WHEN Durban’s Velani Michael Khambule was handpicked as part of a high-performing group of students for a pioneering programme at Regent Business School’s new iLeadLAB, the Employability Unit, he had no idea how life-changing the experience would be.
The 24-year-old has been lauded for his design innovation after conceptualising and producing a prototype for a kettle that is digitally-controlled by an Arduino board. Khambule and nine other students were put through an intensive 10-day bootcamp at iLeadLAB – an innovative education programme aimed at bridging the gap between graduates and 21st century employability.
Regent Business School managing director, Dr Ahmed Shaikh, said the new creative hub is a response to a growing global demand by employers who require employees with work-ready skills and who can make a meaningful contribution to the organisation they are employed at.
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During the 10-day bootcamp, Khambule and nine others students – Ntokozo Gumede, Bryson Pather, Victor Mucube, Sahil Bahorah, Amanda Blose, Irfaan Rangila, Mbali Lihle, Sinethemba Maduna and Junaid Khan – received all-round, hands-on training. They were also tasked with building their own viable project based on what they had learned.
For Khambule, who graduated with a BCom degree from the School this year, the experience was like no other.
“I always wanted to be employed. My exposure at the iLeadLAB has changed this perspective. It brought out a creative side of me that I didn’t even know that I had! For the first time, I am now thinking of entrepreneurship.”
The 10-day programme was gruelling, but the pressure intensified on the final day when the students competed against each other and pitched their project to a Dragon’s Den-style group of panellists. In the end, the judges, consisting of business and industry game-changers, were blown away by Khambule’s digitally-operated kettle.
“This is certainly something that can go to market immediately,” said panellist, Farah Ally of Fukula Consultants, an agency that seeks financial support for promising start-ups. “Khambule’s kettle can be developed and sold immediately. Innovation doesn’t necessarily have to be driven at changing the world. Innovation should make a meaningful, positive daily difference in localised communities too, and I think this product is going to change many lives.”
Ally will now spearhead the project to give it wings, helping secure funding for production and assisting Khambule with a business plan, and sales and marketing strategies.
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