His Excellency and Chancellor, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde R. G Mugabe, has appointed Eng. Quinton Kanhukamwe as the inaugural Vice Chancellor of the Harare Institute of Technology with effect from 1 July 2014. This follows recommendations of the Institute's Board with the concurence of the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Hon Dr. Olivia N Muchena.
As the Vice Chancellor, Eng. Kanhukamwe has been charged with contributing to the rapid industrialization of Zimbabwe through promoting the development, incubation, transfer and commercialisation of technology, development of high level technical human capital; the establishment of production centres linked to academic departments and the development of a Science Park; offering education programmes focusing on design, production and maintenance technology with a technopreneurial and innovative thrust for continued relevance to industry and all other sectors of Zimbabwe’s economy amongst other Key Performance Areas.
With well over 40 publications in refereed journals, Eng. Kanhukamwe’s career began in 1991 when he was appointed lecturer at the Bulawayo Polytechnic. In 1992, he moved on and was part of the founding team of academics at the National University of Science and Technology. In the subsequent years, he proved his mettle leading to his appointment in 1999 as Chairman Industrial Technology Department and subsequently Dean of the Faculty of Industrial Technology. He also served as Director Designate of the NUST Technopark.
In 2003 he was appointed Chairman of the Transformation Committee of the Harare Institute of Technology by the Permanent Secretary for Higher and Tertiary Education, Dr Washington Mbizvo, which came up with the roadmap for developing HIT into a fully-fledged university. The promulgation of the HIT Act [Chapter 25:26] in 2005 was in part the outcome of the work of the Transformation Committee under his leadership.
From 2005 to 2008, Eng. Kanhukamwe operated as Pro-Vice Chancellor of HIT. He was then mandated to lead HIT as the Acting Vice Chancellor in 2008, a position which he held until this appointment. During this time Engineer Kanhukamwe managed to set up university structures creating four Schools offering 15 ZIMCHE accredited Bachelor of Technology Honours degree programmes and four Centres that bolster the HIT mandate.
For his sterling contribution to development of science and technology in Zimbabwe, Eng. Kanhukamwe has received more than 10 local and regional awards. He has signed more than 21 collaborative agreements with renowned universities and technology related institutions worldwide that have become the platform for curriculum development, staff development, technology transfer and quality assurance.
Eng. Kanhukamwe holds a Msc in Engineering and is a member of the following professional bodies; MIIE-USA, MICME-UK, MZwIE, Pr (ECZ). He is currently studying towards a Doctor of Technology with Tehran University of Iran.
Eng. Kanhukamwe is a board member of the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe, a Senator with the Junior Chamber International JCI, a member of World Technopolis Association (WTA), Southern Africa Regional Universities Association (SARUA), Association of African Universities (AAU), Oxford Club of Rectors, Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers and a proponent of the innovation and technopreneurship philosophy and practice.
Eng. Kanhukamwe is married to Rumbidzai and they are blessed with a daughter, Dadiso.