The Media Department and Faculty of Informatics and Design (FID), recently held its second in a series of Public Dialogues, under the theme Labour Conditions in South Africa: Are the workers being heard?

Held on the Bellville Campus, a packed house welcomed journalist, author, broadcaster and teacher, Terry Bell, and veteran trade unionist and the current Western Cape Provincial Secretary of Cosatu, Tony Ehrenreich.

The dialogue included participation from Journalism-, Photography- and Film and Media students. 

Specialist labour journalist and writer of the Inside Labour column in the Business Report, Bell began the dialogue by challenging students to think about the far-reaching effects of their stories and the role it plays within public opinion and perception.

“It’s important to ask the right questions. We are the eyes and the ears of the public. Public interest is paramount.”

Ehrenreich challenged and encouraged students to tell the workers’ stories. The event raised many points about the role of journalists including that of writing stories responsibly despite weighing pressure of the current economy and its effect on the media.

The interactive discussion saw the experienced panelists discuss various issues relating to the media practitioner and labour issues in South Africa, as well as the vital role journalists play in letting workers’ stories be heard.

Dialogue organiser and Senior Technician at the Journalism Department Xolani Vanda, says that the event allowed students to interact with industry role-players. “It’s important for students to be confident when engaging with key figures.”

By: Nurahn Ryklief

Picture by: Leandri Niemand

Written by CPUT News

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Prof Shaun Pather of the Faculty of Informatics and Design is set to participate in an international research project after receiving a Fulbright Visiting Scholar Award.

The Fulbright Scholarship is one of the most prestigious exchange programmes in the world. It provides students with the opportunity to undertake postgraduate studies and academics and professionals with the chance to perform research or lecture at top universities in the US.

Since its inception more than fifty years ago, Fulbright alumni have included heads of state, prime ministers, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, ambassadors, artists, professors, scientists, astronauts, journalists, Supreme Court Judges, and corporate directors.

Prof Pather, who is head of Contract Research and Partnerships at the Faculty said: “It’s an honour to be joining the ranks of Fulbright scholars around the world.”

In March this year, the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board in the US selected Prof Pather as a recipient of the scholarship, after he had submitted a research proposal in response to a call for applications in 2008.

He will travel to the US in September, where he will spend 10 months at the University of Washington in Seattle , furthering his research activities in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Prof Pather said he will work alongside a group of international researchers at the institution’s Center for Information and Society.

“My proposal concerns developing a framework for evaluating socio economic effectiveness of community based ICTs,” he said.

Prof Pather, who is also one of the NRF grant holders for the Niche research area ICT in e-Business, e-Government and Community Engagement for Shared Growth, has also been involved in various research projects around ICTs in businesses.

However, Prof Pather said that over the past two years, given his passion to support post-apartheid transformation objectives, his research focus has now evolved towards ICTs in communities and the advancement of the South African Information Society agenda.

“My research is now also focused on how decades of research in business information systems can be meaningfully applied in a developmental context,” he added.

Currently, South Africa has a number of interventions in place with regards to attaining the goals set at the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS).

However, Prof Pather said: “Even though million of rands have been spent by donor and government agencies in South Africa on ICTs for development, we still do not have sufficient insight into appropriate methods for evaluating the effectiveness of these technologies on socio-economic development.”

Prof Pather said that at the University of Washington , researchers are involved in a five year study on exactly this issue. Through the scholarship, Prof Pather will bring his expertise to the table, as well as add a South African perspective to the study.

“This is a phenomenal opportunity to have an uninterrupted research-focused period of time to work on an international project of importance,” he said.

“I have a clear programme for producing research outputs during the 10 months, including journal articles and conference papers,” he added.

DVC for Research, Technology Innovation and Partnership Dr Chris Nhlapo said to be selected to participate in the Fulbright programme is an “achievement” for both Prof Pather and CPUT.

Dr Nhlapo said that amongst the varied research programmes at CPUT, the university is supportive of ICT research projects which facilitate the advancement of underserved South African communities.

He said Prof Pather’s achievement is an indication that CPUT is actively involved in research which supports its mission to create and apply knowledge that is contributing to development in various areas, locally and internationally.

