The excellent work produced by postgraduate students was acknowledged and showcased during the recent Postgraduate Conference. Hosted by the Centre for Postgraduate Studies, the event gave Masters and Doctoral candidates the opportunity to deliver presentations and present posters on their research activities and innovations.

Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chris Nhlapo, said the day was an important one on the CPUT calendar.

“If we are serious about building One Smart CPUT, we have to encourage each and every student and say: ‘this continent needs you, this country needs you’.”

Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, Prof Marshall Sheldon, said the event aimed to give postgraduate students, who were close to graduating, the opportunity to share their results with an audience and engage in a scientific way.

“It’s also to acknowledge the great work our postgraduate students are doing and to provide us with an opportunity to create a research environment and build up a culture that we want to build within CPUT as we close our vision 2020 and transition into our Vision 2030 to become one smart CPUT.”

Research Director, Prof Dina Burger, encouraged the delegates to use the conference to explore opportunities to link up with the research being done by others.
“That is ultimately what research is about – working together and going beyond your own discipline and looking at things from different perspectives.”

The winner in the oral presentation category was Uchenna Okwuosa (MEng Mechanical Engineering), whose presentation was titled: Development of Shrouded Thrust Vectoring System for Short Take-Off Control. In second place was Talent Moyo (DComm Marketing) while Lizel Hudson (Doctorate in Radiography) was third.

The winner of the poster presentations was Kayla Arendse (MTech Retail Business Management), whose presentation was titled: Critical success factors for e-tailing: a case study of clothing retailers in Cape Town. Bulelwa Ntobela (Master of Horticultural Science) was second while Shaheed Roos: (Master of Horticultural Science) and Romuald Kouami Tchamba (MEng Mechanical) tied for third place.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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Years of hard work and dedication to their studies have paid off for the class of 2013 who will receive their qualifications at CPUT’s Spring Graduation today.

During the ceremony, which will take place on the Cape Town campus, the university will award qualifications to 695 students, of which 36 will receive Masters, and 11 will receive Doctorates.

As a precursor to this year’s ceremony, the university hosted a Doctoral Candidates Public Lecture Series earlier this week on the Bellville Campus.

An initiative of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies, the series saw PhD graduates Olushola Ayanda, Georina Westraadt, Alettia Chisin and Mark Boekstein deliver short presentations on their research.

This event will become a permanent feature on the CPUT calendar and will form part of the university’s graduation celebrations, which takes place annually in April and in September.

These PhD graduates together with their counterparts will be capped by CPUT Chancellor, Dr Trevor Manuel, who will preside over the ceremony.

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

Postgraduate students at CPUT will receive the necessary support to ensure they achieve their goals of becoming academics, researchers or expert practitioners in their chosen field of study.

Addressing students at a welcome and orientation session hosted by the Centre for Postgraduate Studies on 9 February 2010 at the Bellville campus, Prof Stephanie Burton said the centre is a “visible, dedicated and interested point of contact” for all postgraduate students.

Established in 2009, the centre aims to enhance the profile of postgraduate activity at CPUT and attract students into the institution’s research community.

Prof Burton, who is at the helm of the centre, said they are also tasked with raising awareness of potential technology innovation as an outcome of postgraduate research.

However, the main task of the centre is to provide a range of support services to postgraduate students.

Prof Burton said pursuing a postgraduate degree is hard work and the skills required are different from those needed to complete an undergraduate degree or diploma.

“Postgraduate students need a wide vision and broad integrated training to understand what it means to be a researcher and what it means to be an academic,” said Prof Burton.

Referring to the centre as a “one-stop-shop” point of contact for postgraduate students, Prof Burton said they offer dedicated support and assistance in all of the processes involved in postgraduate study.

The support services include workshops, seminars, training, mentoring, bursaries and assistance with administration linked to postgraduate studies.

The centre is currently in the process of putting in place policies to ensure that their activities are in line with the priorities of CPUT and establishing committees that will oversee postgraduate activities.

Dr Chris Nhlapo, DVC Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships encouraged students to make use of the services offered by the centre.

He said it is vital for South Africa to increase the number of doctorate graduates.

Currently South African produces only 1 100 doctorate graduates a year.

However, Dr Nhlapo said he is positive, that with the help of the centre, CPUT will play a vital role in South Africa by producing highly skilled individuals.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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Postgraduate students recently received a warm welcome to CPUT.

The event, held at the Auditorium on the Bellville campus, was organised by the Centre for Postgraduate Studies (CPGS)

The students received an overview of the services and support available to them including from Students Affairs, CPGS, CPUT Libraries and Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships.

“You are special to our country because you constitute the approximately four percent of this country’s population that will be possess such a degree. You are special for another reason: the value of the research that you will be doing,” said Prof Dina Burger, Director of the CPGS.

“Every day I want you to tell yourself: ‘I can do it’”.

She encouraged the Masters students to pursue their doctoral degrees next.

