CPUT lecturer Rael Futerman is passionate about design and the role it plays in developing societies and bridging social divides.

This passion secured Futerman a position as curator for the World Design Capital (WDC) 2014.

Futerman, who is the Programme Coordinator of the Industrial Design Department, is one of 38 individuals chosen as curators by the WDC.

As World Design Capital 2014, Cape Town will have the design world’s focus and spotlight as the city highlights design projects that make a difference. The city was chosen by the International Council of Industrial Design in recognition of its design accomplishments.

Futerman, along with the other curators, have been tasked by the council to identify projects that can and are improving  lives.

“As curators we have an opportunity to see great design ideas become reality. We are also able to develop the cohesion of these ideas. An important element is for the projects to have contextual relevance, and showcase truly African design. The ideas should bridge divides,” says Futerman.

Submissions are currently open and can be made within any of the four themes designated by the WDC 2014, namely:

• African Innovation. Global Conversation.
• Bridging the Divide
• Today for Tomorrow
• Beautiful Spaces. Beautiful Things

For more information about the themes as well as WDC 2014 panel discussions, visit www.wdccapetown2014.com or follow them on Twitter @wdc2014.

The closing date for submissions is 5 April 2013.

By Nurahn Ryklief

Written by CPUT News

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The country’s first prototype car adapted for driving by people with disabilities, which CPUT unveiled recently, is competing for showcasing when Cape Town hosts World Design Capital (WDC) 2014 projects and events.

Following the very successful Disability Driving Expo held in March at the Cape Town Campus, the project’s team submitted the project to promote Universal Design awareness during WDC 2014.

“The project aligns elegantly with the WDC 2014 overall theme of “Live Design; Transform Life,” says the project’s head, Design Professor Mugendi M’Rithaa.”

Nicky’s Drive, the NGO which inspired the project, in partnership with Disabled People South Africa, submitted the project to the curatorial committee of Cape Town Design Pty – the company that is charged with the responsibility of implementing the WDC 2014 programme.

The team is awaiting feedback from the committee as the second round closes in July.

“We remain optimistic as our submission offers a unique perspective on the needs of drivers with disabilities by enabling their aspirations for mobility through the transformative potential of Universal Design in promoting inclusion of all people, irrespective of their ability,” says Mugendi.

The CPUT students from the Departments of Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering, who created the innovation, are now fine-tuning the adaptations that were developed for the prototype and simulator for the unveiling.

“We look forward to having the vehicle tried and tested by early 2014, ready for WDC 2014,” he enthuses.

“Our participation in this project is in response to the challenge by Dr Chris Nhlapo, CPUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, that we demonstrate the attributes of the ‘new academic’ – wherein scholars produce applied research that translates into pertinent innovations that contribute to our collective pool of intellectual property.”

By Kwanele Butana

Written by CPUT News

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The country’s first prototype car adapted for driving by people with disabilities, which CPUT unveiled earlier this year, will be showcased next year when Cape Town hosts World Design Capital (WDC) projects.

Following the successful Disability Driving Expo held in March at the Bellville Campus, Nicky’s Drive, the project was submitted to the curatorial committee of Cape Town Design Pty – the company that is charged with the responsibility of implementing the WDC 2014 programme.

“The achievement gives us recognition for the hard work that each team member has put into the car project,” says Nicky Abdinor who inspired the project.

CPUT students from Industrial Design and from Mechanical Engineering/AMTL have spent long hours designing, developing and testing different components for the car adaptations.

“We are positive that our project incorporates the vision for World Design; ‘Live Design. Transform Life’, and will be showcased in 2014,” continues Abdinor, who was born with short legs and without arms.

The VW Caddy that was ordered for the project is due to arrive in the next few weeks.

The team needs to look at finalizing the design of the adaptations, taking ergonomics into account, before they are fitted into the VW Caddy.

“We are looking for funding to assist with this phase,” she adds.

The project which began as Abdinor’s dream to continue her independence has now expanded to bring the sophisticated technology that she uses to drive her car to Africa, making it affordable and accessible to people with disabilities.

She says that the inclusion of the "Driving Dreams" project in WDC 2014 brings attention and recognition to the mobility and independence needs of people of disabilities as the project places Universal Design (design and access for all) as a priority.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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CPUT is displaying the best they have to offer at the Open Design Cape Town exhibition currently taking place at City Hall.

From Engineering to Industrial Design, only the most unique items have made the exhibiting shortlist for the prestigious event which is linked to the World Design Capital (WDC) calendar of events taking place around the city.