Photo: Prof Shaun Pather will work alongside top researchers on an international ICT research project at the University of Washington in the United States.

By Candes Keating

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An eye-catching multimedia display created by the CPUT Faculty of Informatics and Design, under the creative direction of Roxanne Spears, was named Most Creative Stand at the 2009 Design Indaba.

The award was announced at the Design Indaba’s official opening on 26 February 2009.

The announcement marked the first time Most Creative Stand has been won by an educational institution.

The Design Indaba, held annually at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, is an internationally acclaimed gathering of design talent. It features a three day conference in which delegates are exposed to some of the world’s leading creative achievers, as well as a public exhibition of work from a variety of design disciplines.

Although Faculty of Informatics and Design lecturers and students are regular visitors to the annual Indaba, 2009 is the first year that the Faculty held a stand at the exhibition.

All aspects of the stand were designed and built at the University itself. The structure was put together by Industrial Design Lecturer Daryn Molenaar and was illustrated by Simon Berndt, Justin Poulter and Lauren Fowler with dynamic life-sized portraits of ‘hero’ students.

The heads of the portraits featured windows onto screens, donated by Digicape, displaying stop-motion animation films of the hero students’ best work.

Spears defined a hero student as someone who comes out of the Faculty and makes a mark. In other words, a student whose work has already won acclaim in the design industry and whose work shows that he or she is already at the cutting edge of design trends.

She selected the hero students by viewing portfolios from the Faculty’s various departments and by selecting the students who, while not necessarily the top mark scorers, represented a standard of work to which the learners visiting the expo would aspire.

The illustrations were created in a similar style to the promotional visuals for last year’s Headspace student exhibition. Spears explained that the Headspace concept had been very well received and that she wanted to produce a Design Indaba display that would build on that success.

The stop-motion films integrated into the stand not only provided a showcase of the variety of design disciplines offered at CPUT, but also added a YouTube-like element that made the stand popular with its secondary school learner market.

Spears noted that in addition to presenting the Faculty as an exciting place to for a new student to work and study, the display also demonstrated its commitment to postgraduate education and reinforced its industry alignment.

“It establishes us in line with the best of the best in the design industry,” she said.

The Indaba’s panel of judges consisted of Stefania Johnson of New Media Publishing, Gerard Back of Mila, Lauren Shantall of Elle Décor magazine and Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana, Deputy Chief Executive of the Cape Town Partnership. Their aim was to select the stand that demonstrated the most eye-catching originality and clever use of design.

Other finalists for the Most Creative Stand Award included the Cape Craft and Design Institute, fashion house Stoned Cherry, design consultancy Animal Farm and furniture studio Casamento.

As the winners, the CPUT team received a trophy designed by Carrol Boyes.

The award-winning stand is to be placed on display at the Roeland Street Campus.

By Ilana Abratt

Photo: (clockwise) The CPUT team is presented with their award at the Design Indaba opening; Roxanne Spears, Creative Director for the stand; detail from an illustration on one of the stand’s panels; self-portraits by Simon Berndt and Justin Poulter.

Published online: 11/03/2009

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The Faculty of Informatics and Design has officially launched its new Master of Business Systems (MBS) programme at CPUT.

This innovative systems management qualification will be formally introduced this year as part of the reviewed curriculum and will be a joint degree programme with Germany ’s Hochschule Wismar University of Applied Sciences, Technology, Business and Design.

The official launch function was co-hosted on 13 July 2009 by CPUT Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga and Prof Dr Norbert Gruenwald, Rector of Wismar University, at the Roeland Street Campus in Cape Town .

The MBS launch was also attended by Jorg-Werner Marquart, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany and other representatives of Wismar University.

During the rest of the week, MBS students attended a series of informative lectures and discussions outlining the programme.

The decision to collaborate with Wismar University was the result of a discussion between Prof Mazwi-Tanga and Prof Dr Roger Silberberg who acts as the project co-ordinator for Innovation Africa, the research-oriented organisation which promotes innovation by creating partnerships between companies and institutions.

Prof Dr Silberberg began his presentation with an explanation about the need for the new management qualification, where the qualification fits into the business environment and what it is supposed to achieve.

He stated that the qualification aimed to address challenges faced by businesses worldwide such as expansion, balancing global aspirations and local needs, maintaining proper quality standards and ensuring sustainability.

