To help first-year students get better acquainted with the Department of Consumer Science in Food and Nutrition, the department hosted their 2021 Orientation Programme which was held in Science Building at District Six campus.

In her opening, Head of Department: Biotechnology and Consumer Science, Prof Lalini Reddy took time to introduce the students to the department and the opportunities for academic and personal growth accomplished in “our classrooms and laboratories”. 

“Thank you for choosing this department. Biotechnology and Consumer Science is an exciting programme; we have planned an orientation programme to transition you into the department. We are happy that you have chosen this great programme with great history. We are going to introduce you to what the department stands for and what it offers,” Reddy continued.

“What is very important is that we have given you brochures prepared for you, to guide you and make sure that you don’t struggle with your classes and lecturers.”

Since the heart of every department is its students, the department offers a rich variety of opportunities and resources and Reddy said their mission was to provide students with an innovative multinational system of education. She later introduced academic and technical staff to the students. “I want you to be in contact with the departmental staff as often as possible. You must not feel alienated because of the remote teaching and learning programmes.”

Biotechnology and Consumer Science lecturers, Lynne April and Rache Hanekom also presented student guides for the students which included exercises.

Student, Tiny Fubu (19) from Mthatha liked the presentation which she says was very “informative”.

Aphiwe Mqakayi (18) liked the fact that the event was “very informative and summarised so that we could remember most of the things that were mentioned and the fact that they have mentioned the career opportunities that the course offers”. Aphiwe continued: “What interests me the most in this event is learning how much the food industry does for consumers and the vast amount of job opportunities in Consumer Science: Food and Nutrition.”

The Northpine-born student is mostly looking forward to the practical part of Consumer Science in Food and Nutrition because “I like cooking and baking and mixing it with science brings a lot of fun”.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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The 2024 Career Fair, which was recently held at the Bellville Campus, provided students with a valuable opportunity to network and engage with a diverse range of potential employers.

Hosted by the Centre for Community Engagement and Work-Integrated Learning, the event attracted 30 exhibitors from various sectors including health and finance.

The centre’s Director, Prof Lalini Reddy, said the objective was to expose students, especially second and third years, to potential employers and to prepare them for the future by familiarising them with current workplace expectations. The fair allowed students to ask relevant questions and gain insights directly from industry professionals.

Reddy said each exhibitor represented various potential opportunities for students from different fields of study, as one company may, for example, have IT, marketing, finance, human resources and other employees.

Students from various campuses attended the event, seizing the chance to gain valuable insights into the job market and better prepare for their future careers.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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CPUT recently hosted business and industry partners for a productive engagement, which also served as a platform to launch the Institutional Industry Advisory Forum.

The Forum will seek to advise on job market trends, as they relate to work-integrated learning, future-proof curricula, research and innovation.

The event, held at the Cape Town Hotel School on the Granger Bay campus, provided valuable opportunities for networking while some of the cutting-edge research conducted at CPUT was also showcased.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo said cooperation in research development and innovation between universities and industries plays a fundamental role in the economic development of any country.

“Industry benefits from state-of-the-art laboratories and technology from academia, while higher education institutions learn about business reality and market needs.”

Prof Dina Burger, Director: Research Development, said the event was a significant day and milestone on the calendar for the CPUT community.

Burger said one of the university’s focus areas is smart engagement and strong links with quintuple helix partners.

“A partnership between us will take us far, and today we will solidify our commitment to partnerships in launching the institutional industry forum.”

The keynote speaker was PRASA acting regional manager, Raymond Maseko, who said PRASA was the beneficiary of a partnership with CPUT. He outlined the important role CPUT students had played in the recovery of PRASA’s rail network.

Maseko said that when the train service resumed after the hard lockdown in 2020, PRASA had to recover much of its network, which had been destroyed during the lockdown.

“Because we were planning now to recover the service, we increased our intake from CPUT in 2021 to about 36 students from the electrical engineering school, from mechanical engineering and also we took some operations management students.” Some of the students worked as project managers.

He said 21 of these students were now permanent PRASA employees.

“We have recovered all of the stations with the people that we have been working with, from industry, of course other contractors, but specifically from people that we have sourced from partnering with CPUT.”

Prof Lalini Reddy, Director of the Centre for Community Engagement and Work-Integrated Learning (WIL), said it had been an honour for the Centre to co-host the event.

“In launching the Institutional Industry Advisory Forum, we commit to offering our future-proof curricula in preparing them for the future world of work.”

Prof Rishidaw Balkaran, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching, said the idea was to ensure that CPUT made learning relevant for our students but there were also benefits for industry, including from the cutting-edge research conducted at the institution.

David Haarhoff, Project Lead, Community Engagement and WIL, said events of this nature aligned with the institution’s vision of being an inclusive university that constantly strives to collaborate and innovate with industry partners.

“The focal point of the event was essentially to recognise the dedication and efforts of industry partners in affording our students opportunities to develop professionally. I am extremely happy with the engagement and networking of industry partners who also recognise the university’s research efforts and provide current trends within industry which align to the curriculum.”

