Inspired by evenings spent pouring over atlases and watching National Geographic, Mutakusi Ragimana’s childhood dream was to become a cartographer, a vision that evolved into a career at the cutting edge of geospatial science. Mutakusi, 27, is a spatial data and remote sensing specialist at Zutari, where he applies advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS), machine learning and remote sensing to tackle real-world challenges. His projects span disaster management, precision agriculture, infrastructure development and environmental monitoring — from flood modelling in KwaZulu-Natal to urban planning for Expo City Dubai. After earning seven distinctions in matric, he secured the prestigious Vice Chancellor’s Scholarship at Nelson Mandela University, followed by postgraduate studies at the universities of the Witwatersrand and Pretoria, where his MSc research on land cover monitoring was hailed as a first for Africa. His work has earned numerous accolades, including recognition from the South African National Space Agency and Esri South Africa. Beyond his technical expertise, Mutakusi is committed to uplifting rural youth through initiatives like the Bono Foundation and the Connect to Your Future mentorship programme.
- Commitment to academic excellence continued with Academic Excellence Awards in 2017 and 2018, which led to an invitation to the Golden Key International Honour Society, along with the Xanadu and Unitas Residence Merit Awards
- Awarded multiple bursaries in 2019 from esteemed organisations including the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, the South African National Space Agency and the Industrial Development Corporation
- Recognised for the South African National Space Agency Best Honours Research Presentation
- Named a Grad Star Top 500 candidate (2020)
- Received the Esri South Africa first position award in a geospatial research project (2022)
The successful professional projects:
- MSc Research Dissertation (2022–2024) – this research significantly enhanced land use and land cover monitoring by integrating optical imagery and synthetic aperture radar — a first for the African continent
- Machine Learning for Land Cover Change Detection (2021–2022) and Deep Learning for Building Footprint Extractions (2022)
- Drone Imagery Processing for Precision Agriculture (2022)
- KwaZulu-Natal Flood Modelling (2022)
- George Integrated Public Transport Network (2024–2025) and Expo City Dubai Residential Development (2022–2025)
Firstly, I am inspired by my mother, who instilled in me the passion and drive to pursue a career I am truly passionate about; her meticulous nature and dedication significantly shaped my approach to work and life. My journey has also been profoundly influenced by two key mentors. Dr Alastair Potts, my ecology lecturer, was instrumental in fuelling my passion for academic research even before my first degree by creating an environment where it was safe to make mistakes and learn from them, developing my early research skills and confidence. Additionally, Menachem Rose, my data science mentor during my internship, patiently simplified complex data science concepts such as machine learning and AI despite my lack of background, constantly reassuring me that uncertainty at the beginning is normal — which was incredibly encouraging and helped me overcome initial hurdles in a new field.