Prof Dr Gruenwald went onto expand on the co-operation agreement between CPUT and his institution, whereby students would spend a semester at Wismar University being exposed to a high level of practical research of proven business systems, which can then be applied in industry on their return to South Africa .

According to Dean of Informatics and Design Prof Johannes Cronje, it is intended that the MBS will provide both a local and an international perspective, backed by a substantial research effort undertaken by both institutions.

“We expect our graduates to make a significant contribution to their organisations, their communities and to the country,” Prof Dr Silberberg concluded.

By Thando J. Moiloa

Photo: Attending the MBS programme launch were (from left) Prof Anthony Staak (CPUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic); Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga (CPUT Vice-Chancellor); Prof Dr Roger Silberberg (Innovation Africa); Representative from Wismar University of Technology, Business and Design, Germany; Prof Johannes Cronje (Dean of Informatics and Design Faculty, CPUT); Prof Dr Norbert Gruenwald (Rector: Wismar University of Technology, Business and Design) and Jorg-Werner Marquardt (Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany).

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Cape Town has been short-listed as one of three cities vying for the prestigious World Design Capital in 2014 title. Great news for the city, and for CPUT, given the university’s involvement in a proposed design and informatics hub as part of the bid. Dr Chris Nhlapo is tremendously excited by the news. The Deputy Vice Chancellor of Innovation Research & Partnerships says this latest development will add impetus to CPUT’s dream of establishing a Design Park and Innovation Hub (DPIH) in the East City and give a global profile to the excellent work of the Faculty of Informatics and Design. (FID)

Cape Town faced stiff competition in the bid, jockeying for position against 56 other cities. The city must now outbid Dublin, Ireland and Bilbao, Spain to be given the honour of World Design Capital 2014 when the final announcement is made in October.

Nhlapo says, “I’m certain when the winner is announced Cape Town will come first. Although losing is not an option, if it happens the process will have catalyzed our vision around the science of design, and cemented our bond with our triple helix partners – government and industry. Already we have seen a wonderful spirit of regional collaboration between diverse partners, and the coming together of a wealth of creative and design fundis.”

CPUT's FID is helping to spearhead the drive to create The Fringe: Cape Town's Innovation District. An area in which design, media and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) innovation can be incubated and showcased, The Fringe aims to give credence to the university's mission – to be at the heart of technology education and innovation in Africa.

According to FID Dean, Prof Johannes Cronje, "The Faculty has as its mission to be at the heart of design innovation in the City. This bid, supported by our initiatives in the Fringe, is proof of our commitment to asking, "What can we do for the City?"

Reporting directly to Prof Cronje on this project is Associate Professor of Informatics, Shaun Pather. Pather says CPUT is currently leading a new and visionary academic response to the escalated importance of design worldwide.

“We refer to this as ‘Design Thinking’ and it traverses all academic disciplines. The importance of the bid to FID and CPUT is that it elevates our status as a Faculty of Design located in the heart of a city which could potentially be a World Design Capital.  It gives weight to our academic innovation in the form of ‘Design Thinking’ and affords us global status in the design field. It also adds a special vibrancy to the way we apply ‘Design Thinking’ across the academic project - including teaching, research, innovation and community engagement.”

By Jan Weintrob

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Prof Johannes Cronjé, Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Design, is set to play a key role in the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) entrepreneurs in the Western Cape .

Prof Cronjé was recently appointed as one of three new directors of Bandwidth Barn, an organisation that incubates and supports entrepreneurs and startup ICT companies.

He is joined by Arthur Goldstuck, director of World Wide Worx, and Brendan Hughes, director of Infology.

Launched several years ago, the Cape Town based organisation is a subsidiary of the Cape Information Technology Initiative (CITI) and supported by Telkom and local government.

Prof Cronjé said the support and services offered by the organisation is unique.

Although there are a number of organisations supporting entrepreneurs, Bandwidth Barn goes a step further by housing entrepreneurs and startup ICT companies at their premises. By offering entrepreneurs low cost office accommodation, they remove some of the hurdles faced when starting up a business.

