Constantly remind yourself to be solid and to never give up. The more you tumble, the tougher you become for getting up. Never give up no matter what. Make a promise to your goals as if you were making a promise to somebody you care about.

This is a message to the prospective PhD students from Dr Anne-Liese Kruger who was amongst the three doctorates who were awarded with their doctorates in Environmental Health in this year’s summer graduation. “I am thrilled, relieved and happy with my achievement, one needs to be strong and never give up. You [prospective PhD] have to be passionate about your studies, and if you are, I promise you [that] you will never give up,” Kruger says.

Her research title was: The use of Sentinel Organisms to evaluate the health of metal contaminated forest ecosystems in the Western Cape. The main objective of her study was to determine the health of suspected metal contaminated forests on the Table Mountain range. “I am still looking forward to conduct further research in Afromontane forests,” Kruger added.

Dr Yakubu Ayalsuma Yakubu was another graduate and his research title was: “The relationship between environmental health status, the attributes of female caregivers, and the health status of care recipients in low-income areas in Cape Town. Dr Hendrik van der Westhuizen was also awarded his doctorate. His research title was: Presentation of occupational hygiene data by way of geospatial information system: Influence on occupational hygiene knowledge.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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The CPUT Convocation has collaborated with Engen to encourage underprivileged learners to become the future economic workforce and to enable upliftment in their communities.

The two institutions recently hosted a well-attended Career Day for the matric learners at Manzomthombo Secondary School in Emfuleni and its neighbouring schools. Executive member of the Convocation, Andiswa Mrasi, said that as the Convocation, they have a vital role to play in ensuring the university attracts strategic partners through their external networks.  

“As such, we met with Engen to establish areas of potential collaboration, which included the career days as they have maths and science centres across the country. The purpose is to expose the high school learners enrolled in their maths and science centres to the various academic programmes offered by CPUT and share potential career fields,” Mrasi said.

She said their main objective was to see high academic performing students choosing CPUT as their preferred institution of higher education, “of particular interest is the fact that the high school learners enrolled in the Engen centres specialise in maths and science”. “Furthermore, they are guaranteed full funding towards a tertiary qualification of their choice post matric.”

Addressing the learners, Convocation president Saziso Matiwane said the learners should be aware that student life at university comes with challenges, and they should be prepared to tackle those challenges with support from the university. “Yes, life at varsity comes with freedom, but that freedom comes with responsibility. You must stay focused and know your goals. I want you to be aware of those challenges. Our purpose here is to inspire you; you must know that there is no difference between us and you. Your background shouldn’t determine your future.”

He also encouraged learners to obtain good marks and pursue their studies to the PhD level.

“You need to have a PhD; if you don’t have a PhD, you’re a drop-out.”

Matiwane also urged the students to apply on time to secure places at the university of their choice.

Engen National CSR Manager Adhila Hamdulay said the career guidance sessions were a great success judging by the interaction, and all learners' turnout was 100% attendance.   Hamdulay said Engen was looking forward to future collaborations to encourage underprivileged learners to become the future economic workforce. She told the Engen Maths and Science Schools that they have seen consistent graduates' achievements with year-on-year improved average pass rates over the past few years. However, with the Covid pandemic continuing into 2022, the learners were challenged in many ways, “especially our underprivileged learners”.

Hamdulay said Engen believed in collaboration and valued its partnership with the Department of Education, Department of Transport, and other stakeholders to ensure that Engen continues to align and improve the programme.  “Our statement of purpose reads that ‘Engen is passionate about progress and enriching lives for a sustainable future’, and therefore, its investment in education to empower and assist underprivileged learners to reach their full potential is one of Corporate Social Responsibility’s key focus areas.”  Addressing the learners, she said: “We want to encourage all of you here today to be the best version of yourselves and to pursue your dreams wholeheartedly. Work hard, persevere, stay focused and reach for the stars.”

Mrasi added: “Really, one can be anything if they put in the work, discipline, and smart goals. I cannot wait to celebrate with them on their CPUT graduation shortly.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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The Applied Microbial and Health Biotechnology Institute’s (AMHBI) Dr Thandekile Mthethwa has been awarded a Y2 -rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

NRF ratings are allocated based on a researcher’s recent research outputs and impact, as international peer reviewers perceive. A Y-rating is awarded to promising young researchers.

