Elastic bands and a two-litre plastic drink bottle are not the traditional materials used for boat building.

But in the Mechanical Engineering Department, students are continually pushed to think out of the box.

A classroom project tasked students following the extended programme to create miniature boats which had to be propelled by elastic bands and cover a distance of 25 metres, all whilst carrying a two-litre plastic drink bottle as a passenger.

As usual, CPUT students stepped up to the challenge and after spending four months working on their creations, set the boats to sail at the Bellville campus pool.

Girschwin Ruiter, group leader of the team whose boat covered the 25m distance said the project was tough.

“To build the boat structure was easy, but to develop the correct driving mechanism was the most difficult part of the project.”

“We tested our boat about 15 times. It sank twice during the test, but luckily today it went the whole distance,” he said.

Student Dean Briers gave the project a thumbs up and said while it was challenging the group had fun putting together the boat.

FUN: Student Dean Briers shows off his team’s boat.

“It was interesting to see how things unfolded each day as we worked on it,” said Dean.

Lecturer Leigh Sonn said students are tasked to work in groups and have up to four months to design, build and test the boat. They were allowed to make use of wood, metal or cardboard for the structure, but could not include any motorized items.

INNOVATIVE: A student adds finishing touches to his boat before setting it to sail.

“The purpose behind building the floating vessel is for students to integrate knowledge of their different subjects into one project,” said Sonn.

While some boats sank and others managed to stay afloat, Sonn said lecturers were impressed with the students’ skills.

WATER FUN: These students created a boat using wood.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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The Mechanical Engineering Department at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) recently signed a revolutionary five-year contract with the French aerospace company, Airbus.

This partnership agreement signed between Airbus, the country’s National Aerospace Centre of Excellence (NACoE), CPUT and the University of Stellenbosch, highlights the country’s need for aerospace research and technology development.

The partnership is endorsed by the Department of Trade and Industry and will focus mainly on human resources development, including skills training and academic research. The partnership will also seek to support the government’s strategy to transform the country’s aerospace industry into a global competitor of niche services and technologies. Dr Oscar Philander, lecturer and smart materials researcher in the Mechanical Engineering is very enthusiastic and excited about the agreement. Airbus visited all the tertiary institutions last year.

Dr Philander presented them with a demonstration of the smart materials research they were doing at the time and was awarded the opportunity to be part of this very unconventional project.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is in the process of doing research in the field of aero-morphing. This includes the use of smart materials to create more lightweight aircrafts and save natural resources and the environment in the process.

“The research we are busy with is anything but conventional. This is the future of aerospace travel and we are very proud to be part of it,” he said.

Dr Philander explained their research is concentrating on a tool that will enable the wings of an aircraft to move in accordance with the pressure from other air forces whilst at flight. He also reiterated the difference between the respective research projects the CPUT and the University of Stellenbosch are involved in.

“The research done at the University of Stellenbosch involves a more advanced version of the autonomous flight systems currently mounted in aircrafts,” he said.

Autonomous flight systems are what enable pilots to walk around within the aircraft while in flight.

“The research done at the two institutions are of utmost importance to the realisation of the aerospace goals set, but the two institutions work independently as the research they are doing is so different,” he said.

Airbus and NACoE also pledged to assist 30 post-graduate students to work on aerospace related topics.

According to Dr Philander two Masters students and one Doctoral student from each institution will be part of this initiative over the next five years.

“We are very excited to have our students taking part in such an excellent project. It will expose them to a world beyond what they have been used to so far,” he said.

By Revona Kees

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Ms Rosetta Ziegler, Communications Skills lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department on the Bellville Campus, has been appointed as a member of the Western Cape Language Committee.

The Language Committee is a statutory body of the Western Cape government and advises the Minister of Cultural Affairs, Sport and Recreation on language matters.

Ms Ziegler was one of 11 individuals selected by Mr Whitey Jacobs, the Minister of Cultural Affairs, Sport and Recreation in the Western Cape.

“It is a great honour to serve as a member of the Western Cape Language Committee,” says Ms Ziegler. “I have always been passionate about language and language rights. This gives me an opportunity to serve the people of the Western Cape.”

Ms Ziegler explains the purpose of the committee: “The members are mostly language practitioners and come from different institutions and organisations. The purpose of the committee is to promote multilingualism in the Western Cape and to support the development of previously marginalised languages.

“ Another task of the committee is to monitor the use of isiXhosa, English and Afrikaans by the provincial government of the Western Cape. The committee works within the legal framework of the Western Cape Provincial Languages Act. The Minister has put language on the province’s agenda and I believe that the committee will work hard to ensure that language equity and development issues are prioritised,” She says.

Caption

Language activist Ms Rosetta Ziegler.

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Two teams from the Mechanical Engineering department flew to the United States to compete in the International Mini Baja Competition in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 24 May 2006.