At Bandwidth Barn entrepreneurs have access to services such as a shared reception, boardrooms, internet and telephone facilities. They also have access to a supportive ICT community and business development support.

By housing young businesses alongside established ones, entrepreneurs are able to share information and ideas. Once companies are completely established, they graduate from the Barn, making way for new entrepreneurs.

Prof Cronjé, who is focused on the training needs of entrepreneurs housed at Bandwidth Barn, said he is looking at developing a similar organisation that can support Faculty of Informatics and Design graduates.

“The idea is that designers, seamstress and other individuals who can make things are all housed in the same space,” he said.

The entrepreneurs will be offered various business support services.

Prof Cronjé said this type of support will help launch design entrepreneurs into the national and international markets.

By Candes Keating

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Hundreds of graduates in the Faculty of Informatics and Design received their diplomas and degrees this morning on the Cape Town campus.

In a spirited ceremony, the graduates were told that true satisfaction in the workplace comes from doing great work. And the key to great work is to do what you love.

Guest speaker Rachel Atkinson, Business Unit Manager and Solution Architect at TWC spoke eloquently of the need to find one’s passion in the workplace.

“You will not get the first job you applied for, you won’t start with a huge salary – but don’t give up! As Steve Jobs says – it’s all about connecting the dots. You can’t see the dots looking forward at university, but you can clearly see them looking back, years later. Believing that the dots will connect, will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even if it leads you off the well-worn path - and that will make the difference.”

The loudest of today’s cheers were reserved for Eugene Visser, who was awarded his DTech in Information Technology. Supervised by Prof Melius Weideman, Visser wrote his thesis on Fusing Website Usability Variables and On-Page Search Engine Optimisation Elements.

The Dean’s Medal was also awarded to a graduate of the Information Technology Department. Christoffel Basson achieved distinction in all 12 subjects of his National Diploma, with a final aggregate of 87% over three years of study.

Graduation continues this evening at 7 pm on the Bellville Campus, where the first ceremony of the Faculty of Engineering takes place. On Thursday morning, the Faculty of Applied Sciences ceremony begins at 10am on the Cape Town campus.

By JAN WEINTROB

Photograph by Clive Galant

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Teaching and Learning enjoyed centre stage recently when the university, for the first time, honoured recipients of in-house as well as external teaching awards at one event.

Normally only the winners of the Institutional Teaching and Learning Excellence Awards would be lauded in this way, but this year the honour was extended to faculty awardees, Teaching Advancement at University (TAU) fellows and the CPUT winner of a 2017 National Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award. The awardees were given the opportunity to give a short presentation on their teaching philosophy and practice, after which they took questions from the audience.

This year’s institutional winners are Drs Muhammad Nakhooda (Applied Sciences) and Mark Marais (Health and Wellness Sciences). Siddique Motala from the Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying received the national teaching award from Council of Higher Education (CHE) and the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of South Africa (Heltasa). Nakhooda together with Drs Hanlie Dippenaar (Education) and Xena Cupido (Fundani CHED) are TAU fellows, while Dr Ayesha Toyer was recognised by the Faculty of Informatics and Design for her teaching skill.

According to Prof Anthony Staak, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, good teachers are often not given the recognition they deserve. “There is a lot more we can do, but it’s heartening to see that the Department of Higher Education and Training are supporting teaching endeavours through, amongst others, staff development. Occasions like these, where teaching excellence is celebrated, also make a contribution,” says Staak, who together with Fundani CHED hosted the event.

Assoc Prof James Garraway from Fundani CHED expressed the hope that an event like this would hosted again next year and that it would eventually become a fixture on the university’s events calendar.

Written by Abigail Calata

Seven students in the Faculty of Informatics and Design were awarded bursaries totalling R23 000 from the Design Indaba Trust.

The funds for the bursaries were raised at the Design Indaba Charity Banquet last year. This is an annual event, attended by the world’s top designers. The proceeds of last year’s banquet amounted to a total of R138 000

This year 27 reputable South African designers donated their designs to the auction to raise money for design education in South Africa.

These designs will be auctioned at the banquet and sold to the highest bidder. Proceeds of the banquet and auction will go to public institutions that are considered leaders in creative and design education across South Africa.

