“The challenge faced by institutions of higher learning is to translate knowledge into addressing basic human needs.”

This was one of the messages of Mr Derek Hanekom, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, during his visit to the Cape Peninsula University of Technology's Bellville Campus on Tuesday, 18 March 2008.

Deputy Minister Hanekom said there was a need to look at how we get the knowledge generated by research and innovation to the people who need the results of that innovation. ""A vision should be beyond oneself,"" he said, referring to the importance of enabling research and innovation programs to filter through to, and be of use to the wider community.

Deputy Minister Hanekom's interest during the visit was on technology transfer and technology research and development facilities; both those initiated through programmes supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) as well as those initiated by CPUT and other enabling organisations.

Deputy Minister Hanekom visited various science and technology facilities on campus accompanied by Dr Nawaz Mahomed, Manager: Manufacturing, Technology Transfer and Local Innovation at the DST; CPUT Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa L. Mazwi-Tanga, two Deputy Vice-Chancellors, and senior research and administrative managers at CPUT. The visited facilities included the Oxidative Stress Research Centre, the Textile Technology Station, and the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Laboratory.

Dr Chris Nhlapo, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Technology Innovation and Partnerships, presented an overview of where the institution stood in terms of technological research and innovation and where it was headed.

Dr Nhlapo said that there was an emphasis on producing more postgraduate students at CPUT. He mentioned that there was particularly a need for more female students in Engineering. He noted that there were many black students in Applied Sciences and Business, which is positive. ""We are aware that there are pockets of excellence, but we need to consolidate them so that they become centres of excellence,"" said Dr Nhlapo.

Dr Nhlapo stated that by providing funding to areas of demonstrated international strength, CPUT has brought researchers together from disparate disciplines and institutions to collaborate on creating knowledge and solving problems that truly matter to South Africans.

By Thami Nkwanyane, Marketing and Communication Department

Photograph: Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Derek Hanekom visits the Oxidative Stress Research Centre.

Written by CPUT News
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CPUT has upped its gear on research and innovation by embracing the objectives of the Development Research Uptake in Sub-Saharan Africa (Drussa) programme that address its challenges as an emerging university of technology. 

CPUT is one of 24 universities in Africa selected to participate in the Drussa programme.

The programme aims to help universities develop capacity and strategies that will see locally contextualised developmental research outcomes used to address specific challenges in Africa. It also serves as a guide to universities on how to improve accessibility to their research outcomes, which can be used by organizations and governments to inform policies.

Funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the programme will run over five years. During this period, various programmes and training courses will be rolled out.

The first training session kicked off in mid-September and saw representatives from the universities attend a short-course on Research Uptake Management and Science Communication.  Developed by the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST) at the University of Stellenbosch, the course is a first of its kind in Africa.

 In 2013 various programmes on formulating policies will be rolled-out.

CPUT’s  DVC Research, Technology Innovation & Partnerships will officially launch the program on Thursday, 4 October, at the Bellville Campus.

 In attendance will be representatives of the Drussa programme and 28 champions from across CPUT  that have been identified as key role-players in ensuring the university’s implementation of an effective Research Uptake strategy at CPUT.

By Candes Keating and Kwanele Butana

Written by CPUT News
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CPUT is a trailblazer in research and innovation, so who better to call on for help when developing a new framework for innovation in South Africa.

Deputy-Vice Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, Dr Chris Nhlapo, has been appointed to a national task team that will pen a new framework for innovation in South Africa.

The task team, comprising key role-players in the South African higher education sector, was handpicked by the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI).

This body was created to advise the South African Minister of Science and Technology on the role and contribution that innovation plays in addressing economic, social, scientific and technology challenges.

Dr Nhlapo says their first task will be to “unpack the concept of innovation.”

According to NACI, innovation consists of three phases. The first is a conception of a new idea, while the second is the conversion of this idea into a product, service or process. The final phase is commercialisation or the successful uptake by users

However, Dr Nhlapo says that innovation is unfortunately often misunderstood, with many people limiting its scope to science and technology. He says innovation cuts across all disciplines, from science and technology right up to business.

“Innovation is not only for monetary gains. There is also social innovation, which benefits the community,” he says.

Dr Nhlapo says the task team will focus their attention on developing a national innovation framework that encompasses all disciplines.

During the next few months, they will also survey the South African innovation terrain between 1994 and 2011 and explore existing successful frameworks.

By: Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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From publishing research papers to embarking on innovative studies, CPUT researchers have made the institution proud.

Their efforts have not gone unnoticed by the university, who recently celebrated their activities at the annual Research Day, which was held at the Mowbray Campus.

Vice-Chancellor, Dr Prins Nevhutalu, commended the researcher and says the university has surpassed its own research targets, with 23% of staff holding doctoral qualifications and 35 holding ratings from the National Research Foundation.

He says research activities were important as the university had embarked on a drive to go from a good to a great institution.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, Dr Chris Nhlapo, highlighted the university’s Research and Innovation Blueprint, an innovative document that plots to the way forward for research and innovation activities at CPUT.

Nhlapo emphasised the concept of research uptake, a process which sees the results of research turned into a patent, product or service, through innovation and technology.

