Next year CPUT will host the 5^th Annual Africa Engineering Week – an initiative jointly organised by UNESCO, the Department of Science and Technology and Engineering Council of South Africa.

Prof Marshall Sheldon, Acting DVC: Research and Innovation, led the CPUT delegation that attended this year’s Africa Engineering Week, which took place earlier in the month at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein. She participated in a panel focussing on the role of Engineering in addressing the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

CPUT’s Faculty of Engineering also took part in the Engineering Exhibition held in conjunction with this event. Its stall was a joint effort between the faculty’s Student Engagement Coordinator, Luvuyo Kakaza, Rizah Rowe and Sinamandla Maqina from FSATI (French South Africa Institute of Technology), as well as Muziwandile Mazibuko from the Mechatronics Department. During this two-day exhibition, a number of Science and Mathematics learners from schools in Bloemfontein and surrounds attended.

The UNESCO Africa Engineering Week is annual event, hosted by the Department of Science and Technology and supported by the Engineering Council of South Africa, that is focused on addressing the challenges represented by a shortage of engineers in South Africa and attracting learners to subjects like Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This is a multifaceted event that rotates among the nine provinces of South Africa.

“It is with the expectation of great things happening on campus that we anticipate hosting next year’s Africa Engineering Week. This year’s installment of the initiative was very enlightening and stimulating for all who attended.

“I invite each member of the CPUT community to join the Faculty of Engineering in surpassing the success achieved at this year’s event,” says Sheldon.

Written by CPUT News
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CPUT researchers will showcase their work and the impact they have on society at a Research Festival in the Major Sports Hall on 11 September.

“The Cape Peninsula University of Technology is proud of its suite of Research Technology and Innovation programmes, which contribute significantly to societal well-being through activities that are aligned to regional, national and international imperatives,” says Prof Marshall Sheldon, Acting DVC for Research.

“I would like to personally invite all staff members, postgraduate students and their guest to the festival, which is a first for the university,” she adds.

The Design, Development and Research (DDR) Symposium for masters and doctoral students will take place on the same day.

The themes for the Research Festival include Space, Earth, Water, People and Industry.

The objectives of festival are to, among others:

• Attract prospective students to CPUT’s exciting technological development space;
• Provide industry with an understanding of CPUT’s research, technology and innovation capacity; and
• Enhance institutional–industry collaboration in applied research and innovation.

For more information about the Research Festival contact Ansu Colditz on email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To register for the DDR Symposium email Arnaud Nzawou at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Adele Braaf at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Written by Abigail Calata

CPUT will get a cash injection of R21.2 million in accordance with a memorandum of agreement recently concluded with the Construction SETA (CETA).

This brings the total investment by CETA since 2013 to R34.4 million. This latest grant will see a further 90 CPUT students taken up in the very successful Work Integrated Learning (WIL) programme and 100 receiving bursaries. The beneficiaries are students qualifying in the Built Environment disciplines. This follows an initial 134 students benefitting from the WIL programme, when the university received R4.8 million in 2013. In the following financial year 88 students participated in the WIL programme to the tune of R3.1 million.

Acting DVC for Research, Prof Marshall Sheldon, encouraged beneficiaries of the grants to “grab these opportunities with everything you’ve got. We will support you in any way we can and want to see you mentoring the students that come after you.”

Raymond Cele, Board Chairman of CETA, remarks that CPUT piloted the WIL programme, which has become the implementation benchmark for the role-out nationwide. “We see CPUT as our strategic partner for education in the construction sector. Its staff members’ passion for their students is matched only by my team’s passion to see the beneficiaries of these grants succeed.”

Future plans divulged by Cele include:

• Integrated tracer studies into the impact of these programmes
• Establishment of a regional stakeholder forum
• Building the next generation of academics in the sector; and
• More service-learning projects and community engagement.

Written by Abigail Calata

Four academics in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment have achieved National Research Foundation (NRF) ratings for 2021 - 2026.

The four staff members were Dr Asis Patnaik (Department of Clothing and Textile Technology) who was awarded with a C2 rating, Dr Bongani Ncube (Civil Engineering and Surveying) and Prof Robert Van Zyl (Electrical Electronic and Computer Engineering) both achieved a C3 rating while Dr Velaphi Msomi (Mechanical Engineering) a Y2 rating.

The Faculty’s Dean, Prof Marshall Sheldon, said the NRF rating system is a key driver in the national science system towards global competitiveness. Sheldon added that the ratings are based on a review system through local and international peers of an individual’s research contributions and impact over the last eight years.

“We are proud to have these esteemed researchers as part of our faculty. What an achievement and keep up the good work,” said the ecstatic Dean.

Ncube, a researcher at the Centre for Water and Sanitation Research, said the C rating is awarded to established researchers with a sustained recent record of productivity in the field, who are recognised by their peers as having:

Produced a body of quality work, the core of which has coherence and attests to ongoing engagement with the field; and

Demonstrated the ability to conceptualise problems and apply research methods to investigate them.

