In an attempt to minimise the risk of load shedding, Stellenbosch University (SU) student Jancke Eygelaar, 25, designed a cable system to support planning managers at power utilities to schedule preventative maintenance and increase reliability to satisfy power demands. 

Jancke says that studying further was not part of his plan but he enrolled for a Masters in Engineering programme  in any case. “I started to enjoy it after a few months even though my goal wasn't to study further." The programme was initially for a master's degree but it was later upgraded to a PhD. “I'm very proud of myself for getting the upgrade. It shows the hard work I put into the project," he adds.

One of Jancke's biggest challenges was working on a single problem for three years. “It requires a lot of motivation. There were many times when I felt like giving up, especially after the upgrade, because I knew if I were to stop I'd still obtain my master's degree."

As a business intelligence consultant, Jancke works in an advanced analytics team, which does mainly data analysis to obtain insight into business processes, such as sales, products and consumers.

He explains that being an average undergraduate student motivated him to do well in his postgraduate studies. He also wanted to prove to himself that he could achieve a higher level of education.

The Stellenbosch-born Jancke started his master's in 2015 and finished it at the end of 2016. After his public master's defence, his degree was awarded and upgraded to a PhD, which required another year of study before he could submit his project.

Jancke says that his plans include staying a few more years in the consulting industry to gain some more experience – always valuable – and then maybe to work overseas for a few years.

Jancke is among 267 doctoral graduates at the SU Centenary graduation this week. He received his degree on Tuesday at the second graduation at Coetzenburg.