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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The Cooperative Education Unit, Centre for Community Engagement recently hosted a Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Indaba at the Cape Town Hotel School.

Prof Lalini Reddy, Director for Community Engagement and WIL, welcomed the CPUT industry partners and articulated the urgency for continued partnership in relation to work-integrated learning. Reddy re-iterated the impact of work-integrated learning and the benefits thereof for students and their development.

The target audience for this event were industry partners who play an integral role in hosting the students for their WIL component requirement. The partners who attended this event are well represented across all six faculties. David Haarhoff, project lead, indicated that: “Initiatives of this nature are imperative for connectiveness between organisations and our University. Organisations invest a substantial amount of money and time in the development of our students and that is commendable.” The attendees showed tremendous interest and were very engaging.

The purpose of the engagement was to embark on meaningful engagement in terms of challenges, highlights and how to strengthen partnerships between key stakeholders for the greater good of work-integrated learning.

Haarhoff said the industry partners expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to engage in such a manner, saying everything was well organised. He added that the meeting with different industry partners and WIL Coordinators worked well for this event.

“The Centre envisages to embark on many more such initiatives for the greater good of students.”

Written by CPUT News
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Director: Community Engagement and Work Integrated Learning (WIL), Prof Lalini Reddy, and her team recently hosted an induction workshop for 50 WIL coordinators at Bellville Campus.

Under the theme: Promoting Employability of Graduates, the workshop was held with the aim of discussing the WIL Quality Cycle and to induct current and new WIL coordinators within various faculties. Reddy, who opened the event said: “WIL Co-ordinators were inducted to latest trends and WIL Quality Management Cycle for effective student exposure to industry. It is our quest to prepare our students for the future world of work.”

In the well attended workshop, Andrew Rand, Faculty WIL Coordinator: Applied Sciences, provided a presentation on WIL Data Capture and Management.

The guest speaker, Estian Behrens from Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC), presented on Building University – industry partnerships for work-integrated learning programmes. Meanwhile, Dr Lizel Hudson, WIL Coordinator: Health and Wellness Sciences Faculty, also presented Work Preparedness Programme. Jayde Barends, Senior Marketing Officer: Technology Transfer and Industry Linkages Office, talked about entrepreneurship.

Walter Kohlhofer, Faculty WIL Coordinator: Engineering and the Built Environment closed off the event with closing remarks and thanked the guests who graced the event.

Reflecting on the event, most attendees expressed that the information was very relevant and informative as it provided a bird's eye view of what WIL is all about.

Project Lead, David Haarhoff, said as an inclusive university, the institution strives to equip all staff members with the necessary skills required to execute their respective tasks. Haarhoff said this particular WIL Coordinators Induction Workshop was no different. “Work integrated Learning plays a pivotal role in respect of student skills development within industry and our WIL Coordinators play a critical role at faculty level to ensure that they meet the deliverables in this regard. The event was well supported by faculties and participants engaged well in the workshop success.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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The Co-operative Education Unit of the Centre for Community Engagement and Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) hosted a successful Student Work Preparedness Workshop focussing on resilience, one of CPUT’s Graduate Attributes.

The Centre promotes effective WIL and community engagement activities to set graduates apart regarding their employability. The series of workshops embarked on this year focused on industry essential skills students drawn from the 21st century skills set required. The Centre Director, Prof Lalini Reddy, stresses the importance of highly interactive workshops for students which promote 4IR technologies together with critical thinking, unity in diversity, cultural tolerance and human values, all essential for preparing students for the future world of work.

David Haarhoff, Project Lead said projects of this nature are imperative for enhancing essential skills once our students are released into the world of work. “As a Centre and Institution, we want our students to be well prepared for their work-integrated learning and employment purposes,” Haarhoff stated. He said the dedication and commitment of students who attended the workshop were commendable, demonstrating their commitment to do better and set themselves apart in the industry.

In this workshop, the Centre collaborated with the Student Counselling, and it was facilitated by Head of Department: Student Counselling, Leanie Brits and Phorogohlo Phala, a psychologist. The joyous and pleasant atmosphere among students is worth mentioning. Students engaged and participated in many activities aligned to the theme of resilience (stress tolerance, creativity, problem-solving) within the workplace and personal leadership development.

The outcomes of the workshop included students' understanding of the concept of resilience, emotional intelligence, managing stress, exploration of the left and right brain and understanding of the brain profile, further to this, Haarhoff stated the emphasis was also placed on self-awareness as a tool to manage stress, personal resilience and identification and applying resilience strategies.

“The voice of students is critical in respect of feedback for workshops like this and it is for this reason that the Centre constantly strives to improve on service offering. The methodology utilised for such feedback is a student post-event survey where students have an opportunity to provide honest feedback, he said.

Haarhoff said the impact is important when embarking on projects and events, “I often ask myself whether projects or events align with our graduate attributes of the institution. Most importantly we have to question whether students will benefit from initiatives of this nature. I undoubtedly can say from the feedback received that our impact is worth noting.”

Certificates of attendance were handed out and students could use this to enhance their CVs when applying for job opportunities.

Written by CPUT News

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