Universities in the Western Cape are exploring how best they can work together on several key projects that will aid development in various areas in the Western Cape.

 This venture is an initiative of the Western Cape Government (WCG) and the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC), a body that represents the four higher education institutions in the province.

CHEC representatives, government officials and academics recently met at the CPUT Bellville Campus to explore Digital Inclusion under the theme of Social Inclusion, which is one of the four areas identified for collaboration.

CEO of CHEC, Nasima Badsha says various workshops will be held with role-players, where they will discuss the WCG’s priorities and establish a framework for joint research that would support development in the identified areas.

Badsha says the other areas that will be explored are climate change and sustainability, the interface between universities and colleges, as well as dialogues that will speak to key issues of the day.

Those who attended the Digital Inclusion Workshop explored its relevance in the areas of education and health, adoption and community level, access and e-Government.

Head of Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the DVC: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, Assoc Prof Shaun Pather, is representing CPUT on the Digital Inclusion Task Team.

Pather says that when looking at projects, stakeholders must do so in the context of research uptake.

Research uptake advocates the process by which the knowledge generated through research makes its way to those who need it.

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.

On 13 June 2008 CPUT will be showing support for the victims of xenophobic attacks by observing a moment of silence at 09:00. Staff and students are encouraged to wear white ribbons as a visible mark of solidarity.

The call for universities to act against xenophobia was made by the Office of the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC). CPUT believes that this is a unique opportunity for the entire CPUT community across all campuses to stand alongside fellow institutions in the Western Cape and to unite in a demonstration of solidarity in support of the victims of xenophobia and the victims of other forms of violence.

Staff from the Marketing and Communication Department and a team of students will provide ribbons and pins to all campuses. The Department thanks the CPUT community for its enthusiasm in participating in this initiative.

Department of Marketing and Communication

Read UCT's call for visible solidarity.

Written by CPUT News
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Dr Chris Nhlapo has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC).

This academic consortium comprises the four universities in the Western Cape - the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, the University of Cape Town, the University of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch University.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, Nhlapo takes over the reigns of Prof Crain Soudien, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Transformation at the University Of Cape Town.   

The three-year appointment will see Nhlapo play a key role in strengthening ties between the various institutions.

“We want the four institutions to share their knowledge resources,” he says.

From libraries to research equipment and facilities, Nhlapo says collaboration between the institutions will only benefit the development of the Western Cape.

“The Western Cape is the intellectual hub of South Africa,” says Nhlapo.

“We have to now focus on how to harness this knowledge to the benefit of the Western Cape, as well as to the benefit of the rest of South Africa. This will only be possible if all institutions work together.”

CHEC is the most successful higher education consortium in South Africa and with Nhlapo’s extensive experience in the higher education sector, he will certainly add value to the consortiums activities.

“I’m excited about this role and will contribute to the foundation laid by my predecessors.”

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.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, Prof Rishi Balkaran has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC).

The Board of the CHEC operates under delegated authority from the Councils of the four institutions, CPUT, Stellenbosch University, the University of Cape Town and the University of the Western Cape.

The vision and mission of CHEC is to establish the Western Cape as a strong higher education region in a restructured national system which, through systemic inter-institutional co-operation and academic programme collaboration, will be:

• Distinctively responsive to regional, national and international developments in the knowledge economy of the 21st century.
• Sensitive to historical realities in promoting equity across its institutions.
• Cost-effective and of high quality.

Reflecting on his appointment, Balkaran says: “I am excited about my appointment and will ensure that I deliver to the mandate of CHEC.”

“I hope to continue with the sterling job of the previous chairperson, Prof [Nico] Koopman. As a collective, we have to deliver to vision and mandate. Certainly, we will be looking at the trends affecting Higher Education as well as working together in enhancing student success.

A lot of hard work, perseverance and being a team- player has taken Balkaran to where he is today. “I am always excited about [new] ideas and find ways to do things better. Keeping students and staff [is] at the centre of what we do is critical to me.  There is nothing more inspiring than seeing students succeed in their careers.”

Balkaran, who joined the CPUT in January 2019, has more than 20 years of experience in the Higher Education sector.

He says CPUT has benefitted tremendously from the CHEC initiatives and this benefit extends to its other University members. “We will continue with CHEC’s very successful staff development initiatives and other programmes from the previous years,” says Balkaran.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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No single event captures the incredible breadth of intramural and extramural research as effectively as the annual CPUT Research Festival 2024.

The jam-packed event stretched over four days, The first day of the 2024 Institutional Research Festival kicked off with a welcome address by Vice-Chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo in which he encouraged the continued support for the focus areas:

• The environment, climate change and sustainability
• Bioeconomy and biotechnology
• Space Science, Engineering and Technology
• Smart energy
• Human, Health and Social dynamics
• Digital society

Day one of the festival also focused on integrating work-focused research and the world of business and served as a platform to showcase and celebrate research achievements across various disciplines. The keynote speech was provided by Dr Sharman Wickham from the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC). Dr Abeda Dawood Division Manager of Research Capacity Development (RCD) at the South African Medical Research Council made a presentation on RCD grants, such as self-initiated research grants, scholarships, and other research capacity development programmes at SAMRC.

Prof Dina Burger: Director: Directorate Research Development, said: “This is also the first time in South Africa that a Research Festival of this magnitude has taken place and as CPUT we should be proud that we have pioneered such an important opportunity to come together and celebrate the dedicated hard work of so many research work that has taken place with the singular aim to improve the lives of our communities through quintuple helix partnerships.”

In what used to be a Research Day, Burger said their scope of research has grown in leaps and bounds to such an extent that “it is actually impossible to just focus on our research achievements in one day”. “This is where we developed the concept of a research festival where we can place a magnifying glass on the full scope of our research endeavours inclusive of research integrity and ethics of our research and our postgraduate achievements.”

She said through their CHEC partnership they are doing highly impactful research that is taken up by society for the benefit of society. “There are also a number of evidence-based research projects undertaken as a result of the support given by CHEC. The possibility to also celebrate the extent to which we undertake mode 2 and 3 research with quintuple helix partners aligns well with our Vision 2030 especially when there is a growing body of evidence of transdisciplinary research taking place across the institution.”

Burger said the first Research Festival has also allowed multiple internal and external stakeholders and CHEC partners to exhibit the research that they do collaboratively and has offered an opportunity for academic researchers, captains of industry, sister university academic researchers, and higher education leaders as well as local and provincial government leaders to come together for one week to further explore opportunities and deepen the commitment to undertake collaborative research and innovation impacting the society.

“I am of the opinion that we have achieved our goal... What is most important for me is that an important ecosystem has joined hands and has come together to find mutual opportunities to undertake more research and generate more innovations for the betterment of society and solving the challenges that we are confronted with.”

The last day of the conference included several individual paper presentations with themed colloquia centred around Research Focus Area 1: Bioeconomy and Biotechnology and Research Focus Area 3: Smart Energy.

The day also included a reflection session and certificate ceremony for participants of the Sisonke Supervision Mentoring Programme.

The day’s highlights included the awarding of certificates and awards to National Research Foundation-rated researchers as well as for research excellence.

Burger said: “We feel proud of this achievement, but we also do not wish to take credit for the success of the festival by ourselves, as credit should go to the staff, we worked tirelessly to make the festival possible, our CHEC partners, our academic staff, our phenomenal postgraduate students and our industry and broader community stakeholders. We also need to reflect more on how to improve the scale and reach of the next Research Festival and the mode of delivery.”

She added: “We ultimately think that this festival has the potential to include our myriads of African partners as well as our growing network of international partners.”