'Family motivated me to explore engineering'

THROUGHOUT his schooling years, Muhammad Azeez was always confused about what career to study. With a summa cum laude engineering degree now under his belt, it would be safe to say that Azeez opted for the right choice when he chose to study civil engineering at UKZN.

"Choosing just one field seemed daunting to me," said Azeez, 22. 

"Ultimately, my family were the ones who motivated me to explore engineering. Out of all the different engineering branches, I think I chose civil engineering because of its direct impact on the running of cities, from roads to buildings to water infrastructure. I knew studying civil engineering would allow me to influence the state of essential infrastructure in our country."

Growing up in Morningside in Durban, UKZN was a natural choice of institution.  

"I think what solidified my decision, however, was the virtual open day held by the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science during Covid-19, as it showed me what studying engineering at UKZN would be like." 

Azeez said he covered a wide variety of subjects during the course of his degree. He enjoyed the structures modules, while his favorite module was fluids 3. 

"It introduced me to the behaviour of water flowing in open channels like rivers, and hydrology, which helps us understand and analyse rainfall and floods." 

In his fourth and final undergraduate year of study, Azeez had to tackle a full design project and a research project. For his design project, he was tasked with designing a water reservoir for the Westown development near Shongweni. This included compiling a design report, professional engineering drawings and design calculations. 

"While it was definitely stressful, it was also exciting and fulfilling to be able to apply the skills I learned over the past four years." 

For his research project Azeez investigated the use of silver nanoparticles in cement mortar linings of water supply pipes. 

"This was a very interesting experience for me as it included quite a bit of chemistry and microbiology and applying these concepts to the civil engineering field. I was fortunate to have amazing supervisors for both my design project and dissertation, who helped me through my projects while giving me the space to explore and discover my own solutions to problems." 

Azeez is currently working in Pretoria as a graduate civil engineer for the engineering consultancy, Zutari, as part of their Water Unit (dams and hydropower team). His future plans include registering as a professional engineer once he obtains the necessary experience, and pursuing a Master’s degree as he enjoys doing research.

He thanked his lecturers who, he said, pushed him to his limits.

"They always knew how to get me to achieve my full potential." 

Azeez also thanked his friends and extended family. 

"I was fortunate to have a close-knit circle of people I could rely on both on and away from campus, which definitely alleviated some of the stress." 

In his spare time, Azeez enjoys reading as a method to disconnect from work and to relax, as well as building Lego. 

"Yes they’re for adults as well." 

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