CPUT has added another patent to its growing list thanks to innovative researchers from the Engineering Faculty.

The Material Science and Technology group together with the Swedish Institute for Food Technology patented a System for Flow Visualization and in-line Rheometry.

This group of researchers explore problems relating to the flow of complex fluids such as cosmetics, food stuffs, explosive emulsions and pharmaceuticals. These fluids are classified as complex as they all change their characteristics and behavior when flowing.

The researchers have expertise in making precise measurements of the viscous characteristics (called rheology) of complex fluids. However the measurement process using existing techniques has been complicated and time consuming.

But now thanks to Prof Rainer Haldenwang, Dr Johan Wiklund and Reinhardt Kotze, their unique system, which is based on ultrasound velocity profiling, will allow users to take real-time measurements of the characteristics of complex fluids while under dynamic process conditions.

PATENT: Prof Rainer Haldenwang, Dr Johan Wiklund and Reinhardt Kotze are CPUT’s latest inventors.

Prof Haldenwang said this system will positively impact on quality control operations in industry.

“This is a very unique way of measuring the properties of fluid in real-time. In a tube viscometer it can take up to half a day to measure the characteristics of a fluid,” he said.

MEASUREMENT: Prof Rainer Haldenwang gives CPUT staff and industry members a breakdown of the new system.

Prof Haldenwang said the development of this system took many years, but that they are excited about the outcome.

During the process of developing this unique system, the three co-inventors published 15 articles, 20 conference papers and received three awards.

In addition, Wiklund and Kotze received Doctoral degrees in this field.

The group plans to commercialise the device in the near future and continue research in this specialised research area.

BRAND NEW: Some of the equipment developed by the researchers.

By Candes Keating

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The National Research Foundation (NRF) evaluation and rating system is regarded as one of the most prestigious benchmarks of research excellence in South Africa.

The most recent rating announcement took place in December 2007. Among this year’s recipients were Dr Cecilia Jacobs of the Engineering Faculty, who received an L rating, and Dr Richardt Wilkinson of the Electrical Engineering Department who received a rating of Y- Y2. In addition Prof Pieter van Brakel of the Faculty of Informatics and Design, who was previously rated by the NRF in 2002, received a rating renewal of C - C3.

Dr Cecelia Jacobs is currently co-leader of the Work-Integrated Learning Research Unit, a formally recognised niche area within the NRF. She has published thirteen peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and twenty-four national and international conference papers. Among her achievements are the submission of a successful funding proposal for an institution-wide Tertiary Education Linkages Project (TELP) in 1999 which produced a Communication Series of 10 textbooks published by Juta. She also convened the first national conference on “Integrating content and language: Providing access to knowledge through language” in 2001

Dr Jacobs’s body of work concerns the way in which knowledge is structured in different disciplines, and how that knowledge is communicated through discipline-specific language. In her own words, “understanding the way in which a discipline reads and writes itself.” As the recently appointed Teaching and Learning Co-ordinator in the Faculty of Engineering, she continues to encourage collaboration between language practitioners and disciplinary specialists.

Dr Richardt Wilkinson's area of specialisation is power electronics. This field of study looks at how electrical power can be converted from one level to another using electronically controlled switches instead of transformers. Power electronics has implications for renewable energy technologies and research into this field is likely to contribute to solving the current energy crisis.

Dr Wilkinson first became interested in power electronics when he studied the subject as part of his B.Eng at Stellenbosch University . He pursued this interest further in his Masters thesis and PhD studies. His relationship with CPUT began in 2005, when he joined the Centre for Instrumentation Research (CIR) as a postdoctoral research fellow working on inverters to drive ultrasonic transducers. He was appointed as a senior researcher in January 2007 and tasked with jointly running the Centre for Instrumentation Research with Dr Ian de Vries. He was appointed Head of the Centre in January 2008.

Prof Pieter van Brakel was a well-established specialist in the field of info rmation science when he joined the CPUT staff in 2005. At CPUT, he headed the postgraduate office of the e-Innovation Academy (now amalgamated with the Faculty of Informatics and Design). During his academic career, he has published sixty one journal articles in DoE accredited journals and supervised thirty-seven masters and doctoral students.

Prof Van Brakel currently serves as Head of the Research Support Office in the Faculty of Informatics and Design. He also holds the NRF Grant for the programme. “Virtual Communities of Practice” This forward-looking area of research looks at how info rmation technology helps support academic info rmation and knowledge exchange between researchers who are geographically distant from each other. “Information is needed to make good decisions, and info rmation management cannot happen without info rmation technology,” says Prof Van Brakel, commenting on the continuing importance of info rmation science in contemporary society.

Research was been cited as an important growth area for CPUT. The newly rated staff members form part of a productive research community who continue to increase the academic output of the institution.

By Ilana Abratt, Marketing and Communication Department

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The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) recently hosted a National Scarce Skills Forum with a focus on the Engineering Faculty to address the skills shortage in the industry.
Facilitated by the Dean of the Engineering Faculty, Dr Oswald Franks, the forum sparked interesting debate around the issue of scarce skills and skills development.

According to Dr Franks the forum acted as an information sharing session where the CPUT can receive feedback from stakeholders. It also acted as a useful tool to communicate with partners to update them about the worthy contribution the CPUT has and can make in the plight against scarce engineering skills.

Mr Gwede Mantashe, Chairperson of the Technical Task Team of the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) was invited to render the keynote address.

JIPSA is a skills project led by a committee of key cabinet ministers, business leaders, trade unionists and education and training providers. It was developed as part of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa, created by the South African government to reduce unemployment by half by 2014.

