Ben Kotze started his career at the Atomic Energy Board in Pretoria, then became a Biomedical Technician in the South African National Defence Force. He later moved to Houwteq as a technologist on ballistic missiles and satellite development. This formed the foundation for his teaching career of more than thirty-three years. He obtained his Doctoral Technologiae while working at the Central University of Technology, Free State. Over this period, he taught more than twenty-eight subjects in five qualifications. Many of these subjects were curriculated to bear the Engineering Council of South Africa’s (ECSA) accreditation. He is registered as a Professional Technologist in Engineering with the Engineering Council of South Africa. He is also jointly registered with the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute for Professional Technologists as a Fellow. In 2013, the SAIEE Central Centre was launched with him as Chairman. In 2017, he was elected as Honorary Vice President of the SAIEE. In 2019, the SAIEE student chapter was founded under his mentorship at CUT.

During his teaching career, four startup companies were founded under his guidance. More than R2 million in income was generated through funding during this time. He also spent time in industry and taught abroad in exchange programs in Karlstad, Sweden, and Liverpool, England. His publishing career started in 1994 in various journals and papers. Eleven master’s students and two doctoral students graduated under his supervision. With his help and contribution, more than twenty-five national and international conferences published these research outputs. Two teaching and learning excellence awards were received during his time at CUT. He is still actively involved with industry and work-integrated learning (WIL). His research path covered biomedical engineering, Genetic Algorithms, neural networks, Fuzzy Logic, several different AGVs, renewable energy systems, simulation and control, IoT security, smart farming, and prediction methods. Always looking to improve and innovate, his research turned to vision and soon to virtual and augmented reality systems in 2008. This led to the CUT EON XR project started in 2021, which is being used not just within CUT but also in almost any facet of industry and life. In conjunction with the linked classrooms developed, COIL projects and large classes could be achieved simultaneously. In 2023, he was promoted to Associate Professor. He firmly believes a healthy body houses a healthy mind, and in 2016 he was privileged enough to play in the World Masters, then hosted in South Africa. All of this lifelong journey could not have been achieved without the support of his wife Elseri, son Dirko, and daughter Linandri. His colleagues and friends over these years played a pivotal role in his life and achievements. All the grace to our Heavenly Father. He lives by his quote, “Do everything today to the best of your ability as yesterday is too late and part of history.”