As the countdown to CPUT Open Day 2009 draws near, staff and students at the six CPUT Faculties have their preparations well under way.
Open Day offers Grade 10, 11 and 12 learners the opportunity to gain insight into the variety of programmes available at CPUT.
The experience will help them make the right choices for their careers.
The theme for this year’s event, which runs from 14 to 16 May at the Major Sports Hall on Bellville Campus, is Technology in Africa. Visitors can look forward to seeing staff and students express this theme in visual displays, promotional materials, and interactive presentations.
The Engineering stands will allow learners to discover the variety of disciplines within this dynamic field, from Mechatronics to Maritime Studies. Learners will be able to explore hands-on displays of engineering models and get a behind-the-scenes view of today’s technological innovations. There will even be a chance to ride a Segway Personal Transporter at the Mechanical Engineering exhibit.
Live experiments at the Applied Sciences stands will give learners a taste of the exciting world of laboratory research. Analytical Chemistry, for example will present a nicotine test that shows the effects of smoking on lungs, a light bulb powered by a lemon and a “chemical traffic light” mixture that changes from red to blue every 30 seconds.
At the Education and Social Sciences area, visitors will see exhibitions of learning materials, technology and artwork designed by Education students. They will learn why teaching is such a valuable profession in current society and how the Faculty is combating the current South African Education skills shortage.
The Faculty of Business is using Open Day to give real-life experience to Event Management students, who will assist all Business departments in setting up their stands and exhibitions. With World Cup 2010 around the corner, activities at the Sport Management stall are guaranteed to attract plenty of attention.
At the Faculty of Informatics and Design stands, learners can expect to be dazzled by displays representing a variety of creative disciplines, including Photography, Graphic Design, Fashion Design and Multimedia Technology. First year Public Relation students were instrumental in planning and promoting several of the stalls and have used the Open Day experience to practice some of the skills taught in their academic course, such as finding and working with sponsors and producing professional quality advertising materials.
Learners with an interest in the workings of the human body will be intrigued by the Health and Wellness displays, where they will discover technologies used in fields such as Dental Services, Radiography and Somatology. Visitors to the Biomedical Sciences stall can view organisms under a microscope and find out more about careers in South African biomedical research laboratories.
Remarking on the importance of Open Day to Western Cape learners, CPUT Director of Marketing and Communication Norman Jacobs said: “The CPUT Open Day will provide learners with the necessary information which they can use to make informed choices of which career options to consider.”
At present, over fifty schools have responded to CPUT’s invitation to attend Open Day. According to organiser Grant Barends, this means that the University can expect between 7 000 and 10 000 Western Cape learners to pass through its doors over the three day period.
The Best Stall Award will be announced on Friday 15 May 2009 at 13:00. Stalls will be judged by three independent experts in event marketing and Management.
By Ilana Abratt
Written by CPUT News
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