As part of the Engineering Faculty’s research strategy linked to National priorities on sustainable development, the Faculty has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Bellville campus with its local and international partners.

As part of the Engineering Faculty’s research strategy linked to National priorities on sustainable development, the Faculty has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Bellville campus with its local and international partners.

Represented at the signing ceremony on 28 September 2010 were staff from the executive management and the Faculty.

The MoU was signed with a Chinese partner; a Tsinghua University owned spin-off called Tsinghua Solar, which is a global leader in solar water heating (SWH) solutions. The Joint MoU also includes Shanduka and Trihelix, the latter being a Beijing-based business development company.

According to the Dean of Engineering Dr Nawaz Mahomed, the Faculty has embarked on an initiative to establish a centre for energy efficient buildings to be situated within the Mechanical Engineering precinct.

“This initiative received a major boost through the signing of the MoU,” said Mahomed. The Joint MoU was developed over the past nine months, culminating in the recent visit to China by SA President Jacob Zuma.

The proposed partnership on solar water heating technology is part of the broader cooperation intent between the two countries in sustainable energy solutions, due to similarities in the energy challenges faced by China and Africa.

Mahomed added: “CPUT’s role in the consortium will be to provide research and technology support to the deployment and localisation of the solar water heating systems in SA. This includes the development and establishment of a new standards paradigm for the continent, based on Chinese models.”

According to him, this will require an intensive technology transfer partnership with Tsinghua Solar and Tsinghua University.

On the day, Mahomed also made a presentation, which highlighted the impact of the SWH initiative on socio-economic development in the country, and the areas of intervention that CPUT will provide in the development of a fully-fledged local solar water heating industry.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga welcomed the guests, saying: “What has happened today is the first major manifestation of one of CPUT’s objectives, which include spearheading the development of research”.

The test and demonstrator facilities will be housed within the centre for energy efficient buildings, and the centre will enjoy the benefit of Chinese experts coming to SA as well as equipment acquired via the consortium. A further essential role is the provision of training and skills development at all levels in this sector.

Support will be harnessed from major stakeholders, including the Central Energy Fund, SA Bureau of Standards, Eskom and local Government, among others.

By Andiswa Dantile

Written by CPUT News
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Fresh water fish with antidepressants embedded in their plasma is a reality according to a visiting professor from America.

Bryan Brooks, a distinguished professor in Environmental Science and Biomedical Studies from the Baylor University in Waco, Texas, presented a public lecture calling for more collaboration between academic disciplines to tackle the complex challenges presented by an increasingly urbanised world.

“An urban water cycle is the new normal. With the concentration of people in cities unlike any other time in human history, we are concentrating the resources they use: water, food, energy. We’re also increasing their access to chemicals. This is occurring at the same time that 80% of sewerage goes untreated,” explains Brooks.

His lecture, titled Perspectives on Intersections of Urbanization, Food Safety and Water Security, revolved around efforts to achieve the United Nation’s Global Goals for Sustainable Development centred on environmental issues.

He highlighted the plight of small fish called fat head minnows that live in a river downstream from a city in the United States. The concentration of the antidepressant Zoloft in these fish exceeds the “human internal therapeutic plasma dose” and is changing the fish’s behaviour making them more vulnerable to predators.

According to Brooks current models that predict the extent of pharmaceutical environmental contaminants are inadequate “to anticipate their risk to people and ecosystems. We can’t afford to be isolationist and reductionist in our approaches to such complex problems. We need a multi-disciplinary, more systems-based approach if we are to solve them,” he adds.

Written by Abigail Calata

The Faculty of Applied Sciences recently signed the 10 principles of Fair Trade during The Fair-Trade University launch “Cape Peninsula University of Technology Fair Future (CPUTFF),” a student-driven initiative to promote fair trade and sustainable development.

The event was held at Agri-Hub CPUT, Wellington Campus, and this campaign aims to bring to reality the ways in which sustainable/resilient and ethical becomes practical in the agricultural space. The campaign is a support component to the theory in the lecture hall as well as a networking opportunity with other fair trade university campaigns within the region and globally.

Department of Agriculture Lecturer, Nonkululeko Mfeka, said the CPUT and the World Fair Trade Africa and Middle East (WFTO AME), had signed a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this year to partner in improving the livelihood of disadvantaged producers and the broader community through various awareness campaigns and information sessions. “This initiative aligns with the institutional Vision 2030 mission and values, focusing on ‘Smart student engagement and learning experiences’”, said Mfeka. She continued: “We are glad, as a department, we’re identified to spearhead this campaign.”

Project Officer, Domestic Fair Trade - Kenya and South Africa WFTO Africa & Middle East, Musa Mpofu, said it gives them a great sense of achievement to facilitate the fair-trade university campaign journey that CPUTFF has chosen to embark on. Mpofu said the domestic fair trade project housed in WFTO Africa and the Middle East started this conversation with CPUT in 2021. “While the process of getting us to where we are today took a while, it gave the project adequate time to navigate various implementation frameworks, and we believe the current framework will give the students the best possible experience of implementing a fair trade campaign in a region where a fair trade campaign cannot be based on procurement,” she said.

During the event, there was a signing of the pledge by Prof Joseph Kioko, Dean: Faculty of Applied Sciences, and Mpofu. Kioko said: “To our visitors thank you; by partnering with us, you are making a difference. This is important to us… We are really excited to be part of this. One of our aims as CPUT is to help produce graduates who contribute to making a better world, that better world starts from where we are, our communities, and our societies, right from here.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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