Triple Top Achiever Success In Engineering For Brothers

It was a momentous occasion at the recent Emeris Westville Top Achievers Awards when the Freemantle brothers Trevor (first year IIE Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering), Garth (second year IIE Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering) and Warren (third year IIE Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering) each received the Top Achiever Award for their year of study. The Top Achievers received a Top Achiever Certificate, Takealot voucher and a gift.

Eve Reddy (Campus Head Emeris Westville and Emeris Pietermaritzburg) said: “Seeing siblings each earn Top Achiever Awards in their respective years of study is altogether rare, exceptional and a proud moment for our campus. Their achievement is not only a testament to their intellectual prowess and commitment to excelling, but it also reflects the calibre of students we are privileged to nurture at Emeris Westville. As Campus Head, I am immensely proud of their accomplishments and of the culture of excellence and academic support that defines our campus. Success stories such as these illustrate why we can boast some of the best module success rates in the country. Our students’ success is strengthened by the guidance of our dedicated lecturers, the encouragement of our staff, and a learning environment which inspires students to thrive. I hope their story reminds every student that with hard work, resilience and the right support, extraordinary success is within reach”.

The School of Engineering, Sciences and Health prides itself on producing work ready graduates who are equipped through industry aligned curricula, hands on work and strong partnerships, from day one, Emeris is committed to academic excellence, innovation and developing engineers who are ready to contribute meaningfully to the infrastructure and technology sectors.

“One can only do so much, but with the Lord anything is possible. The biggest challenge I faced was the sheer quality and difficulty of work required to complete this degree. I overcame this by planning well, breaking it up into smaller tasks, working hard and working as a team with my peers. The person who had the biggest impact and who became my best mate during my time at Emeris is one of my peers Jaiden Maingard. Jaiden and I worked together on everything, from preparing for tests and exams, to bouncing ideas off each other for projects and even bettering each other as people during our studies. A piece of advice for other engineering students would be to find a classmate who you work well with and trust and to tackle all challenges you face as a team. Two minds trying to solve a problem are always stronger than one and so often a different perspective can make all the difference. Secondly, don’t be scared of hard work, as my Dad always says to me, there is nothing for nothing in this world, you have to work for it”, added Garth Freemantle (second year Top Achiever IIE Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering).

Vimal Sewnarain (Head of Engineering Emeris Westville) said: “It is extremely rare to, under normal circumstances, have three siblings in three consecutive years be the Top Achiever. However, for Garth, Warren and Trevor it was almost expected. The work ethic and values instilled by their family from a young age combined with a level of natural intelligence which they all seem to have inherited have all contributed to their success. Most of the students on the programme sacrifice personal time, as well as sleep to put in the work required to succeed. With very few exceptions, the students are focused and committed. The fact that we have all three siblings from one family studying civil engineering in consecutive years means that we are doing well. If we weren't, they would have stopped at the first one. They are also not the only siblings in the programme, which further reinforces my point”.

“I am most proud of the growth of the faculty in general. Both in terms of students and staff, the faculty has grown quite significantly since the inception of civil engineering at Emeris. Student numbers have increased 10 fold since 2023 in civil engineering at the Westville campus, and we now have well over 100 students in civil engineering at Westville in 2026. Further to this, Emeris has committed and provided the resources required for the faculty to grow. I am also most proud of the quality of students we will be putting out into the world. Future employers will be impressed with the work-readiness of students who will graduate from the programme”, concluded Sewnarain.