Local makes list of most employable students
Dinal Nagar received an award for being in the top 100.
Mackenzie Park resident Dinal Nagar made it to the top 100 of last year’s DHL Gradstar Awards, which recognise the most employable students in SA.
Although the Willowmoore High alumna didn’t make it to the Ten of the Finest identified during the final leg of the awards assessment on December 6 in Fourways, he was honoured to be among the best young minds in the country.
“I received an award for being in the top 100. We had a three-day conference in Fourways, where we interacted with industry experts from around the country and met the other top graduates,” he said.
Nagar was selected from thousands of entrants across the country. After entering, they went through a series of assessments and evaluations based on qualities for the workplace like grit, resilience, curiosity and growth mindset, which led to the finals where the top 100 were invited to “an employment extravaganza” in early December.
“I learnt about the importance of networking and knowing the right people when it comes to finding a job and making a difference. It opened doors for me.”
A Bachelor of science engineering graduate from the University of the Witwatersrand, Nagar credited the Willowmoore High robotics team for sparking his interest in biomedical engineering.
“Robotics opened a large door for me. It taught me problem-solving and how to use science and maths to solve problems that can improve lives daily. It gave me the passion of wanting to solve problems using the principles of this field. I still mentor the robotics team at Willowmoore to pursue careers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) fields.
“From that experience, I have expanded on it and studied biomedical engineering because I like engineering and medicine. I found an intersection in this field, and one day, I want to develop medical devices to improve patient outcomes and save lives,” he said.
The 21-year-old explained the shortage of medical devices during the Covid-19 pandemic inspired him to study biomedical engineering, adding that he saw a need for medical devices to be cheaper and more accessible.
“I was in matric when Covid-19 hit us. I saw during that time that there was a shortage of ventilators. Some, like myself, could have designed an affordable 3D printable ventilator that could have helped people so they didn’t suffer because of a lack of resources.”
Nagar is studying towards an Honours degree in electrical engineering.
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