Cementing Careers: UNAM students visit Ohorongo
UNAM 2nd year Engineering students visited the Ohorongo Cement plant to familiarize themselves on a practical perspective what engineering entails within a working environment.
The 2nd year students from UNAM, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering & IT in Ongwediva visited the plant on earlier in the month.
According to the Engineering lecturer, Mr Mashuna, who accompanied the students, the industrial visit is one of the most tactical methods of teaching.
“It provides students with an opportunity to learn practically through interaction, working methods and employment practices. Visiting Ohorongo Cement gives students a practical perspective in the working world, it gives them exposure to current work practices as opposed to only theoretical knowledge being taught in the lecture-room,” said Mashuna.
During the visit, students were briefed on health, safety and environmental aspects at the workplace. Thereafter, they viewed a video about Ohorongo Cement which gave them an overview of the history and the physical cement making process.
This was followed by a physical plant tour, which normally starts at the beginning of the process with the collection of raw materials and concludes where the actual packaging of the product into the cement bags and the distribution via trucks and rails to the Ohorongo customers takes place.
These visits provides students a good opportunity to gain full awareness about industrial practices and increase their awareness about new technologies. Technological development is an important factor which students should have a good knowledge of.
Additionally, Ohorongo Cement then points out the various job and career building opportunities available within the company.
This motivates the students to give their studies the attention it deserves, as they then have a better understanding of how they could add value within a company, but also to the economy.
