A CPUT Industrial Engineering student is demonstrating his leadership qualities and strong commitment to community upliftment by raising donations for an orphanage for abandoned and HIV-infected children.

Simamkele Mpahla, who is also a member of the Activate! Leadership and Public Innovation programme, is leading a team of four students to raise funds or donations of baby’s nappies, clothes, formula milk and non-perishable foods for Masigcine Children’s Home in Mfuleni.

Masigcine (which means "let us cherish") is a registered Children’s Home that houses about 17 children between the ages of three months and nine years. Masigcine launched in 1989 with the help of the Kuilsriver-based Dutch Reformed Church.

“We have approached some business owners in and around Mfuleni and now we are making a call for donations to members of the public,” says a tenacious Simamkele. “We hope to hand the donation over to Masigcine on the 27^th of April.”

Simamkele identified the home as his Voluntary Day project that forms part of his membership with the Activate! Leadership and Public Innovation programme. The programme aims to ignite public innovation by establishing a network of young leaders throughout South Africa.

After applying to become a member of the programme, he was selected for his proven commitment to public good.

To make a donation you can contact Masigcine’s Sydene Cloete on 021 909 1397. To find out more about the children’s home visit www.masigcine.org.za.

By Kwanele Butana

Written by CPUT News

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CPUT students are thinking big.

A wide range of bright ideas and products was showcased at this year’s CPUT Idea-Create Student Innovation Competition.

A beer keg that has been recycled into a barbeque, a snack dryer, a solar wonder cooker and a device to find lost items, are just some of the inventions thought out by students.

Director of the Technology Transfer Office, Prof Gary Atkinson-Hope says the competition is in its third year and is gaining popularity, with more than 70 students taking up this year’s challenge.

This year’s top innovators hailed 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,” says Sebastian Bosman, who represented the group at the prize giving.

The invention was part of the BTech Industrial Design R5k project, an official World Design Capital project that tasked students with producing and selling a product with the ultimate aim of earning R5000 or more.

Mechanical Engineering student, Musa Morgan, created a unique pair of briefs called Manhood Underwear. The briefs are designed for use by males after they are circumcised and assist in the healing process by protecting the area that was operated on.

“I feel honoured to have won this prize,” says Musa who plans to take his idea further and turn it into a business.

Musa, along with a group of four friends also scored another prize at the competition for the design of their website, Ad4All, an online classifieds for students.

Guest speaker at the event, entrepreneur Vuyisa Qubaka, encourage students to keep on innovating.

“The most successful entrepreneurs succeed because they are passionate,” he says.

“They moved from trying to do something to mastering it. Work on something because you are passionate about it.”

Deputy Director of Enterprise Development from the Western Cape Government, Deon Damons, whose office has funded many of CPUT’s innovative students, says the ideas unveiled at the competition have the potential to grow into big businesses.

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.

A group of Industrial Engineering students are set to hit the ground running when they start their Work Integrated Learning (WIL) programme early next year.

The class is participating in the Employability Improvement Programme, which sees them complete various tasks based on Kaizen methods. These methods demonstrate the importance of workflow, time management and the correct utilisation of resources in the workplace.

This initiative is a colloboration between the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The pilot was rolled out earlier this year at universities and lecturers from the Faculties of Engineering Applied Sciences participated in the training.

Realising the benefits of this innovative programme, Work Integrated Learning Coordinators for Industrial Engineering, Desiree Jaftha and Reginald Rispel, piloted the training and their efforts have already paid off.

COMPLETED: One of the trucks manufactured by students

“We implemented it on a trial basis and it has helped bridge the gap between the employers’ expectations and the expectations of the students,” says Rispel.

The programme sees students work in an assembly line and hand-assemble more than 20 miniature size trucks, with the process timed and monitored. This exercise also improves student’s soft skills like teamwork, innovation and time management.

Jaftha says they have had positive feedback from companies.

“The mentors usually guide students for the first three months, but this time they say students are able to identify problem areas and recommend strategies for waste elimination immediately after entering the workplace,” she says.

Through this intervention students have managed to bring about huge cost savings in manufacturing and service delivery companies, with several securing permanent contracts at the companies were they are currently placed.

“We see significant value in this training and decided we need to train all our students before they go into the workplace.”

The Employability Improvement Programme is now a permanent feature in the Industrial Engineering curriculum.

ASSEMBLY LINE: Each student has their own work station and has to perform a specific task in manufacturing of the trucks

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 recently hosted a high-level delegation from two German Higher Education Institutions – DHBW Ravensburg and DHBW Karlsruhe.

The aim of the visit, which was held at the Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Computer Engineering (DEECE), was to strengthen relationships between CPUT, DHBW Ravensburg and DHBW Karlsruhe and to engage in further collaboration between the institutions. The visit centred around the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (FEBE).

The German delegation consisted of Prof Dr-Ing. Herbert Dreher, President DHBW Ravensburg, Prof Dr-Ing Stephan Schenkel, President DHBW Karlsruhe, Ingela Lundin, International Relations Officer, DHBW Ravensburg, Prof Dr Stephan Sauter, Industrial Engineering, DHBW Ravensburg and Prof Dr Thomas Dobbelstein, International Business, DHBW Ravensburg.

“For us it’s very important that we learn from each other,” said Dreher.

The CPUT delegation consisted of Dr David Phaho, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, Prof Rishidaw Balkaran, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching, Prof Judy Peter, Director Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, Prof Veruscha Fester, Assistant Dean: Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, FEBE and several other representatives from the Faculty and from Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships.

Phaho welcomed the delegation and said the university wanted to ensure that it built on already great relationships.

Dobbelstein said his institution already has long-standing ties with the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, which includes, among other things, staff and student exchanges.

The delegation also had the opportunity to visit the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre

Earlier in the month a delegation from The Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and KU Leuven in Belgium visited CPUT and was also welcomed to DEECE.

The objective of the meeting was to renew the partnership agreement with CPUT in the areas of research, staff, and student exchange, amongst others.

The Dutch and Belgium delegation, which consisted of Sabine Amft (THUAS) Pepijn van Willigenburg, (THUAS) Prof.ir Annick Dexters (KU Leuven) and Albert van Oudheusden (UNSA) were welcomed by Prof Bingwen Yan (Acting) Assistant Dean: Teaching and Learning.

Written by CPUT News
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