The Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development’s (CHED) STEM Club magnificently hosted the National Science Week (NSW) event recently.

The purpose of the hybrid event with about 35 attendees, 15 online was to celebrate the Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) sector across the University community as this was for the National Science Week. The theme was: Celebrating the role of basic sciences in the modern world. The aim was also to create more awareness in terms of the STEM sector and services offered to students and “how best we could possibly assist students in achieving their goals”.

STEM Coordinator, Dr Frikkie George, said there was a great need to host such events to collaborate, network and encourage students. “The latter is required considering the subject matter of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths”. There was a great turnout of students, an excitement that one cannot express as well as a hunger for assistance in those particular subjects.

“The event was successful; indeed, it is a pity that only a limited number of students could attend due to COVID-19 restrictions. The students were very excited, and the presentations of the guest speakers, Fundani CHED Director, Dr Xena Cupido and Department of Chemistry Lecturer, Dr Elise De Vries, addressed contemporary issues in the STEM field. The organisation and the activities developed smoothly,” added George.

The STEM Club was established in April 2022 and this was its second event. George confirmed that besides celebrating the National Science Week “we aimed to expose the STEM Club to the CPUT community”.  He said the feedback after the event was very positive and gives them the opportunity to spread their footprint at the other CPUT campuses.

For this event, the CPUT STEM Club conducted science-based activities, and focused on the role and value of Science, Technology and Mathematics in celebration of this year’s National Science Week. Students had the opportunity to display various science experiments, engagement from the floor in terms of discussions as well as the panel discussion, discussions from both lecturers as well as students reflecting the importance of the STEM sector at the University.

“The eye-catching and exciting science demonstrations enthralled the imagination of everyone who attended,” George observed.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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A device that can power a refrigerator during load-shedding, a biogas stove and a wind turbine for generating energy to charge an electric car battery.

These were just some of the amazing ideas presented by entrants at the recent CPUT Student STEM Expo, which formed part of this year’s National Science Week activities at the institution.

National Science Week is an annual countrywide celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Innovation (STEMI), where various stakeholders, role players and interest groups collectively conduct activities that promote awareness of the value of STEMI to people’s daily lives.

This year’s theme was "Transforming lives through the evidence-based science”.

Guests were welcomed by STEM Coordinator, Dr Frikkie George, who said more than 100 initial entries were received for the expo, whereafter a shortlisting process took place.

CPUT’s STEM club was established last year and George said the STEM Expo is inspired by the Eskom Expo, which is focused on high school learners.

“In terms of way forward we would like to enter the global stage…so the ideal is to produce candidates that will be able to enter and to be worthy contenders when they are competing on a global stage.”

The speakers at the event were: Dr Xena Cupido, Director: Fundani CHED, Lyndon Manas, Provincial Coordinator of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists in the Western Cape, Mokgadi Modise, Directo: SARETEC and Prof Burtram Fielding, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of the Western Cape.

The entrants were given a chance to deliver a 60-second pitch about their project while visitors could also view their exhibitions in the major sport hall.

Ntokozo Mashaba from Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering won the first prize for his project titled Car wind turbine.

He said the project’s aim and objectives were to design a prototype that could be mounted on top of a car and act as a wind turbine to generate electricity.

“The electrical energy generated can be used to charge the battery of an electric car,” said Ntokozo.

In second place were Rector Mathebula and Welcome Mkhabela with their project titled: Futuristic energy: Magnetic dome generator while the third place went to Dominic Preuss for his project titled Lithium-ion battery inverter system.

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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In an effort to promote sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation, the STEM Club offered students a platform to exhibit their best research projects to the CPUT community.

This year's category winners are Mzameli Mashiyi, who is developing an African language speech recognition AI (Technology) and Nomava Mgidi, who is addressing unemployment through fashion design (Social Science).

This was part of the annual STEM Expo Competition at SARETEC as part of the National Science Week, where students were given opportunities to upscale their research projects via the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) for possible commercialisation. During this year's Expo Competition, the STEM Club worked closely with the Community Engagement (CE) and Work Integrated Learning (WIL) units. The neighbouring high school learners were also invited to be part of the programme and to view the exhibitions. CE and WIL also conducted a workshop with the learners.

The guest speakers included Jacqueline Scheepers: Manager: Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Unit, Dr Xena Cupido: Fundani CHED director, Dr Mark Jacobs: Maths lecturer, Dr Gillian Arendse: Nuclear Physicist for iThemba Labs), and Ntokozo Mashaba: last year's winner. Dr Frikkie George, who is also CPUT STEM Support Lead, said the lively and animated talk of Dr Arendse “gapped the interest of the attendees”.

George, who also coordinated the event, said they witnessed fewer exhibitors this year but “the quality of the projects was impressive”.

However, the STEM Expo Competition was well attended. “We explore the possibility of accessing funding for the winners to up-scale their projects for commercialisation. This event showcases the CPUT STEM Club's members' research projects, and it may contribute to their academic performance.”

George, who is also the acting Head of Department: Fundani STARS Unit, continued: “This STEM Expo competition will advance the STEM awareness at CPUT and showcase students' research projects in the different departments.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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