Talha Dada with his parents, Naeem and Tasneem Dada.
Image: Sethu Dlamini
Talha Dada is the top engineering graduate of the class of 2025 at UKZN, earning the prestigious Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) Medal.
Dada graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (computer engineering) degree. The culmination of years of discipline, focus and sustained effort, is a milestone that reflects both academic achievement and personal growth, forged through one of the most demanding yet rewarding fields of study.
“The achievement is the result of years of discipline and hard work,” Dada reflected.
“The journey through computer engineering was undoubtedly intense, yet it proved to be an incredibly rewarding experience that shaped my problem-solving mindset.”
A former pupil at Orient Islamic School in Durban, Dada’s academic path was influenced early on by a natural curiosity about how systems function.
His interest in understanding the “why” and “how” behind complex technologies led him to pursue engineering as a means of exploring and designing such systems. This curiosity continues to underpin his approach to both learning and innovation.
During his undergraduate studies, Dada worked on a collaborative project between the Discipline of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering (EECE) and the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Research and Development Centre in Durban, for a low-cost retrofitted water meter.
From this work Dada produced a research paper which was presented at the IEEE International Conference on AI Innovations and Industry in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and was well-received.
Having successfully completed his undergraduate degree, Dada is continuing his academic journey by pursuing a Master’s qualification in computer engineering at UKZN, under the supervision of Professor Tahmid Quazi and Dr Sulaiman Patel.
This Master’s project is interdisciplinary and is being housed within Civil Engineering’s Sustainable Transportation Research group (STRg) and funded by a bursary from the Department of Transport. Dada will be co-supervised by Professor Mohamed Mostafa, Academic Leader for Civil Engineering at UKZN.
As Dada marks this significant achievement, he does so with a clear sense of purpose and direction. With a strong academic foundation and a commitment to continued growth, UKZN’s top engineering student is positioned to contribute to the development of innovative, sustainable technological solutions in an increasingly complex world.