FROM THE DIRECTOR: RESEARCH Dr Tembeka m pako-Ntusi

as I look back on my journey as head of the research Directorate, I am filled with much nostalgia. It is not easy to walk away from an institution and colleagues who have walked the road with you, sustained you and challenged you for almost a decade.

Reflecting on my journey here, I am also filled with immense gratitude. When I was appointed, CPUT was not a research-intensive institution, owing to the legacy of technikons. I joined CPUT at a time when the focus was on developing a strategy to improve the quality and quantity of research output in order to comply with best practice in research, and achieve national benchmarks.

I wrote my first foreword, as Director of Research, for the 2007 Research Report, a document of only 57 pages, reporting only 11 NRF-rated researchers and a mere 42.1 units of subsidy earned through DHETaccredited journal articles. From this point onward, there was an upward climb in all aspects of research and innovation output. Today we have a host of professors, triple the number of NRF-rated researchers, and 181 units of research output submitted to the DHET. Looking back, am grateful that I could witness this growth spurt which is testimony to the fact that our strategic interventions bore fruit.

I refuse to take credit for this growth as could never have achieved it on my own. I therefore want to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to all the people who have accompanied, assisted and supported me in making a success of my journey here.

Firstly, my thanks go to the faculty and unit research coordinators and representatives who have assisted and are still assisting the Research Directorate to get messages out to the CPUT research community, including postgraduate students, adjunct professors and postdoctoral fellows. Without your administrative and communication assistance the Research Directorate would struggle to fulfil its mandate. My thanks also go to the researchers who served and still serve on our panels to review applications for research funding and NRF rating.

My gratitude also goes to our external partners and stakeholders, including research management staff at the other universities in the country, our service providers who regularly present research capacity building workshops in the Research Directorate, our colleagues at the DHET and the NRF, and all other stakeholders without whose funding and other support we would not have seen the growth we have seen the past decade at CPUT.

Finally, extend my gratitude to the staff in the Research Directorate at CPUT. I have always looked upon you as my family. Without your diligence and support we would not have achieved what we have so far. have seen staff working to the point of exhaustion to meet important deadlines. I have seen staff supporting one another during difficult times. have seen staff providing service excellence to our researchers, sometimes in the face of much adversity. Thank you also to those staff members who no longer work here but who have left a legacy behind in the Research Directorate.

I also thank my colleagues at SARIMA and its sister organisations that promote research and innovation management. As a past-President and member of its executive committees, it was a humbling experience to witness the rapid growth of SARIMA since its inception in 2002. am also grateful that I could help lay the groundwork, as founder member, of the West African Research and Innovation Management Association (WARIMA) and the Central Africa Research and Innovation Management Association (CARIMA).

As I move on to retirement, wish you all the best.

The Centre for Postgraduate Studies (CPGS) has established processes in order to offer a seamless service to registered postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The centre also manages the administration of postgraduate students and oversees the academic involvement of postdoctoral fellows. During 2014, 1 136 master’s students, 201 doctoral students and 11 postdoctoral fellows were registered.

CPGS activities in 2014 include administrative and academic support to registered postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows including, to some extent, BTech students.

A total of 112 students graduated with a master’s degree and 22 with a doctoral degree.

FROM THE DIRECTOR: POST g RADUATE STUDIES

Postgraduate Students’ forum: The CPGS hosts this forum, which is open to all CPUT students and staff that are active in postgraduate research. The forum, though at a developmental stage, enables the CPGS to oversee the personal and academic development of the postgraduate student community as emerging researchers.

Postgraduate bursaries: A total of 322 students were supported by bursaries from various sources to a total value of R11 727 200.

Administrative Support

Higher Degrees Committee (HDC): The CPGS coordinates all the activities of the HDC. These include interaction with the faculty research coordinators with respect to HDC documents, preparation of HDC meeting agendas and submission of HDC approved documents to Senate. The HDC is a committee of Senate and makes recommendations on matters related to postgraduate studies and student progression. The HDC Digital System was implemented in 2014, as the paper-based system is being phased out and migrated to a digital system.

Postdoctoral fellowships: A total of 11 postdoctoral fellows were hosted in the various research units of CPUT to a total cost of R1 550 000.

Academic Support

Seminars and workshops: The centre organised several research development workshops and seminars during 2014. Postgraduate students (and to some extent academic staff/supervisors) participated actively in these activities. The highlights of the events included proposal writing, research design and research methodology, statistical data analysis, article writing and the use of plagiarism detection software (Turnitin).

Postgraduate welcome: A welcome session was held on the Cape Town and Bellville campuses soon after registration closed in June. In this session, presentations were made to postgraduate students about the facilities available at CPUT, in particular the HDC Digital System.

