Saying hi to old friends

Sandy Wood, UCT alumnus and executive director: (commercial) at Anglo American Platinum Corporation, was the guest speaker at an alumni function hosted by the Department of Chemical Engineering on Thursday, July 1. The department, which capped the first of its 1 130 graduates way back in 1922, e-mailed invitations to the event to alumni around the globe. Responses - greetings, if not confirmations - came in from as far afield as Australia. The aim of the gathering was to touch base with chemical engineering graduates, and re-establish old ties, Dr Dee Bradshaw explained to congregants on the evening. "And it's not just about asking for money - it's about contacts, about alumni visiting us, about alumni being part of the vibrant groups here," she said. The get-together also allowed the department to show off its shiny new building, and to showcase some of the trailblazing research its staff and students are conducting. The gathering was also the first to hear that the National Research Foundation and the national Department of Science and Technology (DST) had chosen the department to host its new DST Centre of Excellence in Catalysis (see front page story).