Image: SuppliedMohamed Asad Bandarkar is off to the UK to represent the University of the Western Cape after being selected to participate in the 2025 Abe Bailey Travel Bursary.
The Computer Science Honours student from Athlone said he spotted the alert for students and staff to apply for the bursary through UWC Communications emails.
“I started reading up about it. I read that it's a travel bursary to the UK, and then I saw that it's a leadership tour, which got me even more excited,” said Bandarkar.
The Abe Bailey Travel Bursary, named after the famous South African politician and industrialist, takes place between November 27 and December 19, with a three-day preparatory orientation in Cape Town, where they will meet up with all bursars and those who have participated in previous years.
During the tour, the South African students will be based for nine days at Goodenough College in North London, where they will participate in sightseeing, work shadowing, museum visits and attend two West End theatre productions, including Hamilton. They will also spend four days at Oxford, Cambridge and Stratford-Upon-Avon, finishing with a performance by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. In Scotland, the touring group will spend a day at St Andrews University in Edinburgh and four days at The Burn, the country retreat belonging to Goodenough College.
Bandarkar said after reading up on the bursary, he contacted one of the previous recipients from UWC and decided to send in his application. On Wednesday, July 9, he got an email from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Development and Support, Prof Matete Madiba, congratulating him on being successful in his application.
“I applied because I wanted this leadership experience to bring about a change. I wanted to speak about my political views, and there’s a thought that this bursary is not for Computer Science students, but I challenged myself. I told myself that I meet all of these requirements, I’m going to go for it, and I will try my best to get it,” said Bandarkar.
Image: SuppliedFor his Honours thesis, Bandarkar said he was creating an augmented reality application to reimagine the Foreshore Freeway precinct, particularly the unfinished highway, in 3D, using the Unity game engine.
“The Foreshore Freeway Precinct has long suffered from traffic congestion, pollution, and underutilised space due to incomplete bridges that have remained unused for decades. While there are existing urban planning proposals for the area, they are typically presented in 2D static maps, making it difficult to fully understand each proposal's spatial dynamics and potential impact. My aim is to develop an interactive 3D application that brings these proposals to life, allowing users to explore and compare them in a more engaging, intuitive and immersive way,” said Bandarkar.
Having matriculated from the Oracle Academy in Ottery, Bandarkar said he had always been interested in Computer Science. He would break apart his toy cars, broken kettles, and anything electronic to inspect the motherboard and understand how and why it worked the way it did, both the hardware and the software behind it. His curiosity gradually shifted towards how software powers these systems, sparking a deep interest in programming and digital problem-solving.
“I decided I wanted to become a software engineer. And to become a software engineer, I needed to study Computer Science. I wanted to study here in Cape Town so I chose UWC because I knew Computer Science at UWC is one of the best in the Western Cape,” said Bandarkar.
