The 2020 prestigious Rhodes scholarship for BLMNS (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, and Swaziland) was on Saturday won by the 24-year-old UB student, Ngwenya Tinashe. Tinashe is a University of Botswana Engineering student from Oodi. The scholarship that he has won is valued at over three million Pula. His specialty is Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. At this year’s graduation Tinashe will graduate first class and will proceed to the University of Oxford in 2021 for his graduate studies where he wishes to pursue a study in Future Propulsion and Power at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute.
He wants to specialize on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) since post-Oxford he hopes to carry out research in turbomachinery aeromechanics, and turbine heat transfer and cooling. He believes that his graduate studies will enable him to contribute towards the creation of energy efficient and cleaner flights. With such research, he would be able to consult and provide support for Air Botswana and the Botswana Defence Force locally and improve their fleet maintenance and reliability. Tinashe has even bigger dreams. He wants to establish a company that designs and manufactures gas turbine replacement components which he will sell them to the wider African continent and to the wider world.
Tinashe, the former Ledumang student, during his undergraduate days he was an exchange student in the United States at Miami University of Ohio where he excelled most impressively. While in the United States he took subjects in Fluid Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Manufacturing processes and Machine and Industrial Design. He was also an exchange student at the Central University of Technology in South Africa where he attained a professional license of Certified SolidWorks Associate in Mechanical Design. Tinashe was part of the University team that built the electric car prototype. He is a humble God-loving young man who is a youth leader at his church, Hillview Church, in Gaborone. Tinashe is a source of pride for not just his family, but also to the University of Botswana and a living hope for our country. He represents the most attractive attributes that this country wishes to develop in our youth. He is tenacious, unassuming, hardworking and innovative young man. For Botswana to develop a strong manufacturing industry it needs a strong team of well-trained engineers and Tinashe will be an excellent part of that team.
It must be noted that recently Botswana has been doing very well in winning the scholarship and sending some of its finest minds to Oxford. In 2018, the Rhodes Scholarship was won by another Engineering UB student, Miss Dineo Mya Serame who has just completed a year as a graduate student in Oxford. The purpose of the Scholarships is to develop public-spirited leaders, and to promote international understanding and peace through an international community of Scholars. The objectives can be fulfilled through the selection of Scholars of any academic discipline. The panel selects outstanding young people who meet the Rhodes criteria, whatever their field of study. The qualities of intellect, character, leadership, and service required by the scholarship can be equally well demonstrated by graduates in the humanities, sciences, social sciences, or professions.
When the selectors choose Rhodes scholars, they look for evidence of personal energy, ambition for impact, clarity of purpose, and the intrinsic motivation and personal organisation which enables a person to maintain a range of commitments and to work well with others. In the past this was demonstrated by sporting achievement, but presently there are many and varied ways in which such qualities can be demonstrated – for example, through music, dance, theatre, debate and artistic pursuits. In essence, this criterion looks for some non-academic pursuit done at a high level, particularly where teamwork is involved. The selectors also look for evidence a commitment to make a difference for good in the world, and to identify in candidates a real concern for the welfare of others, a consciousness of the disparity of conditions that exist both within their own societies and in the world generally, and a commitment to the public good. They look for sustained involvement in activities for the benefit of others
They also look in the applicants for character and the ‘instinct to lead’. Applicants must show promise of the courage and skills required to lead. The presence of character and ‘instincts to lead’ is perhaps what most distinguishes the Rhodes Scholarship from other notable scholarships. Selectors are usually very reticent indeed about a candidate in whom they discern only personal ambition, unadorned by any wider desire for public good, and especially so if they perceive a desire for the prize of the Rhodes Scholarship simply as an instrument for personal career advancement.
All Rhodes Scholars should be people of intellect, character, leadership, and commitment to service. The selectors of a Rhodes scholar do not look for bland all-rounders, but future leaders who emit energy, verve, spark and a comfort with doing things differently and taking risks in pursuit of a greater good.
Tinashe Ngwenya displayed all these required attributes. He dreams of contributing positively to his own country. He writes: “In the future, I want to start a mentorship and training programme at a national level that will expose young people to new and emerging technologies like 3D printing, artificial intelligence, green energy and advanced manufacturing.”
Having been a Botswana representative on the Rhodes scholarship selection panel for BLMNS (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, and Swaziland) for the past five years, myy term as the Botswana representative came to an end on Saturday, October 17, 2020. I will be replaced by Justice Unity Dow from 2021. I will devote the next few years to promoting the scholarship at UB, BIUST and BUAN so that I can help some of the nation’s best minds get to Oxford.