Inside City Hall the Informatics and Design faculty has erected a one of a kind pop-up-shop to display and sell a variety of items produced by students and staff.

One of the most popular items on display is the “Well Hung” hook which fits to a car headrest and allows you to hang a shopping bag full of groceries from it, without anything falling out.

At only R80 this ingenious product, which was produced by BTech Industrial Design students, has been flying off the shelf.

On Saturday it will be the turn of the Engineering students to shine when their custom built Formula One racecar will go on display in Darling Street just outside City Hall.

WDC curator Andre James says CPUT students have impressed him with the sophisticated level of their designs- many of which are on display during the exhibition.

“WDC provides an opportunity for these students to display their work and take it to the next level in industry,” he says.

The exhibition is free and open to the public. It runs until the end of the month.  

Written by Lauren Kansley

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Cape Town has been short-listed as one of three cities vying for the prestigious World Design Capital in 2014 title. Great news for the city, and for CPUT, given the university’s involvement in a proposed design and informatics hub as part of the bid. Dr Chris Nhlapo is tremendously excited by the news. The Deputy Vice Chancellor of Innovation Research & Partnerships says this latest development will add impetus to CPUT’s dream of establishing a Design Park and Innovation Hub (DPIH) in the East City and give a global profile to the excellent work of the Faculty of Informatics and Design. (FID)

Cape Town faced stiff competition in the bid, jockeying for position against 56 other cities. The city must now outbid Dublin, Ireland and Bilbao, Spain to be given the honour of World Design Capital 2014 when the final announcement is made in October.

Nhlapo says, “I’m certain when the winner is announced Cape Town will come first. Although losing is not an option, if it happens the process will have catalyzed our vision around the science of design, and cemented our bond with our triple helix partners – government and industry. Already we have seen a wonderful spirit of regional collaboration between diverse partners, and the coming together of a wealth of creative and design fundis.”

CPUT's FID is helping to spearhead the drive to create The Fringe: Cape Town's Innovation District. An area in which design, media and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) innovation can be incubated and showcased, The Fringe aims to give credence to the university's mission – to be at the heart of technology education and innovation in Africa.

According to FID Dean, Prof Johannes Cronje, "The Faculty has as its mission to be at the heart of design innovation in the City. This bid, supported by our initiatives in the Fringe, is proof of our commitment to asking, "What can we do for the City?"

Reporting directly to Prof Cronje on this project is Associate Professor of Informatics, Shaun Pather. Pather says CPUT is currently leading a new and visionary academic response to the escalated importance of design worldwide.

“We refer to this as ‘Design Thinking’ and it traverses all academic disciplines. The importance of the bid to FID and CPUT is that it elevates our status as a Faculty of Design located in the heart of a city which could potentially be a World Design Capital.  It gives weight to our academic innovation in the form of ‘Design Thinking’ and affords us global status in the design field. It also adds a special vibrancy to the way we apply ‘Design Thinking’ across the academic project - including teaching, research, innovation and community engagement.”

By Jan Weintrob

Written by CPUT News
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As Cape Town officially submits its bid to be World Design Capital in 2014 this week, there is a gathering momentum around CPUT’s involvement in a proposed design and informatics hub in the East City. With government and industry partners raring to go, CPUT’s Faculty of Informatics and Design (FID) are helping to spearhead the drive to create The Fringe: Cape Town’s Innovation District.

An area in which design and innovation can flourish, The Fringe will give credence to the university’s mission – to be at the heart of technology education and innovation in Africa. Reporting directly to FID Dean, Prof Johannes Cronje, on this project is Associate Professor of Informatics, Shaun Pather. One of Pathers' roles within the FID is to make strategic partnerships a reality, thereby bridging the all-important gap between research and innovation. Pather is passionate about The Fringe, saying, “CPUT is involved because teaching and research does not and should not happen in a vacuum. We can’t innovate in a vacuum, we need to be more closely aligned to our Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Media and Design industry partners, many of whom are already right here in our 'back yard'. We therefore see ourselves as a key partner in making The Fringe a reality.”

Pather is quick to emphasise the “triple-helix” of stakeholders driving the initiative – a coalition of academe, industry and government/civil society. ”The Fringe is a Cape Catalyst Initiative, a unit that recognises the importance of various creative industries to grow our provincial economy, and is supported by Provincial Government. The project is managed by the City’s Cape Town Partnership, with CPUT forming the third strand of the helix driving the creation of The Fringe.”

