CPUT recently hosted a delegation of academics from the Changzhou Institute of Technology (CIT) to witness the signing of a historic agreement of collaboration. Continue reading
Category Archives: research
FID hosts successful transdisciplinary course
Students, academics and a community organisation are reaping the rewards of a successful transdisciplinary course recently hosted by CPUT.
A total of 21 participants attended the Sustainable Product Service Systems (S.PSS) course, which was entitled: Methods and tools for community based research projects: Distributed design and distributed information for volunteer organisations in SA.
Ephias Ruhode, Associate Professor: Transdisciplinary Studies in the Faculty of Informatics and Design (FID), said the participants learned design approaches and the toolbox to designing solutions for social innovation for sustainability.
The community partner for the course was Action Volunteers Africa (AVA), a community organisation that trains volunteers in a number of disciplines.
AVA mentors provided students with challenges facing their organisation and the participants had to use the tools that they were taught in the course to design solutions.
“Solutions which students designed ranged from business innovation, digital storytelling for volunteer self-improvement to sustainable ICT innovations,” said Ruhode.
The course facilitators came from China, Brazil, the Netherlands, Stellenbosch University and CPUT.
Ruhode said the course provided long-term benefits: “Beyond the course CPUT solution designers will continue to work with AVA until the solutions are developed and implemented. A PhD student and a Masters student have already begun to work on their theses based on the AVA challenges. Going forward, FID’s Department of Research, Innovation and Partnerships will design similar courses on transdisciplinary research to be offered to researchers across the university.”
The course was one of the activities of the Learning network of networks on sustainability (LeNSin) project.
According to its website LeNSin is an EU-supported (ERASMUS+) project involving 36 universities from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Central America, aiming at the promotion of a new generation of designers (and design educators) capable of effectively contributing to the transition towards a sustainable society for all.
- CPUT and Stellenbosch University are the South African partners in the LeNSin project. Prof Ruhode is the African coordinator of the project.
Yebo to Internationalisation
The Yebo! Programme on the development of the internationalisation of PhD Studies in South Africa is an Erasmus+ funded project focused on further developing the internationalisation of doctoral education in South African universities.
The Yebo! Project is carried out by a consortium of 15 European and South African partners and is coordinated by the University of Montpellier, France.
The institutions include: Ghent University, Technical University of Berlin, Uppsala University, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Coimbra Group, French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, European University Association, Central University of Technology, Stellenbosch University, Tshwane University of Technology, University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria and the University of the Western Cape.
Representatives of the 15 partners recently met on the Bellville campus to discuss current conditions and identify objectives for each university, based on the self-assessment survey outcomes, as well as topics for conferences and training sessions.
René Pellissier, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, outlined the current status of international students in South Africa as well as the higher education targets from the National Development Plan.
“Universities need students and academics who are not exclusively from the country where the university operates in order to attract the most talented people, no matter where they come from, and to open themselves to new ideas and approaches,” said Pellissier.
She pointed out in her presentation that institutions from both continents struggled to gather information about international students’ activities, which told the group that they needed to structure their monitoring and data more efficiently.
“Also, there seemed to be differing understandings on the meaning of various constructs based on continent specific terminologies,” Pellissier pointed out.
From a South African perspective the goal would be to increase participation to produce more than 100 doctoral graduates/1 000 000 of population as per global norms to 5 000 graduates in the year 2030. “This is only possible through deploying internationalisation,” said Pellissier.
Some of the recurring obstacles facing South African higher education institutions when it comes to international mobility are funding, time/work schedules and a lack of information.
Comparisons between the academic workload of the various European countries versus South Africa resulted in a complex model that was not comparative as European academics split their time evenly between teaching and research. South African on the other hand contend with mostly teaching, some research, plenty of administration and other responsibilities such as community engagement.
The workshop set the scene for the development of capacity building and future meetings will include a workshop on developing a web-based portal and conferences on developing best practice and relevant training.
Written by Theresa Smith
CPUT signs MOU with University of Toulouse
CPUT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with one of the world’s oldest universities – the University of Toulouse, France (UT).
The partnership was cemented recently when a delegation from UT, including Prof Didier Marty-Dessus, Vice-Rector for International Relations, visited the Bellville campus.
Among other things, the partnership will encourage collaboration between researchers from the two institutions as well as student exchange, mainly in the Faculty of Engineering.
“The MOU that we are signing today covers all the aspects that we certainly value in terms of where we want to move to as an institution in terms of research, in terms of teaching and learning and in terms of staff and student exchanges,” said Prof Marshall Sheldon, acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships.