CPUT also awarded the university’s top researchers, supervisors and industry funding recipients for 2013.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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F’SATI made history with the launch of TshepisoSAT, Africa’s first nanosatellite and is now set to intensify its research and innovation with the introduction of postdoctoral fellowships in the area of Satellite Systems Engineering.

Those who take up this opportunity will be part of this winning team who has established itself as South Africa’s leading nanosatellite systems engineering group and has gained international recognition.  

With F’SATI housed at the University’s Bellville Campus, postdoctoral fellows will have access to cutting-edge equipment and state-of-the-art facilities and will also have the opportunity to work alongside Aerospace Engineer, Prof Norman Fitz-Coy, who is renowned for his work at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida.

Fitz-Coy will lead the activities of the Research Chair in Innovative Small Satellite Technology and Applications for Africa at F’SATI and will play a key role in developing local space engineering skills in a bid to help South Africa’s space industry in its quest to reach its full potential.

Director of F’SATI, Prof Robert van Zyl, says postdoctoral fellows will also benefit from a vibrant link between industry and research.  

“The environment is therefore very conducive to cutting edge research that is relevant to Africa.  We bring together elements of research, innovation and industry and a wide network of international collaborators,” says van Zyl.

Research areas that will be explored by the postdoctoral fellows include the following:

• Satellite communications
• Applied Electromagnetics, including Antennas and EMC
• Attitude Determination and Control
• Computing for space systems
• Data security
• Remote sensing
• Space weather and radiation
• Industrial Engineering and Quality Management

To apply, send your CV and a cover letter to Ian van Zyl at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For more information contact Ian van Zyl at 021 959 6925

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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.

Research and innovation activities at CPUT have received a welcome boost with the appointment of the institution’s first research chair holders.

Professors Yusuf Sayed, Wentzel Gelderblom, and Roger Mason are the trio who will be pushing research activities at the institution.

Sayed has been appointed as the South African Research Chair in Teacher Education, Gelderblom holds the Chair in Biomedical and Microbial Biotechnology, while Mason is the Chair in Wholesale and Retail Leadership.

The chairs are a huge feat for CPUT, with the goal of each to increase research publication units and develop research capacity.

Sayed, a renowned education policy specialist, will drive research in focused areas in the education sector that will contribute to knowledge about teacher education and will provide important insights into how education quality in South Africa can be improved.

Multi-disciplinary research into solving relevant health problems in South Africa associated with food, water safety, nutrition and chemoprevention through integrated research in biotechnology, will be at the top of Gelderblom’s agenda.

Gelderblom says the chair will also contribute to the development of scarce skills areas such as biocatalysis and nanobiotechnology that will play key roles in the realisation of South Africa’s bio-economy strategy.

Launched last week, the Wholesale and Retail Leadership Chair, which is the only one of its kind in Africa, will help CPUT contribute to the development and growth of the wholesale and retail sector.

Mason, who was formerly based at the Durban University of Technology, says five contract research projects covering SMME retailing, E-Business, retail activities into Africa, retailing and the National Development Plan, and employment equity are already underway.

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.

A visiting Scholar from Mendel University in the Czech Republic, Dr Vojtech Tamas, is excited about the possibilities the local wine industry is presenting him for his research. 

Tamas is in South Africa for three and a half months, preparing his research programme for his habilitation studies. This is advanced research work as preparation for appointment as the equivalent of an Associate Professor in Mendel University’s Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies. His research focuses on the South African wine industry and its interaction with the wine industries of Central Europe.

“My field of interest is the commodity or value chain of the wine industry. I am looking at the whole value chain from production to consumer, beginning to end, looking at the science, logistics, marketing, travel… All the connections. At all of the stages in my research I am looking for the connections between the value chain of wine in the Czech Republic and South Africa,” said Tamas.

He is identifying points of commonality and divergence between the two industries to suggest further fields of study and interest. One of his immediate questions is to ask why South Africa does not export more wine to the Czech Republic and the rest of the V4 countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia make up the cultural and political alliance of four Central European states).

“There are 10.5 million people in the Czech Republic. On our production side we supply only 30% of our demand and import 70%. What could be the possible ways for South African wines to get to that market?” asked Tamas, who lectures Agribusiness.

A field like marketing also opens a wide range of possible lessons to be learned both ways. “In the Czech Republic people buy wine according to what is on the bottle, the label. In South Africa, you have to taste it and then maybe you buy. There are many things that for us is normal, but for you is innovation and opposite. We can learn many things.”

He sees potential not only for business to learn from each other but also for students to travel to and from both countries to expand their world view.

“Some people understand the business, others understand marketing or logistics, but in all of this we can share the knowledge and learn from each other,” said Tamas.

Associate Professor: Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Prof Francois Lategan of CPUT says while Tamas’ visit does not strictly fall under the Collaborate Agreement our institution has with Mendel University, it fits into the spirit of the agreement to create opportunities for staff and students to enjoy international training and research opportunities. Later this year CPUT will welcome three lecturers and six internship students from Mendel University as part of the programme and we will send a lecturer from our Tourism Department (in the Faculty of Business and Economics in Wellington) to Brno.

Written by Theresa Smith

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Provides coverage for the Applied Sciences and Engineering Faculties and the Wellington Campus.