The Product Lifecycle Management Competency Centre (PLMCC) will ensure that CPUT students are equipped with the skills needed to grow South Africa’s industrial sector.

The Bellville based centre, which is one of five of its kind in the world and the only in Africa, has officially rolled out its first suite of specialised training courses.

EXCLUSIVE: The Product Lifecycle Management Competency Centre is the only of its kind on the African continent

The centre trains engineering students how to use specialised computer software, which will allow them to become skilled in virtual product design, development and manufacturing.

Director of the centre, Prof Stephane Bouye says the training courses are suited to the needs of the various disciplines in the Engineering Faculty.

Bouye says they have also devised a course for students enrolled in the Industrial Design programme, which is offered by the Faculty of Informatics and Design.

“So far we have offered training to BTech and MTech Mechanical Engineering students. We have also trained some Industrial Design students,” he says.

The centre also recently trained a group of engineering students from Stellenbosch University.

Bouye says training is not limited to the CPUT community but will be offered to students from other universities as well as to members of industry.

When not training students, the centre’s staff members are lending their skills to a number of innovative projects.

Currently, they are collaborating with the Adaptronic Advanced Manufacturing Technology Laboratory and the Electrical Engineering Department on several projects.

The centre is a joint venture between CPUT, the French Ministry of Education, Dassault Systems and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and was launched last year.

For more information on the centre and the courses on offer, please contact: Program Coordinator: Michael Petersen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or +27 21 959 6856

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News

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A collaboration between CPUT’s Product Lifecycle Management Competency Centre (PLMCC) and a local high school will see the development of a 50 watt generator wind turbine.

Learners from The French School in Cape Town are working with students and staff members from the PLMCC on the design and production of the wind turbine, which will be used on their school premises.

Director of the PLMCC Prof Stephane Bouye says it is important for universities to engage with learners.

“The aim is to create a passion for technology and to create awareness (amongst the learners) on what is available in technology and science,” he says.

The learner recently spent a day at CPUT working at the PLMCC centre, which is based on the Bellville Campus.

Here they got a first-hand look at the highly specialized design programmes used by staff members and students, who are working on several innovative projects.

This centre trains engineering students how to use specialised computer software, which will allow them to become skilled in virtual product design, development and manufacturing.

The centre is one of five of its kind in the world and the only in Africa.

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The Product Lifecycle Management Competency Centre (PLMCC) is staying abreast of the latest technology in the engineering sector.

The Bellville-based unit, which is one of five of its kind in the world, has acquired an interactive screen tablet.

The highly specialised device allows students and staff members to conduct freehand designs, which are then saved and converted into 3D images.

Head of the centre, Prof Stephane Bouye says the device is aimed at streamlining the conceptual process of any product.

Thanks to this innovative technology, engineers no longer have to conduct initial drawings on paper, but on the tablet. This allows for changes to be made immediately and ensures design accuracy.

The tablet along with other specialised equipment is core to the centre’s training, which will be rolled out in 2013.

The centre focuses on engineering processes involved in managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. These processes are all made possible by highly specialised computer programmes.

PLMCC Programme Coordinator, Michael Petersen says training will focus on BTech Mechanical and Electrical Engineering students.

“We are looking for MTech students who would like to consider doing projects at the centre,” he says.

Collaborations with the Adaptronic Advanced Manufacturing Technology Laboratory and Electrical Engineering Department on several innovative projects are also on the cards.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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CPUT will host a French Day at its Bellville Campus next week.

The event, which takes place on 5 September, will highlight successful collaborations between the French and CPUT and promote future cooperation and student exchanges.

The event forms part of the broader “French Season in South Africa” which is currently being celebrated.

During the next few months, a series of events, organsied by the French Embassy and South African entities, will highlight French culture, education, sports and science.

CPUT’s Ian van Zyl, who is one of the organisers of the French Day, says the event will feature exhibitions, round table discussions, demonstrations and lectures.

The activities will take place at the Gencor Building, which is home to the French South African Institute of Technology (F’SATI) and the Product Lifecycle Management Competency Centre (PLMCC).

F’SATI is a joint venture between the university and ESIEE-Paris, a graduate school in France.  Established several years ago, the collaboration is a huge success and has seen F’SATI develop Africa’s first cubesat - ZACUBE 1.