Prof René Pellissier, CPUT’s Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, thanked the delegation and said CPUT was honoured by their visit to the institution.
TTO workshop benefits researchers
Researchers from across the university recently attended an insightful two-day workshop organised by the Technology Transfer Office (TTO).
The workshop was presented by the TTO’s Dr Revel Iyer (Director), Marlin Fransman and Halimah Rabiu and focused on TTO processes and funding.
Some of the topics covered included intellectual property rights and commercialisation, the process of formal disclosure of inventions, the patenting process, innovation funding, including Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) funding, research contracts and contract research and cost recovery.
Iyer is of the view that the successful operation of the TTO will require new ways of working by stakeholders.
He added that while this would be underpinned by relevant policies and procedures, mere compliance was not what was required for success.
“There will have to be a significant culture shift. A key driver of cultural shift towards innovation at CPUT is to ensure that all stakeholders are well informed about the processes that are in place,” he said.
“Clearly, lack of knowledge about TTO processes is a stumbling block towards successful implementation of an innovation culture. The workshop was directed at correcting this lack of information/knowledge. In doing so it is hoped that it will help effect a cultural shift whereby research is approached from a translational perspective.”
For more information on the TTO and its functions please click on the link: http://www.cput.ac.za/research-technology-and-innovation/tto
New Research Chair: Biotechnology
The new Research Chair of CPUT’s Institute of Biomedical and Microbial Biotechnology (IBMB) plans to take the institute to the next level over the next five years.
Prof Jeanine Marnewick is no stranger to the IBMB, having previously served as co-chair to Prof Wentzel Gelderblom.
Marnewick, who also heads up the Oxidative Stress Research Centre in the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, made the headlines in 2011 when her clinical trial revealed that drinking six cups of rooibos per day holds definite health benefits, and specifically helps to reduce oxidative stress in the body and improves the cholesterol profile – all aspects that modulate the development of heart disease.
She said the Institute’s main focus this year would be a review process of the past five years and setting up a new five-year business plan. “The institute will be reviewed by international reviewers and with that we will also devise the new business plan for the next five years. We have to see that the research we are doing is correctly focused. Apart from our own RTI (Research and Technology Innovation) blueprint, a big role player is the United Nations-driven sustainable development goals initiative. They recognise 17 goals that’s important for sustainability. We are aligning our research to these goals,” she said.
“I feel strongly that our research should be research that can be applied and not just research for the sake of doing research. Our communities have to benefit and that is our biggest driving force.”
The institute has six NRF-rated scientists, two of whom are B1 rated, and is encouraging all its researchers to obtain their rating, ensuring that postgraduate students have access to the best in the field.
“Our research output has also been very good over the past four years. We’ve had an average of about 20 journal articles per annum while conference attendance averaged about 15 national and 15 international conferences. We are always striving for a good balance, 1:1:1 between conferences and publications. We’ve grown international collaborations significantly, including with institutions in Hungary, France and Germany and the USA while we have established good relationships with local industry.”
For more on the IBMB go to http://www.cput.ac.za/research-technology-and-innovation/centres/ibmb
Research project workshop a great success
CPUT recently hosted a successful workshop for South African and German researchers who are collaborating on three bilateral research projects.
The three research projects, NOVBIOSURF, SLAC, and SYNDEX, are among 12 SA-Germany bilateral research projects that were launched last year.
The focus of the research projects ranges from topics such as wastewater, to the production of new compounds, but mainly aims to allow for the exchange, training and development of young researchers and PhD-level students.
The three-day event was held at the Cape Town Hotel School and aimed to encourage the exchange of ideas and the development of new collaborations and networks.
It was organised and hosted by Dr Marilize Le Roes-Hill, Head of the Biocatalysis and Technical Biology Research Group in CPUT’s Institute of Biomedical and Microbial Biotechnology.
The workshop was co-hosted by Prof. Tukayi Kudanga (Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology at Durban University of Technology (DUT).
The guest speaker was Prof. Emile van Zyl from Stellenbosch University who presented on the lessons learned from working in the ‘bioethanol production’ and ‘enzyme expression in yeast’ space while progress on each of the three research projects was presented during the course of the workshop.
“To all of those who attended the workshop, which also included other researchers and students from CPUT, DUT and UWC, it was a great success, allowing for the free exchange of ideas and the stimulation of in-depth discussions. Potentially new collaborations were established and the workshop team as a whole, are looking forward to future joint workshop meetings,” said Le Roes-Hill.
