Prof. Randall Carolissen, August started his career at the age of 20 as an industrial engineer at Firestone in Port Elizabeth and rapidly rose through the ranks. Pursuing his ambition to further his academic studies in physics, he returned to UWC in 1984 as a laboratory assistant, completing a BSc (Hons). In 1987 he was appointed as a researcher at the CSIR, and in this period, he completed an MSc (cum laude) in 1989. He was then appointed as a lecturer at UWC and a PhD in 1995 in nano-physics. While working towards his PhD, he assumed a research fellowship at the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania and worked in a team that performed groundbreaking research on Schottky barrier interfaces. He co-authored three publications that remain widely cited internationally. He assumed a post-doctoral research post at the University of Ghent and has published in internationally peer-reviewed journals in nano-physics. In 2005 he completed an MBA (cum laude) at the University of Stellenbosch, specialising in International Finance, receiving the Old Mutual Gold medal. This milestone was followed by an M.Com in International Tax at the University of the Northwest in 2009. Apart from his junior degree, all postgraduate qualifications were pursued part-time, establishing his career.