The university’s most recent collaboration with the French resulted in the establishment of the PLMCC earlier this year.  Partners in this venture include the French Ministry of Education, the French company Dassault Systems and the Technology Innovation Agency.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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CPUT has added another state-of-the-art centre to its already impressive list - the Product Lifecycle Management Competency Centre (PLMCC).

The centre is a joint venture between CPUT, the French Ministry of Education, Dassault Systems and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and is the first of its kind in Africa and only the fifth to be set up in the world.

The Bellville-based centre will train engineering students how to use specialised computer software, which will allow them to become skilled in virtual product design, development and manufacturing.

Speaking at the recent launch, Jacques Kurkdjian, a representative from Dassault Systems, said their investment in CPUT, will allow the university to address the shortages facing the engineering sector.

EXPERT:  Dean of Engineering, Dr Nawaz Mohammed and Prof Stephane Bouyer, who will head up the centre, watch as a student demonstrates how the virtual product design system works.

Although South African companies make use of this software, universities do not have the capacity to train students in virtual product development.

“The PLMCC will play a big role in the development of skilled engineers in South Africa,” said Kurkdjian.

Pierre Le Monde, a representative from the French Embassy said the centre will also foster innovation in the higher education sector and South Africa.

And with CPUT making inroads in innovation, both nationally and internationally, Naim Rassool from the TIA, said industry could even see spin-off companies developing from the centre’s activities.

“CPUT is ideally positioned to host this center because it has the drive to make it a success,” he said.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Anthony Staak said CPUT is proud to host the centre, which is the second unit to be set up with the help of the French.

Several years ago, the F’SATI unit was set up and now leads training in satellite engineering.

Prof Staak said the centre will further cement CPUT’s relationship with the French Government.

By Candes Keating

Photographs by Clive Galant

Written by CPUT News
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Micro-mobility vehicles could be the solution to traffic congestion, poor public transport integration, and carbon emissions.

A Research and Development Officer at the CPUT Product Lifecycle Management Competency Centre (PLMCC), Neil de Vos is an advocate of micro-mobility vehicles, which is the focus of his masters research project.

De Vos says given the current transport situation globally, people are being forced to drastically rethink traditional means of transport.

In South Africa, the lack of public transport services in key economic corridors coupled with the absence of an effective inner city transport system endorses the integration of micro-mobility vehicles, says de Vos.

As part of his research, de Vos has been working with the local company, Mellowcabs, who operates fully electric micro-mobility vehicles, and is set to introduce them in South Africa and abroad.  His research is focused on ergonomics and improving design aspects to ensure all year round use of the vehicles, which currently has no doors.

DESIGN: The research is focused on ergonomics and improving design aspects to ensure all year round use of the vehicles, which currently has no doors

“The design process is focused on creating a new side door, however, at the same time the product should be elegant, smart, fashionable, comfortable, economical, maneuverable and safe,” he says.

To conduct his research, de Vos is making use of CATIA, a highly specialized virtual product lifecycle management design programme that is housed at the PLMCC.

The programme allows de Vos to get immediate feedback in terms of physical-based data that correspond to how the door could hinder the passengers’ interaction when they enter and exit the vehicle.

“This enables us to try various designs to perform a comparative study without building a single physical prototype,” he says.

Despite being such a small vehicle, de Vos is positive that micro-mobility vehicles will play huge role in revolutionizing the transport system.

“I am very interested to see where we can go with something as small as this.”

For more information on electric micro-mobility vehicles, please see www.mellowcabs.com

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.

This July, a group of BTech and MTech Mechanical Engineering students will compete in the Student Formula event at Silverstone in the UK.

The event is one of the world’s premier inter-university challenges and annually attracts thousands of students from across the globe.

Students from various disciplines are charged with designing and building a formula racing car from scratch and at Silverstone their design skills and technical know-how is put to the test as they battle it out for first place.

In 2012 our students participated in the Formula Student for the first time and went on to be the first African team to complete all race stages. The team was ranked 65th out of 132 overall and came 27th out of 132 for the endurance stage of the event.

This year’s team is made up of Mechanical postgraduate students who are already hard at work on the formula racing car.

Work began last year when students conceptualised their design using state-of-the-art 3D-design programmes at the university’s Product Lifecycle Management Competency Centre.

With the designed passed by lecturers at the TIA Adaptronics Advanced Manufacturing Technology Laboratory (AMTL), students started work on the car and already have completed the outer shell and are working on other elements, including the engine.

*This is a recognised World Design Capital 2014 project. For more information about CPUT's efforts for WDC2014 visit the imaginethat* website.

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.