf Herrgott, extreme right.

AT THE LECTURE: Front: Dr John Steytler, Adviser to the President; Prof Errol Tyobeka; Prof Samuel Mensah, MBA Programmes Head (NUST). Back: Prof Peter Katjavivi, Speaker of the National Assembly; Prof Joseph Stiglitz; Prof Lazarus Hangula, UNAM VC.