It is a design competition where degree students from institutions around the world compete with off-road vehicles designed and built by themselves.

Starting with only a rulebook and a Briggs & Stratten 10 hp engine, students are required to devise a concept design which they refine until they have a final design. The students then build the vehicle and take part in the competition.

“In the Mechanical Engineering Department we strive to give the students the best quality education in real world engineering and the Mini Baja Competition is a good opportunity to do this.

We have always done well, and have won the Western Cape Competition every year since 2002, as well as coming third for the last four years in the South African National Competition. Last year we finally managed to win that elusive first place out of 35 teams competing as well as coming third, winning the Social Class and receiving seven trophies in total,” said Mr Dave Evans, lecturer in the department and spokesperson for the team.

He said after taking first place in the national competition it now seems the right time to send a team to the United States where the competition is much larger and tougher with 140 teams competing.

“The students represent CPUT and South Africa, and get a chance to prove that we can compete with the world’s best. This is also our chance to introduce the ability of the new institution to the rest of the world,” he added.

The competition enjoyed coverage on KykNet, Hip2b2 on SABC 2 and radio. Mr Evans said the idea behind the visit is not only to compete, but also for the students to visit industry and other academic institutions and to tour the Harley Davidson factory.

He said, “This is no ‘paper project’. How the students perform in the competition depends on all of the work and decisions taken during the year and the experience that the students gain from this is invaluable.

This is real engineering where the students’ design choices have a real effect on their performance.”The project encompasses many disciplines such as mechanical design, strengths of materials, manufacturing technology, mechanics of machines, CAD, and costing.

A complete design and costing report must be submitted, which forms a part of the student’s academic marks.

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Prof Ernst Uken, head of the CPUT Energy Institute, was recently unanimously elected as chairperson of the newly-established Alexander von Humboldt Association of Southern Africa (AHASA).

AHASA, an organisation that was formed in October this year, aims to promote scholarship among South African senior students.

AHASA is the brainchild of the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Foundation, a German scholarship for doctoral students and post-doctorates.

The organisation also aims to promote awareness about the scholarship and encourage more prospective students to take up doctoral and post-doctoral studies in Germany.

A trust from the German government supports the scholarship and partners with various universities.

Once granted the AvH scholarship, doctoral and post-doctoral students all over the world can take up studies at a partner university in Germany.

In order for students to qualify for the first time, they also need to be younger than 45 years of age.

CPUT’s involvement in AHASA came about after Prof Uken was awarded the Senior AvH scholarship, which led to the completion of his PhD in Nuclear Sciences prior to joining CPUT. Later he studied for a second year at Europe’s largest Renewable Energy laboratories at the Fraunhofer Solar Energy Institute in Freiburg.

The scholarship also promotes exchange programmes between German and other participating universities from other countries.

According to Prof Uken, this is a multi-disciplinary senior scholarship and once the candidate completes the studies, she/he will come back to the country and that particular university can subsequently host an expert from Germany to conduct research for a few months.

So far, Dr Bohua Sun from CPUT’s Mechanical Engineering Department is the only other CPUT recipient of the AvH scholarship.

AHASA has 64 living South Africans who work and conduct research at various universities in the country. This also includes former rectors and a chief justice.

Prof Uken said: “I would like to encourage my colleagues who would like to double their salaries to take up the scholarship during their sabbatical leave. They will not only become richer financially, but the professional interchange of ideas with world-class researchers is an experience not to be missed”.

Because CPUT already had two AvH bursars studying in Germany, it now qualifies to host top German scientists under the Lynen Programme.

“This programme will allow German researchers to guide research at CPUT. We are still working on selecting that researcher who would come and do research with us,” said Prof Uken.

For more details, people are welcome to contact Prof Uken at 021 460 3127 or the newly-elected AHASA secretary Prof Louis Jonker at Stellenbosch University at 021 808 3268.

By Andiswa Dantile

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The future is bright for doctoral graduate, Velaphi Msomi.

At 33 years of age, Msomi will join the growing ranks of young academics in South Africa who hold doctoral qualifications.

A lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department, Msomi will graduate on 18 September 2015, at the University’s annual Spring Graduation.

Passionate about Mechanical Engineering, Msomi’s doctoral work saw him develop a mathematical model of analyzing the behavior of smart structures (structures involving smart materials).

The context of his study was on flight control surface actuation and aero-morphing and Msomi used shape memory alloy material to test the developed model.

Msomi says shape memory alloys are crucial in several industries, as this highly specialized material memorizes shape.

For example, shape memory alloys are in the process of being used to control the rolling motion of airplanes and are also used to manufacture dental braces, which take on the shape of an individual’s mouth.

Titled, “Modeling and Testing Smart Aileron Servo Tabs: Developing Simulation Tools for Smart Materials,” Msomi’s innovative study formed part of a broader research partnership with Airbus through the National Aerospace Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand.