The event also saw the launch of the Ubuntu Postgraduate Forum, an umbrella body for postgraduate students.

Its aims include uniting postgraduates and promoting intellectual and academic interactions among researchers at CPUT and fostering good relationships between postgraduate students and the CPGS.

Students interested in joining the forum can send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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The Centre for Postgraduate Studies (CPGS) has joined forces with the Research Directorate for a series of online workshops aimed at helping postgraduate students on their journey to graduation.

The workshops are facilitated by experts and the hope is that it will contribute to Masters and Doctoral students developing the skills and competencies required to successfully complete their studies.

Workshops for supervisors, co-supervisors and post-doctoral fellows are also available.

Dr Patricia Smit, Manager: Capacity Development, said the first few workshops were well attended. She said postgraduate students often have very busy schedules as many are employed full-time and therefore workshops are repeated during the year to allow as many students as possible to attend.

Wendal Koopman from CPGS, who is also a workshop facilitator, said participants had indicated that the workshops were helpful and that they were grateful for the support.

The list of workshops includes: Proposal Writing, Research Methods, The use of online library resources and reference tools, Research methods, Data Collection and Analysis, Fieldwork in practice and Writing for Publication. 

Smit encouraged postgraduate students to make use of the workshops and said the Research Directorate and CPGS welcomed recommendations and feedback from participants.

For more information on the workshops please send an email to Hlengiwe Nzama on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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If you are looking for funding or need some advice on all the administration processes linked to your Mtech or Doctoral studies, then a visit to the Centre for Postgraduate Studies is a must.

With branches at the Bellville and Cape Town campuses, this one-stop-shop caters for all CPUT postgraduate students who are in need of a helping hand.

Staffed by experts in various academic fields, the centre is renowned for going that extra mile to ensure the success of each and every postgraduate student.

Recently the centre held welcome and information sessions across the CPUT campuses, which was attended by large numbers of postgraduate students.

Director of the centre, Prof Daniel Makinde urged students to make use of their services and facilities.

Services include assistance with funding, administration, research guidance and mentoring for students and research supervisors. The centre also boasts a study hall for postgraduate students, where they have access to the Internet, various computer programmes and other resources.

“CPUT provides a good environment to study and obtain your qualification,” said Prof Makinde.

Deputy-Vice Chancellor Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, Dr Chris Nhlapo also urged students to make a success of their postgraduate studies.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime,” he said.

Currently, South Africa produces just over 1000 PhD graduates a year, a low number compared to other developing countries, producing far larger numbers. During the next few years, South Africa hopes to up the number and produce up to 6 000 PhD graduates a year.

Dr Nhlapo said CPUT will play a key role in upping the PhD figures.

“We must make sure more young researchers get into the system,” he said.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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Wondering if your student came up with that bright idea or simply copied it word for word from another source?

Thanks to developments in technology, lecturers can now tap into website applications that will assist them to identify plagiarism.

Dr Corrie Uys, a statistician at the Centre for Postgraduate Studies, recently shared the benefits of using technology for research purposes at the 2016 Teaching and Learning with Technology Day, hosted by the Knowledge Information Technology Services.

Uys says lectures can make use of a website application called turnitin.com, which assists with the electronic process of submitting, tracking and checking papers.

The process is straightforward, says Uys.

Lecturers or students submit the paper via a file upload to turnitin.com. The paper is then checked for matching text against a database of approximately 12 billion pages of digital content, 110 million student papers and 80 000 academic journals and publications.

Turnitin.com will highlight similar text and also provide the link to the source. Lecturers can then check if it is a case of plagiarism, or if the text merely needed to be cited.

However, apart from using it as tool to identify plagiarism, Uys says the website application can also be used a developmental tool, whereby lecturers can show students how to paraphrase and reference correctly.

• To make use of this technology as an educational tool, go to www.turnitin.com

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

Prof Izak Van Zyl, who has been recently appointed as Director: Centre for Postgraduate Studies (CPGS), says he wants to develop the centre’s academic capacity, in line with the university’s Vision 2030.

“I want to position the CPGS strategically as a postgraduate hub that offers more than just administrative support,” adds Van Zyl. To achieve this, he is working towards three goals, namely, to increase the number and quality of postgraduates (including postdoctoral fellows), to increase the number and quality of research and creative outputs, and finally, to enhance the postgraduate student experience. “Achieving these objectives will take time and energy, but they form a critical part of the five-year strategic plan which I have developed for the centre,” he reveals.

Van Zyl is grateful that since 2017 he had been working under the tutelage of great leaders in the Faculty of Informatics and Design “who helped me grow both academically and personally”. “I’ve forged strong relationships with colleagues who have supported me in my various endeavours in the faculty and broader university.”

He says he is very excited and grateful for his latest appointment. “It came as a wonderful surprise to be offered the position after a rigorous (and nerve-wracking) interview process,” he adds.

“I want to thank all colleagues who have expressed their support in the past few weeks.

