CPUT promotes three new Professors

CPUT is celebrating the promotion of three Professors positioned within the faculties of Engineering and Informatics and Design.

Recently, CPUT staff members Gary Atkinson-Hope, Theo Haupt and Melius Weideman were promoted to the rank of Full Professor within their respective departments and disciplines, after decades of dedication to their research.

After matriculating, Professor Gary Atkinson-Hope worked in field of electrical engineering for eleven years before realising his affinity to the world of academia. He obtained a Higher Diploma in Electrical Power Engineering and then entered the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers as a Graduate Member as a result of his academic achievements in advanced studies. In 1973 he was appointed as a lecturer at the Cape College for Advanced Technical Education (CCATES). While lecturing over the next few years Prof Atkinson-Hope completed a National Technical Teachers’ Diploma and went on to graduate with a BProc Law degree at the University of South Africa in 1983.

Prof Atkinson-Hope was appointed at the then Cape Technikon as a lecturer in 1989 and by 1993 he had obtained a Master’s qualification. A year later, he became Head of Department of Power Engineering with the vision and mission to develop power systems skills in this important field and to undertake and promote research. Then within a decade, Prof Atkinson-Hope obtained a MSc and a PhD in Electrical Power Engineering and was then promoted to Associate Professor in 2004 and in August 2008 was promoted on merit to Full Professor by CPUT with over 25 years of experience.

Prof Melius Weideman is an HOD: Research Development in the Faculty of Informatics and Design. After spending a number of years in industry, working in electronics and design, he joined the then Cape Technikon in 1984. He graduated with a PhD in Information Science from UCT in 2001, and was appointed as Associate Professor in 2004. Current research interests include website visibility, search engines and usability design, and many of his local and international publications focus on these issues. Prof Weideman manages two websites. One contains information relating to research matters, including funding, and the other supports his about-to-be-published academic book. This second website will also provide free access to relevant full-text academic publications.

During 2007 he was selected from 40 international applicants to become the first Fellow at the Munich University of Applied Sciences, and he spent some months teaching and doing research there in 2008. That year, he also did a series of workshops on invitation at an Austrian University, focussing on Internet and website marketing. Currently, he leads the NRF niche area of FID, and has collaborative links with industry and local and international universities through work and consultation done on improving their websites.

Located within the Faculty of Engineering, Prof Theo Haupt serves as Co-ordinator for the Southern African Built Environment Research Center (SABERC), as well as President for the Association of Schools of Construction of Southern Africa (ASOCSA). Prof Haupt is a Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg ’s Department of Construction Management and Joint International Co-ordinator for the CIB TG59 – People in Construction.

Presently, he acts as Editor-in-chief for the Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology (JEDT) and Editor for the Journal of Construction (JOC). Prof Haupt has written for and edited several books, journals and delivered numerous conference papers and lectures both locally and abroad.

The Inaugural Professorial Address of Prof Theo Haupt will take place on 20 November 2008. For more information, contact the Marketing and Communication Department on (021) 959 6286.

By Thando J. Moiloa

Written by CPUT News
Email: news@cput.ac.za