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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