Innovus Newsletter 51st Edition

Innovus Newsletter 51st Edition

Welcome to our new team members at Innovus

Ravini Moodley: Ravini’s career path forms the perfect puzzle Not every day, you come across someone whose career path is the perfect culmination of years of hard work, skills development, and continuous learning to prepare her for what she will need in her new role as Technology Transfer Director at Stellenbosch University’s Innovus. It is as if Ravini Moodley is building this perfect career puzzle where she molds every piece perfectly to place it at the right time, in the ideal spot. Read more Ian van Zyl: If he can’t find the right machine for a job, he builds one Maybe his love for playing...
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SU Advantage – Learners can access SU Advantage for only R99 per month

In its endeavour to support learning in high schools, SU developed an online supplementary education platform — SU Advantage — for learners in grades 10, 11 and 12. Combining technology with teaching in a controlled and supportive manner. The platform offers video clips, quizzes, workbooks, past examination papers and bi-weekly live lessons where learners can engage with teachers in real-time to get insight into topics they do not yet fully understand.   To find out more about SU Advantage and its special launch price, click here.

Stellenbosch Network : Finalists announced for the ‘Smart Kayamandi’ #IdeasForChange Challenge

XX March 2023: Following months of deliberation, Stellenbosch Network has crowned Chuma Lalendle and Sbahle Mgijima as the winners of the fourth edition of the #IdeasForChange Challenge. The two young innovators walked away with a R20 000 cash prize to support their ‘Smart Trolley Recycling’ idea. They had gone head-to-head with Retief Louw, who developed New-Queue, a WhatsApp-based chatbot that automates the scheduling of clinical appointments and two postgraduate students at Stellenbosch University, Tinobokashe Ncube and Onai Mtengwa, who secured their spot in the finals thanks to their idea to use mobile technology to support the ability of households to grow...
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Spin-out company in FOCUS : With FluoroBiotech, everything is solvable in nature

Everything is solvable in nature SU University and Innovus spinout FluoroBiotech on the forefront of the BioTech industry in SA with their heterologous protein production platform to provide high-value proteins It took Stellenbosch University Ph.D. graduates Du Preez van Staden and Ross Vermeulen seventeen years and more than 24 international papers later to develop their unique skills and technology in heterologous protein production and purification to supply the local South African market with proteins or enzymes of interest. As the founders of SU and Innovus’s latest spinout company — FluoroBiotech — these two molecular biologists say heterologous* protein production is not a "new" invention,...
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Ravini Moodley: Ravini’s career path forms the perfect puzzle

Ravini’s career path forms the perfect puzzle Not every day, you come across someone whose career path is the perfect culmination of years of hard work, skills development, and continuous learning to prepare her for what she will need in her new role as Technology Transfer Director at Stellenbosch University’s Innovus. It is as if Ravini Moodley is building this perfect career puzzle where she molds every piece perfectly to place it at the right time, in the ideal spot. “It has been a long journey,” she said, “one that started in Durban, where I grew up and completed my matric.” After school,...
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Neelsie Student Centre welcomes 3@1

Neelsie Student Centre welcomes 3@1 The Maties Copy & Print shop which used to be located inside the Matie Shop has relocated to the newly established Neelsie 3@1 Business Centre. The Neelsie 3@1 Business Centre is proudly owned by SU and is your one-stop-shop for all student, business and home office needs. Services include local, national and international courier delivery, custom branding of items like T-shirts and mugs and the printing of photos and document copying. “We are excited to offer the community an enhanced service conveniently located within the much-loved Neelsie student centre,” says Gary Muizenheimer, Director - SunCom Operations. Your go-to store, filled...
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Introducing Instant Startup

Stellenbosch University’s Innovation and Commercialisation Division through its Technology Transfer office, Innovus is launching a brand new tool to provide excellent and ongoing support to our staff and students wishing to create a new spin-out company. We are proud to introduce the Instant Startup Toolkit, a platform for entrepreneurial teams to explore, collaborate, learn and record the growth of their business ideas into companies. Here they will find the latest startup tools, techniques and governance requirements needed by a business in one secure platform. This digital platform takes an entrepreneur through a series of activities and guided support that allows them to...
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Ian van Zyl: If he can’t find the right machine for a job, he builds one

If he can’t find the right machine for a job, he builds one Maybe his love for playing with lego from an early age made Ian the 3D printing wizard he is today. Still, one thing is for sure: Ian van Zyl is a fantastic asset to the Innovus Technology Transfer team, which he joined at the beginning of the year. Ian joined Innovus in January this year as a technology transfer specialist. Being a mechanical engineer with vast experience in this field, he is responsible for commercialising IP emanating from Stellenbosch University, specifically in the engineering faculty. He helps researchers to commercialise...
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Gradlinc – a simple solution to South Africa’s graduate unemployment crisis

As unemployment took a hard knock in South Africa in recent years, the pressure became worse for unemployed graduates as only approximately 30% of graduates¹ 1 find employment. This led to the birth of Gradlinc, a bespoke career development platform, and national database that was built with the aim to connect graduates and employers. Founded less than three years ago, Gradlinc is more than a job portal. It is a one-stop shop for graduates seeking employment, employers having these opportunities available, and universities wanting to offer their graduates a strong foothold to kick-off their careers. According to entrepreneur in residence and project...
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