Seven questions with Ayanda Munikwa

This week Ayanda Munikwa a second year Chemical Engineering (MEng) student and football fanatic who hails from Zimbabwe.

 

What are you studying and when do you graduate?

I am studying Chemical Engineering and should graduate in 2019. (Yay me!)

Why are you interested in this subject and what do you plan to do in the future?

Chemical engineering is all about turning raw materials into useful, everyday products. There are quite a few raw materials that need "turning" back home in Zimbabwe, and with no alchemists around, only chemical engineers can get the job done. 

Chemical engineers and engineers in general can really change the world, something I have to do especially after adopting the motto 'Impacting every life'. If I can develop the mind-set that led aspiring engineer Alison Bick to develop an app to test water contamination or just interact with people with such a mind-set, it will bring me a lot closer to my goal of a better world for all.

What is the most interesting thing you've done, seen or got involved with while at UCL?

For me the most interesting thing I've come across isn't a particular building or event… it is the students and staff that pique my interest. I have had quite a number of intriguing encounters and each one has been extremely valuable. Be it learning about coin denominations while holding up the queue in the Print Room Café, unknowingly leading people to a closed Bloomsbury exit after hours or getting to know the people doing other courses in the Integrated Engineering Programme (you know yourselves, Visya) and taking selfies with professors. Every interaction is a fun learning experience and valuable culture exchange.

Have you discovered any hidden gems during your time at UCL?

There's an open area where you can play football near King's Cross. It is fantastic for a midweek break with a group of mates.

Give us your top three things to do/see/go to in London:

1. Football (with mates)
2. Playing Fifa (with mates)
3. Cinemas (with a different kind of mate)

If you were Provost for the day what one thing would you do?

Someone I look up to once told me that the greatest opportunity you'll ever have in life is in your relationships with people. Keeping that in mind I would have one day of term reserved for meeting students from other disciplines, students you normally wouldn't meet.

I would have everyone's timetable mixed up unannounced allowing students studying History, Law, Engineering, Chemistry, French, etc to find new friends and hopefully share ideas that could change the world… or even provide us with yet another awesome series to watch. Who knows what could happen if we were all to interact more often?

Who inspires you and why?

My father is as good as it gets when it comes to being an inspiration. He makes me want to be better and shows me the way to be a good father, husband and man. Just the fact that I have completed my first year undergrad at UCL is a testament to his hard work, sacrifice, love and vision over the years.

Just hearing about his ascent from hunting birds and rabbits in his rural home Masvingo to a respectable businessman whose son is the first to attend university in his family and UCL at that… it sounds like a fairytale that not even I could have seen coming.

He has not only displayed loyalty to his company and family for over 20 years despite the well-documented economic meltdown our country Zimbabwe went through, but he did it all with good grace and an infectious smile to boot.

I learn a lot from him daily but what stands out his is ethos of hard work, learning to smile while toiling and loving your family like you won't be seeing them again tomorrow.

I could go all day but I'll save that for when I write his biography.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

I've developed an interesting habit when crossing roads since moving to London. When I first arrived in London, as I crossed the road I would play a game where I would imagine a car approaching at top speed forcing me to run the last couple of strides to the other side of the road. I did this at every road crossing every day for a few months. Now I have to run across the street even when the crossing sign is green.