“A C 3 rating means that most of the reviewers who assessed my application concurred that I am an established researcher,” added Ncube.

This rating allows her to pause and reflect on the direction of her research based on what both the local and international reviewers recommended. “When I came to South Africa about eight years ago I picked on research that was already taking place. I then developed my niche research areas in water and agriculture,” she continued. “So, now I need to decide on a specialisation area that integrates both.”

She perceives her new rating as acknowledgment and confirmation that her research is of good quality and that she is on the right track. She added that for CPUT it means the institution’s status is rising as more researchers get counted among leaders in their research fields.

Msomi’s Y2 rating is a category that is awarded to researchers who are younger than 40 years and have their research output recognised internationally. He has been given this rating for five years, after which there will be a review. The review will look at whether he is growing or not. “If I have achieved more during this five-year period, I will then be put to another category which is higher than Y ratings such as C, B and A. The rating comes with funding,” he explains.

This rating means Msomi is ranked as one of the top researchers in the country. The number of rated researchers in an institution also contributes towards the ranking of the university. This means there will be a fraction of points that CPUT will gain from this rating.  

Msomi still doesn’t believe that he is a rated researcher and this is due to his rural educational background. “So I think it will take maybe a year for me to believe that I am a rated researcher... I believe this rating will encourage other researchers in my Department to give research a different view. I also believe that this rating will encourage my postgraduate students in taking their studies more seriously than before.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Prof Marshall Sheldon is thrilled with the performance of the CPUT World Skills teams that attended the WorldSkills South Africa National Competition held in Durban.

The five CPUT teams clinched a total of six medals, three gold and as many silver medals. CPUT also received tools for CNC milling to the value of R70 000 as part of upskilling the competitors and experts from the Department of Higher Education and Training.

The tools are now kept at CPUT CNC workshop for training of community. After the national competition, numerous sponsors and SETAs showed interest to work and invest at CPUT as a hub and a driver of higher order skills as there are not many universities part at this stage. This puts CPUT in a better opportunity to train the trainers for the WorldSkills Competition (WSC). CPUT also stands a chance to explore possibilities of incorporating Work Integrated Learning (WIL) into the WSC program. The competition stirred a good atmosphere of skills excellence among students and staff who attended it. Only the Mechanical and Mechatronics department participated in this year’s WSC, but the invitation is expected to be extended to other departments such as Information Technology, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Food Technology.

Sheldon said the CPUT teams’ performance made her enormously proud of the student and staff’s achievements.

The competition was planned to be held in China but due the COVID situation in that country it was changed to Europe, and various countries in Europe will host the competition for various skills.

The mobile robotic team won a gold medal and they will be going to France in October 2022. The female student who participated in the CNC skill team won a gold medal and she will be going to Germany in October 2022.

“The Faculty is very proud of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics staff and students for putting CPUT on the map in terms of the 4IR World Skills and wish them all of the best with the competition abroad.”

Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, Prof Rishidaw Balkaran also congratulated the team. “Well done! To the colleagues and students at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, thank you for the excellent work and waving the CPUT flag high,” Balkaran enthused.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, Dr David Phaho said: “This is great news and congratulations to the faculty and the involved colleagues.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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Representatives from government, industry and academia were among the delegates welcomed to the Bellville campus this morning for the first day of the DST-UNESCO Engineering Conference.

The theme of the three-day conference is Enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution for Sustainability and Economic Growth.

Prof Marshall Sheldon, CPUT’s Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, said the initiative was developed to build engineering capacity in the country that is informed by national projects such as the National Development Plan. National Infrastructure Plan, National Skills Development Plan Strategy and specific projects such as the Square Kilometre Array.

“This conference aims to bring together role-players in various engineering fields to discuss opportunities and challenges and to propose strategies to South Africa that we can adopt to develop the engineering capacity in South Africa,” she said.

In addition, the conference aims to raise awareness of the importance of the role of engineering in growing the economy of the country and thereby increasing the quality of life.

CPUT Vice-Chancellor Dr Chris Nhlapo said the conference theme was of particular interest to the institution as the university had recently embarked on a strategy aimed at unpacking the concept of the Fourth Industrial revolution and its impact on the Vision 2030 plan for the institution with a vision of creating one smart CPUT.

He said platforms like the conference were important “so that we can talk in unison about the national approach to the fourth and the fifth industrial revolution.”

This morning’s speakers included Dr Gansen Pillay, Deputy CEO of the National Research Foundation, who delivered the keynote address, and Sipho Madonsela, CEO of the Engineering Council of South Africa.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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In the inaugural DVC Innovation Award, sponsored by IP law firm Spoor and Fisher, was jointly bestowed on Associate Professor Maretha Opperman and Assoc Prof Spinney Benade (posthumous) for their research into a portfolio of nutraceutical and food supplement products.

In his address at the awards ceremony last week Dr Revel Iyer, director of the Technology Transfer Office, said the award was a new initiative meant to recognise the contribution of researchers at CPUT to technological innovation stemming from research.

