Strengthening Industry Partnerships

The annual Vice-Chancellor’s Business and Industry Engagement, which was recently held at the Cape Town Hotel School, provided a platform to strengthen ties with some of the institution’s key stakeholders.

The event recognised the important role industry plays in supporting the university’s mandate as a university of technology, highlighted work-integrated learning (WIL) success stories, and provided the opportunity to engage on areas including curriculum development, training and development and research.

Guests were welcomed by Prof Rishidaw Balkaran, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching, who emphasised that industry is an integral part of the university.

“You are part and parcel of informing our curriculum via our advisory boards and various structures that we have. You take our students for WIL, and we are really grateful for that,” he said.

He added that the engagement was also an opportunity for the university and industry to discuss how CPUT could respond to the needs of the sector.

Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chris Nhlapo, thanked the industry partners for their continued support, particularly in providing WIL opportunities for students.

“We know that some of you brought ideas in terms of curriculum development, some of you brought expertise and experience around the table and engaged in a fruitful and productive manner to ensure that this institution meets its mandate,” he said.

He encouraged industry leaders to continue supporting CPUT and engaging with the university to address shared challenges and create opportunities for students and graduates.

The importance of industry partnerships was further highlighted by Prof Dina Burger, Director: Research Development, who described industry and the university as “extensions of each other”.

“In essence, our collaboration bridges the gap between academic theory and real-world execution,” Burger said.

The guest speaker was Horst Weinert, who leads technical education solution sales, curriculum consulting, lab installation and training teams at Festo Didactic across Africa. He delivered a presentation, titled Industry 4.0 – Competencies and Opportunities, which touched on topics including 4IR developments and consequences, core technologies, business models and competence development.

In his closing remarks, Executive Director: Finance, Msulwa Daca, thanked the industry leaders for attending the engagement, as well as the organisers and speakers for their contributions.

He said engagements such as the Vice-Chancellor’s Business and Industry Engagement create valuable opportunities for the university to engage directly with industry about its challenges and identify ways in which these can be addressed collaboratively.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
Email: Frederickskennediji@cput.ac.za