The projects are jointly funded by the Department of Science and Technology (South Africa) and the German Federal Ministry of Education Research.
HEAIDS is upbeat about CPUT
The Higher Education Aids Project (HEAIDS) complemented CPUT for recovering in a relatively short space of time from a university which was riddled by students’ unrests to the peaceful environment conducive for teaching, learning and innovation that now prevails on the university’s campuses.
This view was expressed by HEAIDS Director, Dr Ramneek Ahluwalia, during a HEAIDS visit to CPUT recently. Accompanied by HEAIDS Project Manager, Alex Semba, Ahluwalia met with Acting Vice-chancellor, Dr Chris Nhlapo, before addressing the HIV Institutional Co-ordinating Committee.
Ahluwalia commended Nhlapo for how he has turned the university around in the last five months. “I met the Vice-chancellor to acknowledge him as well as telling him about our programme and vision,” he told CPUT staffers.
He added that a university’s legacy is that its alumni should live longer and that Dr Nhlapo agreed about the importance of leaving this legacy to the benefit of alumni and society.
“Academia has for a long while ignored issues of gender-based violence, employee wellness and HIV/Aids,” Dr Ahluwalia said.
He added that few universities in the country, including CPUT, have a Gender-Based Violence policy or processes in place to develop a policy. He congratulated CPUT for being one of the institutions in higher education to integrate HIV into its curriculum.
MRI course attracts local and international students
A record number of radiographers have registered for the 2018 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Course) offered by the Department of Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Sciences (MITS).
The department opened their facilities in March to the 58 radiographers who have enrolled for the course this year.
The MRI course is a professional development course offered to qualified radiographers who wish to develop their knowledge and clinical skills in MRI. The first MRI course was offered by CPUT in 2005 and still remains the only postgraduate certificate course offered by a higher education institution in South Africa and Africa.
Upon completion of the MRI course, radiographers can register their qualification with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) as an additional qualification.
The MRI course is largely offered through distance education with academic contact sessions twice a year. This allows radiographers from all over South Africa and Africa to attend. The majority of radiographers this year are from South Africa with the rest from Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and Malawi. Two of the radiographers travelled all the way from the UK and Ireland to attend the course. They will also complete their compulsory 600 clinical hours in the MRI department in these countries.
“MRI is an imaging modality with rapid technological development hence the course contents needs to be reviewed on an ongoing basis to remain current”, says Valdiela Daries, the MRI course convener and lecturer.
“We are fortunate to have the support of radiologists, engineers, application specialists and MRI radiographers who are always willing to share their expertise. Given the structure of the course, we will be using the Learning Management System as an adjunct for delivering the course”, explains Daries.
The MRI students are all permanently employed in either the public or private sector; some are fortunate to be funded by their respective employers. According to Aladdin Speelman, Head of the MITS Department. , the department remains committed to the continuous professional development of radiographers and to cater for the needs of industry.
Countdown begins for ZACube-2 launch
Four years after making history with the launch of Africa’s first nano-satellite into space, CPUT is preparing to reach even greater heights with the launch of its second CubeSat – ZACube-2.
ZACube-2 will be the most advanced South African CubeSat to date and is expected to launch in May or June from a launch site in India.
It was developed by the Satellite Programme of the CPUT French South African Institute of Technology (F’SATI), which is based at the Bellville campus.
“ZACube-2 is a triple unit CubeSat so it is three times the size of its predecessor, which was called TshepisoSat,” says F’SATI director, Prof Robert van Zyl.
“It is currently being tested and qualified for space, which means it is being subjected to the extreme conditions it will be exposed to in the space environment.”
The main payload on the satellite is an AIS (automatic identification system) receiver with which navigational data will be received from ships along our coast. This data, which includes the ships’ GPS coordinates, registration information, speed and direction of travel, will assist the authorities to track ship traffic in our exclusive economic zone, and improve the safety of ships.
ZACube-2 will also carry an advanced camera, which will detect forest and velds fires.
ZACube-2 serves as a precursor mission for two future satellite constellations – the one for Maritime Domain Awareness in support of Operation Phakisa and the other a FireSat constellation to track fire on the African continent,” says Van Zyl.
The ZACube-2 mission is an initiative funded by the Department of Science and Technology, the South African National Space Agency, the National Research Foundation and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Our technology partners include the CSIR, Stone Three, Clyde Space, Stellenbosch University and Astrofica.
- Operation Phakisa is an initiative of the South African government, and is aimed at implementing priority programmes better, faster and more effectively.