Postgraduate conference: A one-day postgraduate research conference was held in November, which involved approximately 174 staff and students. A total of 29 oral presentations were selected for delivery by postgraduate students.

Software and research support: During 2014, the centre offered software support as well as qualitative and quantitative research support to students and staff. User licenses for the software managed by the centre (Atlas.ti, SPSS, STATISTICA and Turnitin) were made available to staff and students. Some of the software has been installed on selected desktops in the two research information support centres (RISC) available to postgraduate students.

Big ideas unveiled at Student Innovation Competition

The winners of the CPuT Idea-Create Student Innovation Competition a wide range of bright ideas and products was showcased at this year’s CPUT Idea-Create Student Innovation Competition. a beer keg recycled into a barbecue, a snack dryer, a solar wonder cooker and a device that can be used to find lost items, were a few of the inventions on display.

Director of the TTo, Prof Gary atkinsonHope, said the competition is in its third year and is gaining in popularity, with more than 70 students having taken up the challenge in 2014. The year’s top innovators hail from the Industrial engineering and Mechanical engineering departments.

a group of Industrial engineering students created The Braai Tool, a sleek-looking and versatile device that can be used as a bottle opener, tongs, fork and spatula. “We are ecstatic and positive about the future of The Braai Tool,” said Sebastian Bosman, who represented the group at the award ceremony. The invention was part of the BTech Industrial Design r5k project, an official WDC 2014 undertaking, in terms of which students had to produce and sell a product with the aim of earning r5000 or more.

Mechanical engineering student, Musa Morgan, created a unique pair of briefs called Manhood Underwear. The briefs were designed for use by males after circumcision, assisting in the healing process. “I feel honoured to have won this prize,” said Musa, who plans to take his idea further and turn it into a business venture. Musa, along with a group of four friends, also won an award for designing ad4all, an online classified service for students.

Guest speaker at the event, entrepreneur Mr Vuyisa Qubaka, encouraged students to keep innovating. “The most successful entrepreneurs succeed because they are passionate. They move from trying to do something to mastering it.” Deputy Director of enterprise Development at the WCG, Mr Deon Damons, said the ideas unveiled at the competition have the potential to grow into big business undertakings. His office has funded many of CPUT’s student innovations.

FROM THE DIRECTOR: T ECHNOLO g Y T RANSFER & I NDUSTRIAL L INKA g ES

Prof g ary Atkinson-Hope

CPUT’s Technology Transfer office (TTo) was established in 2010 to promote and facilitate technology transfer. Technology transfer is the process of sharing of skills, knowledge, technologies, methods and samples of manufacturing and facilities with government and other relevant institutions to ensure that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users and for the benefit of society. The TTo vigorously promotes technology transfer by providing expert support and assistance to CPUT researchers, innovators and inventors during contract consultations, patent filings and applications, technology transfer of intellectual property (IP), and project management.

Ultimately, technology transfer provides support to our university community, increases our engagements with industry and venture partners, and supports our university’s commitment to be at the heart of technology education and innovation in Africa. Innovation transforms the university’s breakthroughs and ideas into new products and services that enrich lives and subsequently stimulate our markets. Innovations can be developed into exciting new start-up ventures that, along with our incubators and industry linkages, create jobs and opportunities.

In 2014, as in previous years, we had several key successes:

• The Idea-Create Student Innovation Competition produced 11 finalists who were awarded R120 000 for outstanding innovative ideas and branded prototypes. The top innovators hailed from the Industrial Design and the Mechanical Engineering departments.

• Innovators submitted proposals to a Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) board and received awards totalling R3 175 495, enabling them to complete prototypes, produce samples, and market and commercialise a viable product.

• A feasibility study for a potential incubator at CPUT was administered by the TTO. Funding of about R650 000 has been obtained from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in order to establish a large incubator and enterprise centre on Bellville campus.

• In 2014, funding of R1 150 000 was secured from the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT) to establish a business incubator and carry out capacity building. On 1 September, six groups of students with viable business ideas were welcomed into the CPUT Business Incubator to assist them in finalising prototype design and manufacturing, pricing strategies, branding and target client lists.

• The TTO has since registered six patent applications for products emanating from the incubator.

South Africa – Provisional Patent Application Apparatus and Method for Promoting Cognitive Activation and Deactivation –No. 2014/01144

Provisional Patent Application

Provisional Patent Application

Snug Sack: Device for improving resting comfort of a person in transit – No. 2014/01145

Post-Operative Male Circumcision Device – Manhood Underwear – No. PA161774/P

Provisional Patent Application hinge arrangement and device comprising arrangement – The Braai Tool – No. PA161581/P

Provisional Patent Application Modular Aquaponics Assembly – No. 2014/05873

South Africa – Patent National Phase Application South Africa – Patent Application No. 2014/00839 in the name of the Swedish Institute for Food and Method (SIK)