UKZN Student Wins Award at Southern African ICT Conference

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Postgraduate student Mr Sulaiman Patel won a Best Paper Award at the annual Southern Africa Telecommunication Network Application Conference (SATNAC) 2017.

The Conference, held aboard the Freedom of Seas Cruise Liner operated by Royal Caribbean International, is among the leading annual information and communication technology (ICT) conferences in Africa.

SATNAC provides a unique opportunity for postgraduate students, academics, and government representatives to interact with leaders from the ICT industry. It also gives students the opportunity to showcase their research as part of Telkom’s broader initiative to improve capacity building in South Africa.

Patel is currently doing his Master of Science in Electronic Engineering degree, researching advanced wireless communications.

‘I was privileged to be able to network with many industry leaders at an almost casual level. In addition, the plenary sessions provided me with more insight into the direction that industry and government want to drive South Africa’s ICT sector,’ said Patel.

He is optimistic he will be able to align his future research with those objectives.

Patel says receiving the award gave him a boost. ‘I was going through a very difficult period in my personal life before SATNAC 2017. Preparing this research paper acted as a catalyst to help me work through the problems I was facing and to grow as a person.’

He said he received amazing support from his family and supervisors during the difficult time. His grandfather is his role model because being a cancer survivor ‘he is an eternal optimist’.

Patel hopes to join UKZN as a junior academic in the School of Engineering when he starts with his PhD and also has ideas for entrepreneurial ventures.

Words: Manqoba Hadebe

Photograph supplied by: Sulaiman Patel