The Cape Peninsula University of Technology is one of six institutions across South Africa that benefits from the trust. The bursaries are intended to support students in their quest for design excellence in their particular field. Students to whom bursaries are awarded are selected at the discretion of the University.

One of the recipients, Sarah Stafford, a third-year Interior Design student said: “I felt shocked and dumbfounded when I found out I’d been chosen for the Graphic Design bursary. I think the Design Indaba Bursary Trust is a great idea, as it also thinks about the students other than the ‘big guys’ out there.”

Another recipient, Michelle van Wyk, a BTech Jewellery design student, said, “I was very excited when I found out about the bursary. I feel it gives me an opportunity to take my studies further. It inspires me to explore design more and makes me wish that more people got involved in design”.

When asked what she thought of the Design Indaba Bursary initiative she answered, “It’s a great opportunity, it helps motivate you to get out there and do the same as the top designers.”

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For the students of the Faculty of Informatics and Design at CPUT who entered the Sanlam Creativity for Progress Competition, Wednesday,15 October was one nail-biting day. After a morning and afternoon of presenting their business proposals to a judging panel, they received the news of who had won the R10 000 prize money.

The annual Creativity for Progress Competition, sponsored by Sanlam, is open to South Africa's foremost academic institutions and this year’s theme was “A better life for people in informal settlements"". Student teams of up to four members were required to conceptualise and present a project or business proposal that provides innovative solutions leading to improvement such as better living conditions, better medical facilities, access to water and access to electricity. The solutions had to be practical and possible to implement.

After weeks of hard work, all the students deserved to win but it was a team called United Four that was selected as the CPUT winners. The United Four team consists of Jason Pereira, Karel Strydom, Marjo Cilleirs and Bobby Moeng, all BTech Information Technology students.

“The 3 keywords that our proposal was based on are 'empowerment', 'wellbeing' and 'sustainability',“said Jason Pereira, team leader. “We looked at the problem of global warming and the impact it is having on harvest yields. We also found out in our research that fertilised has increased in price by 300% of the past 6 months. We offered an alternative which individual small subsistent farmers and gardeners could use to grow fruit and vegetables, making compost out of decomposable human waste.”

The team admitted that the biggest obstacle to the innovative idea is the ‘gross factor’ but as United Four member, Karel Strydom explained Asian people have been using human waste for thousands of years with great success according to their research.

“It is a free resource so cost implications are low and it is a way to ensure that human waste is not discarded into nearby rivers, a contaminating drinking and bathing water in many informal settlements.”

The judging panel included Prof Johannes Cronjé, Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Design, Bart Verveckken, CV Botha, Dr David Boonzaier and Roelf Mulder all of CPUT. Eugene Grobler, and Danie Viljoen joined the judging panel from Sanlam

The next step for United Four is to compete against the other 15 teams selected from the other participating universities in the national heat of the competition where 4 semi-finalists will be chosen. Should they clinch the top prize they stand to win R100 000 for the team and R150 000 for the faculty. The other 3 finalist teams will each receive R30 000 and the faculties R50 000 each.

As for practicality and sustainability, Strydom said, “The challenge lies in convincing people, and we would like to do further research to see what the perceptions of people are.“

The Faculty of Informatics and Design is convinced that if any team could unite a plan and perception making it practical, it is the United Four.

By Monique Boucher

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Lecturers Veronica Barnes and Vikki Du Preez are tapping into technology to make their classes fun, interactive and appealing for their technologically savvy students.

The duo, who are based in the Faculty of Informatics and Design, are making use of Pinterest, a widely popular social network, as an educational tool.

“Pinterest is a great tool for encouraging collaboration. It is also great because our industrial design students are wired into digital and visual things,” says Barnes, who was one of the presenters at the 2016 Teaching and Learning with Technology Day, hosted by the Knowledge Information Technology Services.

Pinterest is like a virtual scrapbook or pinboard allowing users to collect photographs and videos from online sources and store them on boards. It also allows users to share each other’s visual material.

Barnes says the course requires students to work with idea boards, which traditionally were static boards onto which students pasted images, diagrams or other items.

However, with the introduction of Pinterest, the traditional idea board can make way for a digital idea board that is easily accessible, free and can be tailored at any time.

Barnes says Pinterest as a tool also allows for easy, collaborative resource building.