According to Prof Cronje, “As a key partner, we’re proposing our own contribution to the Fringe – the CPUT Design Park and Innovation Hub (DPIH). The intention is to create a business “design-park” model, a space in which everybody comes to play. We envisage an iconic architectural point, so that when people look at Table Mountain, they too will see this visionary creation. Right now we feel that our Cape Town campus has its back turned to the city. But the DPIH will change all that, becoming a space in which all higher education institutes, industry and civil society can share.”

An opportunity for CPUT to consolidate existing initiatives in the Design, ICT, Media and Business disciplines, the Design Park is fully supported by Executive Management, and institutionally is under the stewardship of Dr Chris Nhlapo, DVC Innovation, Research & Partnerships. It is hoped the project will position CPUT as a lead regional University, stimulate and manage the flow of knowledge and technology to companies and markets, and create opportunities to take research output to innovation stages. In addition, senior students will reap the benefits of being nurtured into design entrepreneurs, while the incubation and start-up of small and micro innovation-based companies can be fostered.

Cape Town will know by the end of June 2011 whether it has been shortlisted as a candidate for World Design Capital 2014, and by October this year whether its bid has been successful. While the development of The Fringe isn’t dependent on the successful outcome of the bid, it does add impetus to activities driving its creation.

“It’s ambitious,” says Pather, “but it’s do-able. And its aims and goals underpin President Jacob Zuma’s recent State of the Nation speech, which focused heavily on job creation. At the heart of job creation is knowledge production and innovation, which underscores the University’s mission, and the goals of government more broadly.”

By Jan Weintrob.

Written by CPUT News
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There are a limited number of spaces still available in the first-year Interior Design Course for 2014.

The course fuses elements of architecture and industrial design into a unique offering and graduates are able to work across a multitude of creative industries including shop fitting, furniture manufacturing and for architectural and interior decorating companies.

Since Cape Town was selected as the World Design Capital for 2014 job opportunities have exploded in these fields and graduates of CPUT’s Interior Design course will be well-positioned to take full advantage of everything on offer.

Some of the tasks of an Interior Designer include creating bespoke designs, project management and conceptualising new looks for shops.

Former CPUT graduates are working for a variety of well-known retailers and are employed at some of the top design studios in the country. Students in this course have also won a variety of competitions where they compete against other international institutions and even working professionals.

Students work in a lively studio environment where the cross-pollination of ideas ensures a well-rounded individual who lives and breathes all elements of design.

The course also offers a foundation phase that is an option to anyone who first wants to be introduced to Industrial Design before committing to a three-year diploma specialising in it.

What is Interior Design all about?

* A select number of courses are accepting late applications for the 2014 academic year, view these courses here.

Written by Lauren Kansley

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Months of hard work have paid off for CPUT as the institution celebrates a staggering 11 bids accepted for use during the World Design Capital 2014 programme.

The institution has been actively involved in all aspects of WDC2014 from getting Cape Town nominated initially to curating the thousands of proposals submitted for consideration.

WDC is a celebration of all aspects of design which helps cities function better. The award is bestowed biennially and Cape Town beat stiff competition from cities like Dublin and Bilbao to clinch the title.

Some of the successful bids from the institution include;

• Driving Dreams - an initiative to bring cost-effective adaptive vehicle technology to disabled people in Africa
• mTriage - a way of measuring vital medical statistics of patients in emergency situations.  
• Design Garage - a CPUT initiative where current students, alumni and any other emerging designers who are producing small to medium runs of quality designed goods can retail to the public.
• The Product Lifecycle Management Competency Centre - trains students, technicians, technologists, engineers and industrial designers in the art of product design and product lifecycle management (PLM).
• The Design Storming Toolkit - another proud CPUT initiative which will offer free guidance for anyone practicing design for participation. The toolkit will be drawn from experience gained in similar co-design workshops and written up by a multi-disciplinary team at CPUT.

CPUT/ WDC co-ordinator Bruce Snaddon says the institution has a lot to be proud of.

“CPUT has led and continues to lead with regards to WDC,” he says.

Written by Lauren Kansley

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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.

An innovative building is helping the CPUT community and the public see rubbish in a completely new way.

The ‘upcycled house’ is a partially constructed home, made of wire mesh and waste, and is currently at wall height and being constructed by Mechanical Engineering students at the Bellville campus.

This Service-Learning project is a collaboration between the World of Eve; Bavarian government; Premier’s office; Western Cape Government; CPUT’s Service Learning Unit with assistance from the Mechanical Engineering, Management and Project Management departments.