While researching, Msomi published several articles in peer reviewed journals and presented papers in local and international conferences.

“Research is my passion. I love what I do,” says Msomi.

And his hard work has been paying off.

He was recently appointed as a technical program committee member for the Advanced Material Science and Mechanical Engineering conference, a first for a CPUT researcher.

He was also invited by the National Research Foundation to be an external reviewer, and has also acted as an editorial board member of two international journals.

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.

Students and staff are working hard to assemble the CPUT Solar Flyer in the TIA Adaptronics AMTL research unit’s workshop.

Our entry into the Sasol Solar Challenge 2018, South Africa is still a shell, but the plan is in place and work schedules have been drawn up.

Prof Graeme Oliver of the Mechanical Engineering Department says they could only fully commit to the Sasol Solar Challenge 2018, South Africa once funding approval was received so a compressed time schedule meant using a design and manufacturing process that would be achievable in a limited amount of time.

He calls the truncated schedule a great learning experience for the ten staff members and ten students, all drawn from the Mechanical, Mechatronics and Electrical Engineering Departments. 

“As we are very new to this competition we are also happy to receive advice such as the input from our LiFePO4 battery pack fabricator, who is also sponsoring some small electrical components, on battery management and switching systems to protect our battery performance,” said Oliver.

The CPUT Solar Flyer vehicle design will incorporate in-wheel hub motors and a covered space frame reinforced with composites for safety, with an-offset adjustable roof mounted solar array.

The solar array is assembled from commercially available panels and the hub motors are imported kits supplied by a local Cape Town supplier, with some additional design fabrication needed to mount them in motorcycle wheel rims with the in-wheel hydraulic disk brakes.

Initially there was a problem with mounting the motors in the wheels. The hub motors are made for bicycle rims and spokes and the CPUT Solar Flyer will incorporate motorcycle rims to meet the Challenge’s specification for tyres.

The holes on the motorcycle rims are too big for bicycle spokes so drilling holes in the motor to fit the motorcycle spokes seemed the simpler option.

The complication was fitting the spokes from the large hub motor to the relatively small motorcycle wheel. The solution was to punch washers into the right shape to fit the motorcycle rims to take bicycle spokes.

“I got a bicycle shop to size and make bicycle spokes and lace them to build the wheels for us. It can be the small things that mess you up on a project like this.”

Oliver pointed out that once you have a working vehicle it can act as a platform to test out improvements. “These days things like motors, solar chargers and even battery packs can be hooked up to a computer and you can change the way they behave to adapt them specifically to your system as you gain experience. With the system we chose you can get live readings on your cell phone about the power being produced by the solar panels so it is setup for future research.”

Written by Theresa Smith
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CPUT students and staff members will take part in this year’s Sasol Solar Car Challenge 2018, South Africa for the first time.

Held every second year, the competition sees teams from across the world design and build solar-powered vehicles to drive across South Africa in an eight day event.

Prof Graeme Oliver of the Mechanical Engineering Department has put together a team of 20 staff members and students to compete against the more than 20 local and international teams expected to participate.

Oliver initially signed CPUT up for the competition back in May, but only received confirmation of Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) funding at the end of June, leaving two months to put together the car.

Since the project is not integrated into a particular course or subject, students from Mechatronics, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering have volunteered to work on the team with the help of the TIA Adaptronics AMTL research unit based at CPUT.

“Because this is our first time entering the Challenge there is a lot of extra learning to be done. Until you have the actual thing in your hand, you can’t always tell what you need. So, we need to build the car. In two years’ time we will probably have all exact motors and solar panels and experience we need,” said Oliver.

Eugene Erfort of the Adaptronics AMTL pointed out that automotive technology is one of their focus areas. While the specific technology is different the experience gained on the Formula Student project will be useful. CPUT has taken part in the Formula Student inter-university challenge twice at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom.

“Because we’ve got the history in the automotive industry we became involved in this project,” said Erfort who will handle logistics for the CPUT team entering the Challenge.

The solar electronic car which they will build for the Sasol Solar Challenge 2018, South Africa will be called CPUT Solar Flyer “because it looks a bit like a plane.”

Mechanical Engineering lecturer and project organiser Felicity Harris says if all goes well then this could be the start of future projects of this nature which can be incorporated into coursework.

In addition to helping organise the actual trip Harris is putting together an academic engagement plan.

“Part of the bigger plan is to use the project to create awareness around studying engineering at CPUT. After the competition we will take the car to schools as a talking point,” said Harris.

The 20 strong team is hard at work in the Adaptronics AMTL building, when teaching and learning schedules allow, but not all will travel to Pretoria for the actual road trip.

The team who do eventually make the journey will drive the car from Pretoria to Stellenbosch between 22 and 29 September, covering a set distance every day, and we will be able to follow their progress via social media and the CPUT website.

Written by Theresa Smith
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