“Students could learn and share, and their work would stay behind for future reference. The development of boards also yields automatic archives for future reference.”

Apart from the benefit for students, Barnes says Pinterest is a good tool for lesson planning as it allows lecturers to collect ideas and material for future lessons or assignments and store them on secret boards that cannot be viewed by other users, until they are released.

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

The thorny topic of decolonising university curricula was tackled head-on during the annual Language Indaba this week.

Hosted by the Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development’s Language Unit this year participants explored the topic of Decolonising the Language Curriculum.

Delegates at the Indaba included discipline specialists, curriculum officers, language specialists, academics and researchers and students in relevant fields.

Delivering the keynote address, University of Cape Town’s Prof Carolyn McKinney cited examples of how colonialism in education negatively impacts the linguistic resources of African people.

McKinney questioned whether parents of English and Afrikaans – speaking children would allow their children to learn everything from Grade 4 onwards in isiXhosa as their Xhosa counterparts are compelled to learn in English.

She discussed various dominant language ideologies before offering the audience de-colonial approaches to language teaching.

She suggested multilingual class discussions, group work and learning materials as well as assignments requiring the use of more than one language and group to share resources, among others.

Prof Johannes Cronje, Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Design at CPUT, discussed his approach to teaching and learning in communication which allows students to interact with each other and himself, uses Dashboard and other online forms of learning as well as innovative assessment methods.

Jabar Mohammed, DeafSA’s Western Cape director, explained the role of DeafSA and the challenges faced by the South African deaf community as well as what is being done to address them.

CPUT’s Dr Bernadette Millar argued that decolonization is a journey of self-discovery culminating in a reawakening and a re-orientation.

Millar said decolonising the mind involved a radical process of finding the colonial master’s intention and undoing conditioning, normalisation, power and privilege of the white mind. 

Written by Kwanele Butana
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CPUT has appointed Prof Thomas Thurner as the new Research Chair for Innovation in Society. 

Over the next five years, Thurner will develop and support research activities in the Faculty of Informatics and Design and the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences. He joined CPUT in April from the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia, where he established himself as a leading researcher in innovation management with a specific focus on state-owned enterprises. His research has been published in leading journals like the International Journal of Innovation Management.

AT CPUT, Thurner will focus on collaborative innovation processes through communities of practice. Such informal communities include a wide number of actors and organisations active in a field and cross over different levels and types of knowledge.
“In Africa, we should not focus too much on the supply side of technological innovations, but rather should study users and their processes of making things work. There is enormous potential in innovation processes outside of organisations.”

The aim is to establish a self-financed research group, which will be connected to international universities and provide a steady flow of research papers on African innovation experiences. Thurner says the first major step towards reaching excellence in innovation studies at CPUT is to identify areas with great strategic potential for further excellence in research and the involvement of relevant stakeholders.
Thurner will also work on building up critical research skills in the faculties and actively engage in the supervision of Masters and Doctoral Students.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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Located in the heart of District Six, the Cape Town Campus accommodates the largest number of CPUT students, with over 16 000 calling the campus home.

The campus houses the university’s largest faculty, the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, as well as the Faculty of Informatics and Design. A select number of courses offered by the Faculties of Applied Sciences, and Health and Wellness Sciences are also offered on the campus.

Inspired by CPUT’s vision to be at the heart of technology education and innovation in Africa, students have access to cutting edge facilities such as high-tech laboratories, computer labs, study areas and a well-stocked library.

While the university concerns itself with the intellectual development of the nation’s future leaders, it also cares about students’ wellness.

For advice on health matters, such as HIV testing and TB screening, student can visit the well-equipped HIV/Aids Unit, which is based in the Administration Building. Students also have access to social workers and psychologists at the Student Counselling Unit.

For healthcare, student have access to the various services offered by the professionally run clinic, which is also housed in the Administration Building.

The campus’ amphitheater, called the Piazza, is a hub of social activity as students attend various functions hosted by Department of Student Affairs, while the student centre attends to everyone’s nutritional needs.

HUB OF SOCIAL ACTIVITY: Students flood the Piazza during events hosted by the Department of Student Affairs

View Cape Town Campus contact details and maps

Written by Kwanele Butana
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Cape Town campus is nestled on the historic slopes of District Six with a bird’s eye view of the city’s most notable landmark - Table Mountain.