“I am very pleased and grateful for the recognition; it is humbling when you realise your efforts are seen. It is merely the beginning. This recognition encourages me to continue to do my best work. I continually strive to improve my research and to provide mentorship to the next generation of young researchers.”

Mthethwa joined AMHBI as a researcher in 2015, and her research interests are in nanomaterials and photochemistry.

“My work is focused on the design of high-quality novel nanostructures, their interaction with light and their assembly into functional nanomaterials for applications such as wastewater treatment, as well as the development of fundamental understanding of structure-property relationships.”

The researcher, who grew up in Empangeni and Melmoth in KwaZulu-Natal, completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Zululand and her PhD at Rhodes University.

“My greatest research achievement has been my PhD. This is one of the most significant events of my professional career. My research has given me the necessary tools to contribute significantly to the scientific community.”

She said she appreciated the platform that CPUT provided her to establish her research niche within AMHBI, “and I am grateful to everyone who continues to help me in my professional growth”.

AMHBI Director, Prof Jeanine Marnewick, congratulated Mthethwa.

"Since joining the CPUT and AMHBI, Dr Mthethwa has produced a coherent body of work seeking to establish herself as a young researcher. Her recent NRF Y2 rating is in recognition of her hard work. I am extremely proud of Thandekile. She is one of our future science leaders, and I will continue supporting her in her scientific endeavours at AMHBI.”

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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The Strategic Initiatives and Partnership division recently launched the Sisonke Supervision Mentoring programme, which offers opportunities for capacity building to grow CPUT’s cohort of skilled PhD-qualified staff to supervise and mentor novice researchers.

This is due to the steady increase in Master’s and Doctoral post-graduates seen across Africa, and at CPUT, many more well-prepared supervisors are needed. Building sustainable higher education supervision mentoring programmes is necessary to expand the number of doctoral post-graduates who work not only in the higher education and research sector but also in the industrial sector.  

In his presentation, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, Dr David Phaho, outlined the CPUT Postgraduate Roadmap to 2030.   “It’s been a long time coming, but the efforts have been fruitful, and we have an opportunity here to do great things for this institution.”

His talk outlined the following:

• Postgraduate education and CPUT Vision 2030.
• CPUT Postgraduate enrolment trends: 2011 to present.
• CPUT research output trends: 2011 to 2021.
• Postgraduate enrolment in the Covid-19 world. Current state of play.
• Strategic levers to increase postgraduate students: 2021 to 2030
• How do we measure progress and Watchouts?

Phaho said the drive to enhance postgraduate success at CPUT will be primarily informed by the following Vision 2030 Focus areas.

• Innovative teaching and learning and learning environments.
• Smart Research Technology Innovation and Partnerships (RTIP) that is relevant and has an impact.
• Smart internationalisation.
• Innovative engagement and strong links with quintuple helix partners
• And brilliant student engagement and learning experience.

Director of the Research Directorate Office, Prof Dina Burger, said: “What is clear to me is that it’s important to have a system in place, but  it has to do with the soft issues, it has to do with the supervisors and the postgraduate students, predominantly, that journey, that relationship  that is what lies at heart, I think of successful postgraduate education.”

Burger said there was a need to improve the number of postgraduates and academic staff in terms of doctoral degrees.

The guest speaker, Prof Johann Mouton from the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST) at Stellenbosch University, said it’s widely recognised that South Africa needed more highly-skilled academics and scientists – both for their reproductive capacity (to train and mentor the next generation of scientists) but also their knowledge productive and innovative capacity.

“What we have witnessed over the past 20 years is a steady increase in demands placed on our universities to grow and transform this capacity. And most of the ‘indicators’ show that the sector has responded admirably – both as far as quantitative outputs (graduates and publications), are concerned, as well as qualitatively (through creative and novel initiatives such as the Sisonke programme).”

In his closing remarks, Vice-Chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo said he hoped that the Sisonke programme would assist CPUT to navigate the challenges and ensure that all the challenges that result as a consequence of not having the capacity and not having an adequate programme around the training of the supervisors themselves.

“And you are right, Prof Burger, that to a large extent, we rely on how we supervise. So, if my supervisor were not good, I would likely perpetuate that. So I hope that the Sisonke programme is going to draw the line to say henceforth, we will have to build the capacity of our novice researchers, build the capacity of our mid-career researchers, build the capacity of our established researchers because, at every level, there is a need for development… So we are looking forward, as an institution, to say  from the executive management  point of view, we are fully behind you…”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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