Envirochoice Project Management; Interwaste Cape Town and various local and rural artists have all contributed to the structure of the upcycled house on the Bellville campus.

The pioneering design by the artist, Markus Heinsdorff, has attracted the attention of organisers of the World Design Capital who are keen to display this interesting house at the V & A Waterfront in 2014.

This week, stakeholders from government and CPUT video-conferenced with their German counterparts to discuss the progress on the ‘upcycled’ house and to plan the activities for 2014 which will include additional academic disciplines at CPUT as Service-Learning projects.

It is hoped that the house will help students and communities view waste as a valuable commodity and that it may act as a catalyst for job creation in communities.

Next year the Business Faculty will launch their Service-Learning project “How green is your campus?” in the form of a campaign using the house as a symbol of environmentally friendly living.

Written by Lauren Kansley

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The Design, Development and Research Conference is back for the second time.

The hugely popular conference drew academics and industry leaders from a spectrum of design niches in its inauguration last year and promises to be a stimulating collective once again.

While the conference only takes place in September, a call has been made for interested parties to submit research papers and posters for the following tracks viz; Design, Development, ICT for Development (ICT4D), Dilemmas, Instructional Design and Research.

Last year’s speakers included architect Mokena Makeka and world-renowned designer Prof Jackie Guille and this year’s lineup promises to be as stimulating.

 The exciting announcement that Cape Town is the World Design Capital for 2014 makes an event like DDR even more significant.

FID Dean Johannes Cronje urged anyone with a passion for design to submit an abstract and get involved.

“We have a chance here to develop something really special and become internationally known,” he says.

To be part of this exciting design event then submit your abstract submission by May 8. Visit http://www.design-development-research.co.za for more information.

By LAUREN KANSLEY

Written by CPUT News
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CPUT’s involvement in World Design Capital 2014 (WDC) was given a beneficial boost yesterday with the official launch of the imaginethat* office and website.

The imaginethat* office is a co-ordination platform for the university’s 16 officially recognised WDC 2014 projects and all other connected CPUT related research and events.

The interactive website aims to showcase the incredible CPUT projects that caught the attention of WDC 2014 curators and follow their journey from inception to completion.

Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships Dr Chris Nhlapo says the website will help explain the projects to everyone and not just those in the design field.

“The design community can be inclusive however this process has shown me that this is actually an area for all of us. We need to incorporate design thinking into all we do,” he says.

Building on the hype of 2014, Nhlapo says he hopes to attract a Design Chair to the institution to consolidate and drive research in this area.

The imaginethat* website features videos, bloggers, social media platforms and regular news updates and is an integral tool to understanding CPUT and its WDC 2014 involvement.

CPUT boasts the highest number of successfully accepted WDC 2014 projects of all higher education institutions in the city and the number continues to grow.

Visit www.imaginethat.org.za for more information. Follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook to get regular updates.

Written by Lauren Kansley
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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.

Prof Johannes Cronjé is stepping down as Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Design and is taking on the role of full professor in the Information Technology Department.

Cronje joined CPUT in 2007 from the University of Pretoria where he had been a Professor of Instructional Design in Education.

His biggest highlight during his time as Dean was seeing the Faculty play a central role in Cape Town becoming the World Design Capital of 2014.

“Further than that it was to see the Faculty grow in academic maturity. When I arrived at CPUT, I was the only person in my Faculty with a Doctorate. We now have more than one doctor per department, and we have professors in all departments except two. I was also honoured internationally by being awarded the ICT Educator of the Year award by the Department of Science and Technology in 2008. I also received CPUT's Platinum Supervisors award more than twice.”

Another highlight was a research trip to Namibia with a group of postgraduate students.

“My personal favourite is our graduation robing ceremony that we have for Master’s and Doctoral students just before they graduate.  We invite them, their supervisors and their parents or spouses to a lovely breakfast, lunch or dinner, and then we allow them to share their thoughts about their research journey and pay homage to those who supported them. Then their loved ones gather together, and they help them put on their graduation gown. It is a touching ceremony and celebrates the apex of academic achievement. Graduation ceremonies are my best. That is why I was also so proud when the University's new academic gowns were designed by our Fashion students.”

In his new role, Cronjé will assist in teaching Research Methodology for Advanced Diploma students and also supervise a number of Master’s and Doctoral students in Digital Teaching and Learning.

“I will also be mentoring new up-and-coming academics in their career development. I will co-supervise and also concentrate on my own research profile to see if I can improve my NRF rating.”

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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