The campus is home to the Faculty of Business, which is the institution’s largest faculty, and the Faculty of Informatics and Design. Various courses from the Faculties of Engineering, Applied Sciences, and Health and Wellness Sciences are also offered here.

Cape Town campus boasts a well-stocked academic library, computer labs and a branch of the Disability Unit. A stone-throw away from main campus is the Centre for E-Learning which is home to the Myclassroom Learner Management System.

The heart of all student gatherings is the amphitheater where a number of functions are hosted by the student affairs department. The large student centre offers staff and students various places to eat.

Despite being in the city center, students are amply catered for with parking facilities around campus and those using public transport have the benefit of using the MyCiti service which has a bus stop right outside campus.

Maps and contact details for Cape Town Campus

Written by Marick Hornsveld

CPUT’s Autumn Graduation graduation series ended on a high note with graduates in the Faculty of Informatics and Design receiving their qualifications.

A total of 7 268 students from the class of 2016 graduated during the week-long graduation series, which consisted of 16 ceremonies

Guest speaker, Niel Schoeman, chief executive officer of telecoms start-up Vumatel,  told graduates that the path to success is not a straight one.

“It’s got lots of twists and turns, setbacks and victories - some big some small. My challenge to you is to build skills. You don’t know what the future holds and it’s much more about preparing yourself for what you don’t know in the changing world that will enable your success.”

He urged the graduates not to let their age define them.

“You might have less experience than someone a bit older but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the same or a bigger impact. Use youth to your advantage.”

He said the only way to move the country forward was by dreaming of the impossible.

“Don’t be afraid to dream big. Dream as big as possible.”

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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The Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Design, Prof Tembisa Ngqondi, recently hosted a special awards ceremony to celebrate student achievers in the Faculty.

About 70 students from the faculty’s five departments – Information Technology, Media, Urban and Regional Planning, Architectural Technology and Interior Design and Applied Design – were honoured during the ceremony, which was held on the District Six Campus.

Ngqondi said the awards are “a form of recognition of outstanding performance”.

“We just want to say as a faculty we recognise excellence.”

She said the event was also an appreciation of hard work and an encouragement “to please continue to do what you are doing well”.

“You are now role models and you are going to become mentors.”

Ngqondi said the achievements would not have been possible without the hard work of the lecturers and thanked them for their dedication.

The work produced by students were also showcased during the event.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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Home to more than 30,000 students, CPUT is the largest university of technology in the region and has several campuses and satellite sites, stretching from the Cape Town city centre to as far as George in the Southern Cape.

Each campus boasts unique characteristics and functions.

Bellville Campus

This campus is the administrative hub of the institution and is home to the following:

• The world renowned French South African Institute of Technology, which produced and launched Africa’s first nanosatellite.
• The Electrical Engineering Building, which is CPUT’s largest teaching and research facility.

Cape Town Campus

The city’s most popular landmark, Table Mountain, is a backdrop to this campus. It accommodates the following:

• The university’s largest faculty, the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences.
• The Faculty of Informatics and Design.
• A select number of courses offered by the Faculties of Applied Sciences and Health and Wellness Sciences are offered on the campus.

Wellington Campus

This campus is situated in the centre of the Boland town and has become known for:

• Producing teachers trained in the Afrikaans medium.
• Training the next generation of leaders in the agriculture sector.

Mowbray Campus

The Faculty of Education recently expanded is facilities with building work completed last year. This campus is renowned for:

• Annually producing the largest number of teaching graduates in the Western Cape.
• The state-of-the-art Human Performance Laboratory and the Centre for International Teacher Education.

Athlone Campus, Worcester and George satellite campuses

• These three campuses produce nursing staff for the country’s health sector.

Granger Bay Campus

The stylish Hotel School Restaurant is the main attraction of this campus, which overlooks Robben Island. It also houses the following:

• The renowned Cape Town Hotel School.
• The Maritime Engineering Department and the Survival Centre.

Groote Schuur and Tygerberg Hospital

• The Department of Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Sciences is located on the premises of Groote Schuur Hospital in Observatory.
• The Dental Sciences Department is based at the Tygerberg Hospital and gives students the opportunity to work directly with patients and medical staff.

