The Faculty of Engineering’s Research Showcase held in Johannesburg on 7 June attracted approximately 100 people from industry. This event was the first of its kind in Gauteng.
“In November last year the Faculties of Engineering and Science jointly presented a very successful Research Showcase in Stellenbosch, and this year we felt it would be a good idea to also introduce the industry in Gauteng to our research projects,” says Prof Petrie Meyer, Vice-Dean: Research and Industry Liaison, Faculty of Engineering, Stellenbosch University.
“All our academic departments, namely Civil, Electrical & Electronic, Industrial, Mechanical & Mechatronic, and Process Engineering, were represented. The programme comprised a series of talks by researchers as well as posters displaying 24 current research projects. In addition, a further 33 Science projects were also showcased. Visitors had the opportunity to view the posters and to interact with researchers. The talks were very popular and some industry members attended the whole series.”
Topics addressed, were:
- How to (not) burn down a shack – fire safety engineering for the billion (Dr Richard Walls).
- Mines, data mines and urban mines – mineral processing, done better (Prof Steven Bradshaw).
- Control in uncertainty – creating autonomous vehicles in a dynamic world (Dr Willem Jordaan).
- Data science – how to leverage data for superior decision making (Prof Jacomine Grobler).
- Digital twins – your systems’ presence in Industry 4.0 (Prof Anton Basson).
- Managing variability – key to a renewable energy future (Dr Bernard Bekker).
Prof Meyer notes: “The Research Showcase was co-hosted by the Faculties of Engineering and Science. Our organising committee was extremely efficient and the venue, Riboville Boutique Hotel, was ideal for this kind of event. We received positive feedback from industry, and interest in collaboration has already been expressed. I think we have achieved our goal by showing our presence in the industrial hub of the country.”
Photograph left:
From the left: Prof Petrie Meyer (Faculty of Engineering), Prof Lydia-Marie Joubert (Faculty of Science), Prof Nawaz Mahomed (Faculty of Engineering) and Muofhe Tshibalanganda (Faculty of Science).
Photograph right:
From the left: Imke de Kock, Prof Jacomine Grobler and Wouter Bam of Industrial Engineering in front of their department’s attractive and informative posters.
Photo credit: Beatrix Events.
