Civil Engineering January/February 2021 | Vol 29 No 1

Civil Engineering January/February 2021 5 CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Vishal’s first career highlight was being chosen by the SA-US Binational Commission to visit the Materials and Engineering Research Laboratory in Denver Colorado, in the USA. This was part of the programme funded by the then Vice Presidents of South Africa and the USA, Thabo Mbeki and Al Gore. As part of the Concrete Durability Research Group at University of Durban-Westville, Vishal attended various workshops and seminars hosted by the US Department of Interior. The workshops and seminars were based on concrete durability and included a site visit to Green Mountain Dam as well as Loveland Pass on the continental divide. One of Vishal’s most memorable career highlights was being chosen by UKZN to participate in a course of study in Sustainable Watershed Management, as well Fate and Transport of Pollutants at The Donald Bren School of Environ­ mental Science and Management, based at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), in the USA. There he conducted research on water resources engineering, as well as laboratory simula- tions on the fate and transport of pollut- ants in the San Francisco Bay. “This was very memorable as it al- lowed me to experience the university as well as the American culture, and I spent three months in California. I also got to visit the Hoover Dam in Nevada, as well as the majestic Grand Canyon in Arizona by helicopter,” says Vishal. One of his most proud achieve- ments was being awarded the SAICE Technologist of the Year in 2014, as well as the SAICE Durban Branch, which he was chairing, being awarded the Branch of the Year for the second time in a row. Vishal at Loveland Pass en route to Green Mountain Reservoir Laboratory work at the Bren School of Environmental Science, UCSB Vishal with his SAICE Technologist of the Year and Branch of the Year awards