Four academics in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment have achieved National Research Foundation (NRF) ratings for 2021 - 2026.

The four staff members were Dr Asis Patnaik (Department of Clothing and Textile Technology) who was awarded with a C2 rating, Dr Bongani Ncube (Civil Engineering and Surveying) and Prof Robert Van Zyl (Electrical Electronic and Computer Engineering) both achieved a C3 rating while Dr Velaphi Msomi (Mechanical Engineering) a Y2 rating.

The Faculty’s Dean, Prof Marshall Sheldon, said the NRF rating system is a key driver in the national science system towards global competitiveness. Sheldon added that the ratings are based on a review system through local and international peers of an individual’s research contributions and impact over the last eight years.

“We are proud to have these esteemed researchers as part of our faculty. What an achievement and keep up the good work,” said the ecstatic Dean.

Ncube, a researcher at the Centre for Water and Sanitation Research, said the C rating is awarded to established researchers with a sustained recent record of productivity in the field, who are recognised by their peers as having:

Produced a body of quality work, the core of which has coherence and attests to ongoing engagement with the field; and

Demonstrated the ability to conceptualise problems and apply research methods to investigate them.

“A C 3 rating means that most of the reviewers who assessed my application concurred that I am an established researcher,” added Ncube.

This rating allows her to pause and reflect on the direction of her research based on what both the local and international reviewers recommended. “When I came to South Africa about eight years ago I picked on research that was already taking place. I then developed my niche research areas in water and agriculture,” she continued. “So, now I need to decide on a specialisation area that integrates both.”

She perceives her new rating as acknowledgment and confirmation that her research is of good quality and that she is on the right track. She added that for CPUT it means the institution’s status is rising as more researchers get counted among leaders in their research fields.

Msomi’s Y2 rating is a category that is awarded to researchers who are younger than 40 years and have their research output recognised internationally. He has been given this rating for five years, after which there will be a review. The review will look at whether he is growing or not. “If I have achieved more during this five-year period, I will then be put to another category which is higher than Y ratings such as C, B and A. The rating comes with funding,” he explains.

This rating means Msomi is ranked as one of the top researchers in the country. The number of rated researchers in an institution also contributes towards the ranking of the university. This means there will be a fraction of points that CPUT will gain from this rating.  

Msomi still doesn’t believe that he is a rated researcher and this is due to his rural educational background. “So I think it will take maybe a year for me to believe that I am a rated researcher... I believe this rating will encourage other researchers in my Department to give research a different view. I also believe that this rating will encourage my postgraduate students in taking their studies more seriously than before.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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The Vice-Chancellor’s Prestigious Achiever Award was recently launched and has already identified its first recipient. The annual award will be bestowed on deserving students who have shown academic excellence and embody the CPUT graduate attributes.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Chris Nhlapo says the purpose of the award is to financially aid CPUT students who have achieved excellent results throughout their academic studies and can make a contribution to society by completing their Masters and/or Doctoral studies.
“This award is not a replication of existing interventions. Rather it is a way of ensuring that Dean and Vice-Chancellor medallists remain connected to CPUT and come back to complete their Masters and Doctorates with us, later becoming professors,” says Nhlapo.

The first recipient of the award is Mechanical Engineering Doctoral candidate Zamavangeli Mdletshe whose research topic is developing and testing a renewable energy-based thermal desalination system. Zamavangeli was identified by her supervisor Dr Velaphi Msomi who encouraged her and her mother to allow the talented student to continue on to Masters and later her doctoral studies.

“She wanted to go to work and was so shocked when I asked her to consider doing her Masters. She received funding from the NRF and started in 2016 and within 14 months she was completed and graduated with Cum Laude,” he says.
“At her graduation, I asked her mother to give her another three years to complete her doctoral degree and she agreed.”

Unfortunately the previous funding opportunity was no longer on offer and Zamavangeli was in danger of dropping out until Msomi responded to a staff email about the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestigious Achievers Award.
“I wrote to the VC and I was so shocked when he wrote back to me almost immediately. We discussed Zamavangeli and her situation,” says Msomi.

The event was also attended by former VC and Dean Medallists and their loved ones. 

Former VC Medallist Anthony Ezeonwuka thanked Nhlapo and CPUT for investing in talented students.
“More financial support can make things easier, it would motivate more students to be like Zamavangeli and be the best they can be,” he says.

Click the following link to apply now -http://www.cput.ac.za/…/le…/vc/vice-chancellors-bursury-fund

Written by Lauren Kansley
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After having been awarded the National Research Foundation (NRF) Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering Department Senior Lecturer, Dr Velaphi Msomi, says the recognition is very important as it is an assurance of the high quality of his work and encourages him to continue doing the work.

All universities in the country make submissions of their candidates to NRF. The submissions get evaluated by experts of panellists and then the top researcher gets selected and awarded. “I feel very excited that my work could be number one against all other candidates from other universities. It was quite an honour to receive such an award and this boosts confidence in my work.”

Msomi says that this indicates that he is on the right path in terms of research growth, and it is the first time he has won this award as a member of the Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering Department. “This, therefore, means the Department is recognised outside CPUT and it is the second time for CPUT to win this award. This is a testimony that CPUT is doing quality research. This gives confidence to my students that I am supervising,” said the Meta Matrix Materials: Manufacturing and Properties Guest Editor.

His passion and love are what made him win this award and the support that he gets from work and home contribute towards his academic success. Msomi says the academic success cannot be realised without getting support from different angles. “My HOD, Mr Simphiwe Nqabisa, the Dean, Prof Suresh Ramsuroop, the Assistant Dean of Research, Prof Veruscha Fester, and my wife, Mrs Simphiwe Msomi are the people who contributed immensely to my achievements.”

On a lighter note, his department recently hosted a surprise party to celebrate with him. “I was surprised when I got to the venue, and I didn’t expect it. I felt very excited that my colleagues valued my hard work. The congratulations that I received from my colleagues were very comforting.”

The Lead Editor for MATEC Web of Conferences is now looking at continuing with what he is doing so that he can be the next NRF A-rated researcher. When he is not busy the Guest Editor: AIP Conference Proceedings, likes to watch soccer or to go to the gym before he can start his work.

“I have recently received the news from Applied Sciences congratulating my doctoral student’s paper which received the highest views since it was published. This news came right after I had received the NRF Award. This again was a confirmation that I am doing a good job.” Despite his busy academic work, Msomi has time for his family. “I do academic work during working hours and fully focus to my family after working hours.”

Msomi is currently organising an International Conference on Applied Research and Engineering (ICARAE2023) that will take place in November 2023, and this is the third series. He has several journals that will publish all the accepted and presented papers in the conference.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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