Roeland Street Building

• Students and staff from Journalism, Photography, Public Relations and Multimedia call this campus home.

Media City

• Media City is based on the Foreshore and accommodates students and staff of the Architecture, Town and Regional Planning, and Interior Design schools.

For campus contact details see: http://www.cput.ac.za/about-cput/cput-at-a-glance/contact-details

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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It’s a double celebration for husband and wife, Siyamthemba Ncanywa and Khwezikazi Maceba as they graduate together during tonight’s ceremony for the Faculty of Informatics and Design.

And what makes their story more incredible is that the occasion marks the second time the couple are graduating together during the same ceremony.

In 2022 Siyamthemba was awarded an Advanced Diploma in Information Communication Technology in Multimedia Application while Khwezikazi was awarded a BTech in Information and Technology Management from CPUT.

Tonight they will both be awarded a postgraduate diploma in Information and Communication Technology.

“It is a wonderful feeling to graduate together because we push each other to succeed in whatever we do. This is another milestone and we will see you again on our master’s graduation,” said Khwezikazi.
They both hail from the Eastern Cape, Khwezikazi is from Engcobo and Siymthemba from Middledrift (Xesi).

“I come from a rural area where schools didn't have computers, but I was always fascinated when I saw actors hacking systems in movies,” quipped Siyamthemba.

Khwezikazi said her interest in IT started in high school.

“In high school I used to spend my lunches in a computer lab. My Computer Application Technology teacher used to see and would talk to me about IT and I was clueless as I wasn't exposed to anyone with an IT degree. I started doing my own research about IT. I fell in love with IT.”

She said their daughter was six months old when the couple graduated in 2022. “This year we are graduating again and we had our second-born on the 29^th of February.”

Siyamthemba works for the City of Cape Town as a Problem Management Technical Lead while Khwezikazi works for Pepkor Payments and Lending as an IT Quality Test Analyst.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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Jana Basson ended her Diploma Studies in Jewellery Design and Manufacture on a high note – winning the prestigious 2023 PlatAfrica jewellery design and manufacturing competition’s Student/Apprentice category.

On Monday she was amongst the proud graduates of the Faculty of Informatics and Design who walked the stage during the second ceremony of CPUT’s Autumn graduation series.

She said winning the competition last year with her multipurpose “Unity” neckpiece/bracelet has been her biggest achievement.

Hosted annually by Anglo American Platinum, Metal Concentrators and Platinum Guild International (PGI) India, the awards contribute to showcasing local jewellery manufacturing and design flair, and to building a pipeline of talent in the South African platinum jewellery design and manufacturing industry by providing skills development among local jewellers, artisans and students. 

Jana won a cash prize, media exposure, and the opportunity to participate in an all-expenses paid design workshop at PGI India to learn more about manufacturing and the designing of platinum jewellery. 

It was the second time she had entered the competition.

In 2022 Jana and  her classmate Thembani Gobingca managed to place in the top 10 of the competition.

“Then in 2023 we tried again and the results were outstanding. Seven out of 10 finalists were from CPUT and an eighth was a special mention. We were all ecstatic and celebrated together.”

Jana said she decided on her field of study after visiting CPUT Open Day in 2019.

She said she was drawn to the display for Jewellery Design and Manufacture.

“I looked at the drawings on the wall and the jewellery pieces on display and thought that this is what I want to do. I can create and design and make what I draw. I remember people were actually worried about this being my field because it was unknown to them, however they have become a great support.” 

Jana, who hails from Oudsthoorn, is now working full-time completing a two-year internship.

“After the internship I will take the trades test and I'll have to wait and see where life takes me.”

She thanked her classmates for the “memories” and “support”, her friends in her student residence and the campus cats at CPUT “who always managed to brighten up my day”.

“I thank my lecturers for pushing us to work harder and to believe more in our skills. And last but not least my family who made all this possible. I've grown to be the person I am today because of their love for me. They believed in me when I wanted to study Jewellery Design and Manufacture and took notice of my hard work while I was far away from home. All in all I've learnt from the best and met so many more wonderful people than I ever thought possible.”

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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