Innovus Newsletter 44th Edition

Innovus Newsletter 44th Edition

University Technology Fund a First for Africa

Stellenbosch University (SU) and the University of Cape Town will be co-investing with the newly established R150-million University Technology Fund (UTF) that was set up by the SA SME Fund in its endeavour to partner with South African universities to commercialise the technologies and business ideas that airse from these unversities.  Stocks & Strauss was appointed as the Fund Manager. Says Anita Nel, Chief Director of Innovation and Business Development, who heads up Innovus, Stellenbosch University’s industry interaction platform for the commercialisations of the institution’s assets: “The UTF is a first for the African continent and we are incredibly proud to be...
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TECHITEZ: GEASY SMART GEYSER CONTROLLER DEVICE

Geasy is your (and your short-term insurer’s) answer to rising costs Geysers are responsible for between 30% and 50% of household electricity and are by far the most energy-hungry device in your household. Geysers are also responsible for a considerable amount of household claims from insurers. The question is: How can your home insurance policy help you save on your monthly electricity bill?  Be proactive In a world where everything is becoming increasingly technologically driven, disruptions are becoming part and parcel parts of our daily lives – slow internet, load shedding, water restrictions and traffic jams, to name but a few. Whether you are managing your...
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SUNOnline offers short course participants a seamless learning experience

SUNOnline, Stellenbosch University’s(SU) new short courses electronic platform, has gone live and ready to provide a seamless online learning experience to participants who need access to the more than  500 SU short courses that are annually available.   According to Carol Kat, Head of the Copyright and Short Courses Division at Innovus, a collaborative partnership between Innovus, SU’s Centre for Learning Technologies and Information Technology saw them going live with the new SUNOnline platform in May this year. This project was fully funded as an official Information and Communication Technology Council Funding Project and took approximately 22 months to complete. “After challenging development...
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Stellenbosch University’s innovations in Business Insider’s top 10 for past decade

Three SU innovations included on BI’s list of top innovations: a shark safe barrier; a shipping container that can provide green energy and the world’s first successful penis transplant. Affirming Stellenbosch as an innovation hub in Africa Stellenbosch University is proud of our reputation as a research university at the forefront of innovation; therefore, we were delighted that the well-known website, Business Insider, included three inventions from the University in their top 10 most exciting inventions for the past decade. The three inventions, a shark safe barrier, a shipping container that can provide green energy to people in rural areas and the world's first...
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Stellenbosch University LaunchLab appoints new CEO

  Stellenbosch University LaunchLab appoints new CEO The Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab has appointed social entrepreneur Joshua Romisher, CFA as Chief Executive Officer. Romisher has played a material role in building two Pan-African solar companies that brought clean, reliable energy to more than 2,5 million people across 10 countries and created over 1 000 full-time jobs.  Leaving behind the hustle and grind of New York City’s investment banking world for San Francisco’s rolling hills and hiking trails he realised that he wanted to build businesses that had the potential to positively affect people’s lives on a grand scale. “I believe every business should have a social conscience”,...
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Phenomenal PhenoLAB: A first for SA winemakers

Phenomenal PhenoLAB: A first for SA winemakers In January 2020, researchers at Stellenbosch University with the support of Innovus, launched a user-friendly, web-based analysis platform which enables the winemakers to make informed decisions about managing their red wine phenolics. The platform, called PhenoLAB, is the brainchild of Prof Wessel du Toit and researcher Dr Jose Luis Aleixandre-Tudo from SU’s Department of Viticulture and Oenology. Prof Du Toit says PhenoLAB, which is funded by Winetech, incorporates highly accurate, extensive and robust models based on absorbency values for determining tannins, colour density, anthocyanins and total phenolics levels in grapes, fermenting must and red wines.  “Winemakers can...
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Innovus honours its inventors Celebrating Stellenbosch University’s Researchers achievements

Innovus, Stellenbosch University’s university-industry interaction and innovation company, acknowledged and awarded their inventors with special awards and certificates at the end of November 2019. This event will now become an annualevent in the Innovus calendar. According to Nolene Singh, technology transfer manager at Innovus, the event was a celebration of their researcher achievements for 2019. “We recognized researchers who had patents granted in 2019  by awarding them with a certificate of acknowledgement and gave special awards to SU’s faculties for their contribution towards intellectual property development and commercialisation.”  The faculty awards were as follows: The Faculty Award for Start-Up for2019 went to the Faculty...
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From biology to trade marks: finding his dream job

He started his academic career exploring structures and functions of cells, proceeded to study law, and is currently working on his PhD degree in trade marks. It is in a sea of brands that Gert van Deventer found his dream job, as Trademark and Short Courses Officer at Innovus.   For him, the world of trade marks is one of the most exciting study fields. With more than 49 million active trade marks world-wide, there is undoubtedly enough research material around.   Gert first did his BSc degree in molecular biology and then joined the Law Faculty. After completing his LLB degree, he did his...
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AFRICAN SUN MEDIA RINGS IN THE CHANGES

A proud Stellenbosch University entity, African Sun Media has been ringing in the changes, and in so doing, putting SU at the fore of scholarly publishing. Under the stewardship of newly appointed Managing Director Nirode Bramdaw, African Sun Media received exemplary citation as the foremost university press in South Africa, in the Mellon Foundation-funded research by Universities South Africa. In his foreword, CEO of Universities South Africa, Prof Ahmed Bawa says: “Scholarly publishing is at the very heart of the academic enterprise… The presses belong to us. They ought to be built and defended. If for no other reason than to ensure that...
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