The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) is committed to being responsive to the needs of SA`s industrial and rural societies through innovation, said deputy vice chancellor Belinda Bozzoli.
"Innovation is about development, which has both a scientific and a human base," Bozzoli said at a student innovation showcase held at Wits last night, adding that the university was committed to building teams of people with creative ideas to drive innovation.
"Probably the only way of creating a vibrant, sustainable and growing economy is through innovation and entrepreneurship," said Peter Bezuidenhout, CEO of Wits Enterprise, the intellectual property commercialisation company of the university.
Bezuidenhout cited various student activities aimed at promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, such as the Wits student innovation competition, the student entrepreneur awards run by Student Village and a brewery design competition in association with South African Breweries.
The innovation showcase focused on an innovation competition, which this year included designs and business plans for a wide variety of projects such as an international online payment method, a multi-blade vegetable slicer, and a 3D engineering design tool.
Winning innovations
Out of the seven competition finalists, the eLaboSolver software system, which solves almost any mathematical problem including geometry and trigonometry, was announced as the winner of the R50 000 first prize.
Developed by electrical engineering students Ronald Malema, Selby Shubane, Abednego Mnisi and Eric Raphulu, the system is designed to improve learning opportunities at schools.
The eLaboSolver solution includes components such as 24-hour Web-based teaching, academic support through collaborative and interactive problem-solving sessions, practice exams and progress reports.
"eLaboSolver enablers learners to work at their own pace, speaks to them in simple language and makes learning easier because it is live and interactive," says Malema.
The R30 000 second prize was awarded to the developers of a pyramid-shaped space saving coffin that is designed to prevent coffin theft using colour changing technology that reacts with odour to indicate if the coffin is new or used.
The third prize of R20 000 went to the team that designed a system and business plan for producing ethanol from agricultural waste to be blended with petroleum for use as an environmentally friendly and cleaner burning transportation fuel.
The three winning teams of the Wits innovation competition will now compete with the top three winners of similar competitions at other higher education institutions in SA in the National Student Innovation Competition sponsored by the National Research Foundation`s Innovation Fund.
The national competition is aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship among higher education students and offers a prize of R300 000 for the best business plan around a technological innovation that will lead to a tangible product or service.
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