Joseph Samuel Akpan, 30, from Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, graduated with his Degree of Master of Engineering in Industrial with Cum Laude at the Durban University of Technology  (DUT) 2024 Autumn Graduation Ceremony at the Olive Convention Centre on Monday, 20 May 2024.

Akpan’s academic success is not by luck but through his dedication and resilience. He already holds a Master’s Academic Mobility Diploma obtained at the University of Valladolid (UVa) in Spain. He also had completed an internship (Erasmus traineeship) at the Institute of Sustainable Processes (ISP), Spain.

Furthermore, he had opportunities to attend both virtual and in-person engineering conferences in Rome, Barcelona, and Pretoria.

He extended his gratitude to his family, friends,  and his supervisor Professor Oludolapo Olanrewaju, staff from the Industrial Engineering and the Engineering faculty, Prof Raul Muñoz, Prof Rubén Irusta-Mata, Dir. Fanny Rivera, and Dir. José Gonçalves and professors he had worked with in Spain.

He shared that he had always loved Industrial Engineering because of the opportunity it presents for interdisciplinarity.

“In the last year of my studies, I had to change my thesis topic. It was a difficult a decision to make at such a critical time. However, the new topic and research area was what I am enthusiastic about. I am happy I did take the new topical area, which has emanated into three published journal articles, three book chapters, and two conference proceedings, alongside other published research outputs during my Master’s,’’ he said.

Akpan’s Master’s research focused on developing an integrated energy-climate model for sustainable energy resources and systems planning.

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Pictured: Joseph Samuel Akpan

Photography: Mnqobi Ngobese

Vukani Langa