“I am also immensely grateful to the previous Acting Director, Prof Dina Burger, for her encouragement and support, as well as to the DVC RTIP, Dr David Phaho, and all members of senior management, for backing me in this position,” acknowledges Van Zyl.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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Students from various faculties presented their research at the recent Postgraduate Conference.

Held for the first time since 2014, the conference saw Masters and Doctoral candidates deliver presentations and present posters on a range of subjects. Topics ranged from the use of electro-spun copper oxide nanofibres for non-enzymatic glucose detection to preliminary findings in a survey of old materials used in heritage buildings in the Mother City. The Food Science and Technology students made quite the impact with five Masters students presenting a mixture of research into the potential uses of Bambara groundnut.

Acting director of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies, Prof Dina Burger, said while organising the event they did not have to cajole anyone into presenting their work, but were met by great enthusiasm.

“The importance of a conference such as this is multi-fold. It gives students an opportunity to communicate their science to a broader constituency and in so doing exposes them to feedback and critical engagement. They need this skills in the workplace and in life,” said Burger.

Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnership, Prof Marshall Sheldon, pointed out that 6.2% of the university’s current student enrolment are postgraduate students, an increase from 5.5% of 2014.

“We want to increase postgraduate enrolment by the year 2025 and we anticipate the numbers could double. That should increase our research output in terms of articles, conferences attended and papers delivered,” said Sheldon.

She acknowledged that challenges facing current postgraduate students are different to what she experienced as a student but expressed her belief that the university’s support units were up to the task of helping students and their supervisors to achieve their goals.

At the end of the day Merlisa Kemp won best poster for her work on Ultrasound investigation of risk factors for extracranial vascular pathology in patients with Multiple Sclerosis.

Best presentation went to Mohamed Rahman (A performance and energy evaluation of a dye drawn forward osmoses (F) system for the textile industry). Bwandakassy Cedrick Elenga Baningobera’s presentation (Implementation of an IEC 61850 standard-based harmonic blocking scheme for a power transformer) won him second best presentation and Sarah Kasangana Kapinga (CO3O4/TIO2 heterojunction for heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate for treatment of textile wastewater) won third best presentation.

PICTURE CAPTION: GROUP SHOT: Postgraduate students recently presented their current research at a conference held at Saretec.

Written by Theresa Smith
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The Office of the Vice-Chancellor hosted the first institutional Vice-Chancellor’s Doctorandi Dinner for 19 doctoral graduates from all faculties to celebrate their accomplishments and give the graduates the recognition they deserve.

“Obtaining a doctorate is a fantastic achievement. It takes dedication, hard work and perseverance, Director of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies,” said Prof Izak Van Zyl, Director of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies. Van Zyl said the graduates should be immensely proud of what they have achieved and that they should enjoy the occasion. “It is important to celebrate it and take some time to reflect on the journey.”

He said some of the faculties have hosted similar events but “to my knowledge, this is the first one involving all faculties”. “I certainly regard this event as a celebration of reaching a pinnacle of higher education. This is ultimately what defines us as an institution: we (aspire to) advance both knowledge and human development through education. It therefore means a lot to us as individuals but also as an organisation.”

Van Zyl continued: “To the class of 2023, I want to say: embrace this joyous moment. You have worked hard, and you are being recognised for that. But: this is not the end of the journey. In fact, it is the beginning of a new one. Obtaining a doctorate opens the door to new opportunities and adventures. We look forward to seeing you grow and thrive, and we hope that CPUT will remain close to your heart as you navigate life. Congratulations again, and all the best!”

The doctoral graduates included, Michael Agenbag, who obtained Doctor of Philosophy: Environmental Health; Phitlelelo Mokoen, DTech: Tourism and Hospitality Management; Mario Da Costa, DTech: Office Management and Technology; Warren Charles, Doctor of Human Resource Management; Lumnka Ntwanambi, Doctor of Public Administration; Martha Grewe, Doctor of Human Resource Management; Maryna De Lange, Wendy Smidt, Kabeya Tshimanika all obtained Doctor of Education. Leo Folifac obtained Doctor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering and Howard Fawkes with Doctor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering.

Tabisa Ncubukazi was conferred with Doctor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering, Olukayode Ayodele, Doctor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering; Gareth Holtman, Doctor of Engineering in Civil Engineering. Mohamed Almihat and Gedeon Joubert were capped with Doctor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering. Faeda Mohsam obtained DTech: Informatics and Monica Nehemia obtained PhD Informatics.

Van Zyl said: "I really enjoyed the event and appreciated the fact that CPUT celebrated its doctoral graduates to such an extent. The VC, DVCs, Chair of Council and Chancellor were also present, indicating how deeply the university values its senior graduates, and how grateful and supportive it is of their achievements. Again, a doctorate is a remarkable accomplishment and the institution certainly honoured each of the 19 'new doctors' last night."

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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