Civil Engineering September 2021 | Vol 29 No 8

58 September 2021 Civil Engineering T his was the first online roadshow the YMP has hosted since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and was organised by SAICE YMP member Jimen Reddy, SAICE Career Guidance Officer Fridah Mahlangu, SAICE YMP Chair Michael Mhlanga, SAICE YMP Vice Chair Tsebo Koena, and SAICE UJ Student Chapter Chair Nikeshnee Padiachey. The roadshow was aimed at all civil engineering students currently attending Stellenbosch University, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, University of Cape Town, University of the Witwatersrand, University of Johannesburg (APK and DFC campuses), Vaal University of Technology, Durban University of Technology (Indumiso Campus), Central University of Technology, Mangosuthu University of Technology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Walter Sisulu University (Ibika and College Street campuses), Nelson Mandela University, University of Pretoria, Tshwane University of Technology and UNISA. STUDENT-CENTRIC PLANNING The programme featured a number of important topics, in- cluding furthering your education, early career experiences and ECSA registration. To ensure ease of participation and to accommodate all stu- dents, the SAICE YMP reached out to all SAICE student chapters requesting suggestions for the best time to hold the event. The majority of responses indicated that July would be most suitable to avoid exams and tests. The roadshow was also scheduled to take place in the evening so as not to interfere with students’ studies. Furthermore, the roadshow was hosted on Blackboard, a learning management system that is zero-rated for data on all major networks and allowed the students to attend at no cost. STATS, FEEDBACK AND NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS 18 SAICE student chapters from the various universities were in- vited and 211 students registered for the roadshow. Unfortunately, only 110 (or 52%) of the students who registered attended. Further statistics from the registration data are extrapolated in Figures 1 to 4. CONCLUSION The roadshow aimed to inspire students to focus on their studies through the difficulties of the pandemic. It was noted during the roadshow that Covid-19 has significantly discouraged students from the job market due to the current high rate of unemploy- ment. It was the YMP’s goal to showcase SAICE to the students as their professional home, regardless of the difficult times. The YMP plans to hold further roadshows for students in the future. The roadshow can be viewed on the SAICE YMP’s YouTube channel here: https://bit.ly/3EGMdXB SAICE Young Members Roadshow The SAICE Young Members Roadshow was held online on Friday 23 July 2021 via Blackboard. The roadshow provides an opportunity for the SAICE Young Members Panel (YMP) to reach out to university students and assist them in achieving their civil engineering goals. Figure 1 How registrants heard about the roadshow Friend (5%) Facebook (3%) Twitter (1%) Email (39%) WhatsApp (29%) Instagram (4%) LinkedIn (19%) Figure 2 Registrants’ year of study First (19%) Second (14%) Third (23%) Final (25%) Postgraduate (19%) Figure 3 The number of registrants who are also SAICE members Yes (67%) No (33%) Figure 4 Breakdown of the universities attended by the registrants University of Johannesburg (15%) University of Stellenbosch (10%) Durban University of Technology (2%) Cape Peninsula University of Technology (16%) Mangosuthu University of Technology (1%) University of Cape Town (6%) Central University of Technology (10%) Walter Sisulu University (2%) University of the Witwatersrand (9%) University of KwaZulu-Natal (10%) University of Pretoria (1%) UNISA (8%) South West Gauteng College (1%) Tshwane University of Technology (6%) NelsonMandelaMetropolitanUniversity (1%) SHEngineers (1%) N/A (1%)