Mr Mantashe spoke about the need to create work, develop skills and deal with pertinent issues like poverty, unemployment, HIV/AIDS and economic growth.

The lack of skilled artisans was one of the concerns raised in the forum by numerous members of the audience. Mr Mantashe said amongst the focus areas JIPSA has identified are artisan and technical skills, with priority to those needs for infrastructure development, engineering and planning skills for the ‘network industries’ like transport, communication and energy.

In a panel discussion, panel members, Mr Mantashe, Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Anthony Staak, Ms Shirley Levendal and Mr Brian Forbes, Heads of the Co-operative Education Department, responded to questions and issues raised by the audience which included representatives of government, industry, commerce, SETA’s, staff members and alumni.

Prof Mazwi-Tanga said the CPUT, as the only university of technology in the Western Cape and the greater Northern and Southern Cape, is well placed to rise to the challenge of addressing the skills shortage in the engineering fields and in the other areas government has identified.

CAPTION: Dr Oswald Franks (Dean of the Engineering Faculty) Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga (CPUT Vice Chancellor) and Mr Gwede Mantashe (Chairperson :Technical Task Team, Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition [JIPSA]).

Click on the link below for a full copy of Mr Mantashe's speech.

FASTRACKING JIPSA: DELIVER CRITICAL SKILLS, BY GWEDE MANTASHE

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Dean of the Engineering Faculty, Dr Oswald Franks has been appointed as the CEO of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). He will take up this appointment with effect 1 October 2009.

The appointment comes after Dr Franks completed two four-year terms as an ECSA Council member.

“I am humbled by the opportunity to lead ECSA, along with the newly appointed Council, in fulfilling its legislative mandate and ensuring that ECSA contributes to the wellbeing of both the South African public and the professions which it represents,” said Dr Franks, who succeeds current acting CEO, Prof Hu Hanrahan.

The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), a statutory body that regulates the engineering profession, was established in terms of the Engineering Professions Act No 46 of 2000. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor and in terms of the new Act, it has widened its scope to include engineering technicians and certificated engineers, and the ability to register those who are qualified by experience.

ECSA is tasked with promoting the high level of education and training of practitioners in the engineering profession. ECSA further sets and monitors internationally accepted standards, assesses the competence of individuals and promotes the engineering profession.

The council works closely with the Council for the Built Environment and the Minister of Public Works on matters relating to the engineering profession.

Dr Franks, who has held positions in industry and the higher education sector in South Africa, is well placed to take up the duties of CEO.

A registered professional mechanical engineer with a Ph.D. in Engineering Science from the University of South Florida in the United States, Dr Franks’ academic career spans over 27 years.

He is a recipient of various research scholarships and grants from agencies like the British Council, the United States Agency for International Development and the New York-based African American Institute.

He has also served on several top national committees.

He was a member of the Ministerial Task Team, which was established in July 2007 in order to make recommendations to the Minister of Education on funding to Universities of Technology for the increased production of engineering graduates.

Dr Franks was also appointed by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) to participate in the four institutional audits conducted by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC).

Dr Franks said during his tenure as CEO, he would like ECSA to strengthen and build relationships with key stakeholders, which include other statutory Councils, business, industry, voluntary organisations, educational institutions and government.

CPUT Deputy-Vice Chancellor Academic, Prof Anthony Staak congratulated Dr Franks on his appointment.

Prof Staak said it is a prestigious appointment.

“We wish him everything of the best with this most challenging portfolio,” said Prof Staak.

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CPUT is involved in a number of mutually beneficial partnerships with France and could soon be adding several more to this extensive list.

The possibility to further strengthen ties was mooted during a recent meeting with delegates from French universities who visited the institution to investigate the possibility of research collaborations, staff and student exchanges and skill-building programmes.

French Embassy representative, Dr Pierre Lemonde, who led the delegation, says there are many areas of collaboration that will complement the South African government’s goal of developing human capacity in specific areas. 

Currently the majority of collaborations with the French are concentrated in the Engineering Faculty, but Lemonde says they hope to extend this to other disciplines.

Head of the International Affairs Department Merle Hodges says CPUT is fortunate to have such deep ties with a country such as France and to collaborate on so many levels.

The most notable partnership with the French is F’SATI, a joint venture between CPUT and ESIEE-Paris, a graduate school in France. Based at the Bellville Campus, F’SATI leads training in satellite systems engineering in Africa.

“We can see an organic growth with France as a country,” says Hodges.

“The vision for the future is to look at bringing the French industry to CPUT.”

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.

It’s up to South Africa’s future engineers to find solutions to the problems facing the continent and the rest of the world.

Humbulani Mudua, Chief Director of Space Science at the Department of Science and Technology, urged graduates from the Faculty of Engineering to become innovators, dreamers, industrialist and developers.

He says the graduating class must address the problems facing the 21^st century and also explore how to evolve in thinking about and designing new technology for the future. Mudua also encouraged graduates to work collectively alongside others in various disciplines as well as to make use of the opportunities put in place by government to advance South Africa.

“Let’s unleash South Africa’s potential,” says Mudua.

During the ceremony, graduate Jean-Pierre Mostert was also recognized for his outstanding academic performance.

A BTech Electrical Engineering graduate, Mostert was awarded the coveted Vice-Chancellor’s Medal, which is an annual award given to the overall top achieving student.

Mostert obtained distinctions in 21 of 24 subjects, with an average of 87.4 % over all four years of study.

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.