The DST-UNESCO Engineering Conference concluded three days of intensive discussions with a walk-about on the Bellville Campus.
Tapelo Kepadisa, Assistant Director: Multilateral Cooperation at the Department of Science and Technology, ended off the conference by thanking CPUT for hosting a successful Africa Engineering week. The DST-UNESCO Engineering Conference is an annual event which is rotated among all nine provinces but a decision has not yet been finalised about where it will be hosted next year.
The conference brings together role-players in various engineering fields to discuss opportunities and challenges and propose strategies that can be used to develop the engineering capacity in South Africa. There is also a big emphasis on attracting learners to subjects such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and a two-day career exhibition was hosted alongside the conference.
“This week is also about targeting the youngsters and we have to thank CPUT for inviting the students. We have to start on the ground,” said Kepadisa.
Topics covered during the three day conference included women in engineering, space science, environmental engineering and energy.
The conference ended with site visits to the F’SATI laboratories to showcase the CPUT Satellite Programme, Saretec and the Chemical Engineering building where delegates were introduced to the High Pressure Laboratory which has just installed a supercritical fluid extraction pilot plant.
Speaking earlier on the last day, Naim Rasool, director of the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (Saretec), pointed out some of the successes and challenges of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REI4P).
“We are often commended at international conferences for adopting this programme,” Rasool said about the REI4P, which is South Africa’s flagship programme for moving towards increasing renewable energy in our energy mix.
Saretec, situated on the Bellville Campus, trains individuals for the renewable energy industry and is the only training centre of its kind in the southern hemisphere, offering both South African and international qualifications, depending on the course in question.
Conference delegate Musa Mweli from Eskom said he attended the conference because of his interest in the technology used in the provision of electricity. He was especially interested in the risks posed by privatising the provision of electricity. He would like to see future conferences discuss the regulation of private companies which provide a regular stream of electricity to service provider Eskom.
Another delegate Raymond Rispel from Armscor said he was excited to discover more about Saretec, asking when the Centre would start investigating geothermal energy. He was especially interested in the presentations about engineering education, agreeing that soft skills such as communications go a long way towards developing a good engineer.
Written by Theresa Smith
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