BY STEPHEN CHADENGA PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday capped 3 507 graduands at the Midlands State University at a blended graduation ceremony that saw only 110 people in attendance while the rest followed the proceedings virtually. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 110 graduates physically attended the event, with 3 397 following proceedings virtually. MSU vice-chancellor Victor Muzvidziwa said 51,8% of the graduands were female, while 48,2% were male. He said despite the coronavirus pandemic, MSU managed to adopt the “new norm” of conducting university business using digital methods. “Your Excellency and chancellor, we have 3 507 graduands,” Muzvidziwa said. “Of these, 51,8% are female and 48,2% are male. 2 670 are graduating with bachelor’s degrees, 837 masters and 11 are being awarded doctor of philosophy degrees.” He added: “Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we managed to virtually carry on with our operations. The novel virus is a temporary setback which provided us with new ways of doing business.” Muzvidziwa said MSU’s strategic objective was to generate a problem-solving institution which strives to bring practical solutions to everyday experiences. He said to achieve this, researchers at MSU had secured competitive domestic and international research grants. “One of our key strategic objectives is to be a technologically-driven research university and to generate problem-solving innovations for commercialisation and industrialisation,” he said. Muzvidziwa said MSU had collaborated with other foreign universities in international grant-funded research projects. Follow Stephen on Twitter @jagganox78