An innovative method of determining body measurements will help South African clothing manufactures to develop garments with a better fit.

South Africa’s first portable 3D body scanner has been set up at CPUT’s Technology Station Clothing and Textiles (TSCT) and was recently unveiled to industry.

This innovative device was acquired from Germany, thanks to sponsorship from the Technology Innovation Agency.

Director of the TSCT, Shamil Isaacs, says the machine will revolutionize the country’s clothing industry, helping them to produce better sized garments for a diverse consumer base.

Instead of relying on the traditional measuring tape, the scanner uses infrared technology to measure, generating up to 44 different measurements in a few seconds. The scanner is also portable and can be set up in just 30 minutes.

Isaacs says the scanner will allow them to conduct large scale measurement exercises that could result in the development of the first sizing chart for the South African population.

“A current sizing survey undertaken in Mexico, where about 109 million are living, will at least have to measure 18 000 people to get an accurate chart. Here in South Africa we need to measure at least 6 000 people for us to get an accurate size chart,” he says.

Prof Michael Ernst of the University of Niederrhein in Germany who demonstrated the machine’s capabilities, says it has multiple applications, ranging from sizing surveys to virtual product design.

The machine generates avatars from the data recorded and also allows clothing manufacturers to conduct virtual fittings, says Ernst, an adjunct Professor at CPUT.

Clothing manufacturers, big or small, who would like to make use of the services offered by the TSCT can contact them at 021 959 6826 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view 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.

CPUT lecturers have contributed their own time and skills to assist disadvantaged individuals empower themselves with a saleable skill.

The Technology Station Clothing and Textiles (TSCT) along with the City of Cape Town Enterprise Development Unit have been visiting impoverished communities around the Peninsula, informing them about support they could provide.

On one of these visits the TSCT met up with a group of SMME’s (small, medium and micro enterprises) in Mfuleni that required support, says TSCT manager, Shamil Isaacs.

The TSCT developed a six-hour pull-on skirt programme, which enables the SMMEs to gain enough basic skills to develop and sew a basic pull-on skirt which they can make to sell.   

The main objective is to transfer knowledge through university resources to empower disadvantaged communities.

This will allow them to create opportunities for themselves and indirectly stimulate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

The programme was conducted over two half days.

Deidre Windvogel, the lab technician responsible for product development at the TSCT, provided instructions on how to make a pull-on skirt pattern and using simple techniques create individual designs and make fit adjustments. This was conducted at Lookout Hill in Khayelitsha.  

Norma Wagenaar, the lab technician responsible for garment technology in the Clothing and Textile Technology Department, took the participants through the paces of sewing the skirt and ensuring that a high, saleable quality standard was achieved. 

A total of 32 participants from Mfuleni received training and a more advanced programme is being planned for the future. 

The TSCT is based at the Bellville Campus and provides support to SMMEs in the Clothing and Textile sector

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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Department of Clothing and Textile Technology Lecturer and Curriculum Officer, Dr Sweta Patnaik, and Manager - Technology Station Clothing and Textiles, Shamil Isaacs, have won an international e-learning Excellence Award at the ECEL 2022 21st European Conference on e-Learning.

The awards ceremony was conducted at the University of Brighton, United Kingdom, where they we were presented with their certificate.

The award is to showcase innovative examples of e-Learning use. These examples are presented through case histories which can be written by academics, teachers, business professionals or students. The pair have created an integrated project around sustainability in clothing and textiles and entrepreneurship for exit level third-year students. The students worked around the project throughout the semester and there were multiple activities they had to achieve and meet their learning outcomes, e.g. surveys, market research, polls, creating an artefact, multilingual digital storytelling videos, final report and presentation which was assessed by the community. They were expected to create sustainable consumer preferred products out of waste i.e., clothing offcuts and fabric swatches which were freely handed down by retailers… “For this award category we created a google sites page from scratch where all the information shared within is of low-tech data for anyone to access and learn. This is the link to the website with embedded YouTube videos,” Patnaik remarks.

She continues: “We had to create all this and go through three stages to be finally invited as a finalist and then there at the conference through two rigorous processes to be shortlisted, therefore this winning came as a big surprise, and we enjoyed every moment of it along with our students. We had 12 strong competitors from all over the world, Microsoft USA being one of them who have been shortlisted as finalists for two consecutive years. Overall, the project has augmented learning in various forms:

• Self-directed learning
• Peer to peer learning
• Collaborative and constructive learning
• Creating a community of practice
• Building in entrepreneurial knowledge.”

Reflecting on this feat, Patnaik says: “Milestones are accomplished over time from achievement after achievement. I feel very accomplished to have achieved this milestone in my life. It took a lot of work, but I am grateful that we not only achieved this but also touched on a very important aspect which speaks to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) goals such as sustainability. Not only this, but it has also helped in putting our department, faculty, and institution on the global arena all over again.”

Patnaik, who’s the first recipient within CPUT to win the DAAD UNILEAD Germany leadership course for the year 2021 and NMU rising star for the year 2020 adds that her students are the reason for her success “so all credit goes to them”. “If you ask me about my attributes to success then that must be the following: passion, optimism, persistence, creativity, self-discipline, a desire to Improve and a commitment to Learning.”

Issacs says they are using an e-learning platform and mode of delivery to teach students about Entrepreneurship within the framework of environmental sustainability, “in this case, adding value to waste material”.  “At the same time transferring this knowledge to disadvantaged communities as a means for them to generate an income,” Isaacs continues.

“Hopefully through these, students are spurred on to entrepreneurial endeavours and at the same time have an awareness of sustainability both from an environmental perspective and social /community perspective.  This award gives recognition to the role universities can play in transforming society.”  

Patnaik says the award gives her recognition and a platform globally to take the work to another level. “To the department of Clothing and Textile Technology as well as to the Technology Station, Clothing and Textiles it showcases the kind of work that we do and how it adds and enhances student exposure and knowledge. We are contributing towards CPUT’s Vision, its seven focus areas and its emphasis on SGDs, which we portray through our work.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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