“In choosing the recipient of the award we look beyond the simple creation of innovations. The requirement is that the technology must be packaged in a translational form such that it has a tangible effect on the society and economy. Preference is given to innovations making an impact in South Africa,” explained Iyer.

The Award was presented on World Intellectual Property Day, April 26.

Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology, Innovation & Partnerships Prof Marshall Sheldon pointed out that this year’s World Intellectual Property Day campaign celebrated the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity and courage of women who are driving change in our world.

“Everyday women come up with game-changing inventions and life-enhancing creations that transform lives and advance human understanding from astrophysics to nanotechnology and from medicine to artificial intelligence and robotics.

“At CPUT we have a number of women whose research is directed at innovation that has created intellectual property,” said Sheldon.
Opperman said she and Benade had worked together for 13 years, establishing the Functional Food Research Unit in 2009.

Together they worked on various projects including three which yielded patents for an Omega-3 capsule called Omega Caro-E; a nutritional supplement premix containing carotenes, vitamin E and minerals known to be deficient in groups of people consuming a starch-heavy diet, called Nutri Caro-E; and a soon to be released emulsion version of Omega Caro-E for children.

“I am working with Food Technology to work on the taste,” she said about the emulsion.
Their initial focus on community research, doing clinical trials to determine the optimum daily level of fatty acids needed by people, is a model they have replicated ever since as they developed different nutraceutical and food supplements.

“Prof Spinney always said ‘you don’t just do research for a publication to sit on your shelf. If you can’t apply it, you don’t do it. That was a very big motivation for me,” Opperman remembers.

An associate professor in the Department of Biotechnology and Consumer Science, Opperman is also in her second year of study for an MBA from Stellenbosch University Business School to help her manage an NGO she is starting that will distribute the Omega Caro-E emulsion to local preschool children.

Prof Benade worked on carotenes his whole career, but the nutritional supplement premix containing carotenes was the last project he worked on at CPUT, and the last research he was investigating was using said premix in a biscuit to mitigate the effects of Vitamin A deficiency in children.

“The other interesting thing is vitamin E. Prof indicated that in that population [which they were testing] 70% of the children were deficient in Vitamin E which is important for brain development. It protects your blood against oxidation and damage to arteries.

“After the biscuits were given to the children their deficiency declined to 10 percent and then their school attendance improved, their levels of inflammation decreased.

“Then, they withdrew the biscuits for six months to see what happened and all their levels turned back to deficient.

“I think he did really good research in that regard. The publications are not 100% finished yet, so I asked his wife if she wanted me to continue and finish it, and she said I must.”

While working on what would eventually become the Omega Caro-E capsules, the two professors did extensive research into various omega-3 supplements available on the South African markets and they passed on their results to the Registrar of Medicines at the Medicines Control Council, which led to an invitation for Opperman to sit on their Complementary Medicines Committee.

There she is collaborating on the writing of new regulation into complementary medicines and overseeing the writing of the guidelines on fatty acid supplements for the South African market.

Written by Theresa Smith
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Provides coverage for the Applied Sciences and Engineering Faculties and the Wellington Campus.

Students from the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering showcased their talent and skills during the provincial competition of the WorldSkills Competition (WSC).

Hosted by the Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment, the event was held at SARETEC.

WorldSkills competitions are considered the gold standard of skills excellence. They inspire young competitors to reach new heights, helping them turn their passion into a profession.

The teams were trained by CPUT staff members and the sponsors of the different skills.

The teams showed their talents in four skills:  CNC (Computer Numerical Control) Milling, Mobile Robotics, Mechatronics and Renewable Energy as well as one “future skill”, Additive Manufacturing. 

The guests and participants were welcomed by Prof Marshall Sheldon, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, who said the competition was an exciting opportunity for the faculty and for the institution.

The speakers included Mike Mashinini (World Skills South Africa (WSZA): Technical Delegate) and Leon Beech (South African Educator Development Centre).

Mashinini said the competition was not just about winning but about building skills and careers.

He emphasised the six focus areas that are aligned to the WorldSkills Vision 2025: Promotion of Skills; Career Building; International Development; Education and Training; Research and Competitions.  

Mashinini expressed the hope that some of the CPUT students would progress to the 46th WorldSkills Competition, scheduled to be held in Shanghai next year.

Students were presented with certificates and awards after the competition while the experts in each skill were also presented with certificates of participation.

Lecturer Vuyani Moni said the students, skill experts, management and support staff were all invited to the Western Cape World Skill Award ceremony (WC WSZA Award Ceremony), scheduled to be held on 11 December.

He said the WC WSZA subcommittee would be awarding all the skill participants who participated in different provincial competitions.  

“Students and skills experts were also encouraged to vaccinate in preparation for the national competition in Durban (28 February to 3 March), Africa Skills competition in Namibia (31 March to 3 April) and the global competition in China (12 to 17 October 2022).

Moni said it was expected that 127 countries would participate in WSC in China in more than 60 skills.

“CPUT is positioning itself to participate in all the possible Higher Order Skills by year 2023 as part of WorldSkills Vision 2025 where there should be one standard used for each skill,” Moni added.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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