Innovus Invention Awards November 2021

Innovus celebrates SU’s entrepreneurs

On 25 November, Innovus, Stellenbosch University’s Technology Transfer Office celebrated 27 entrepreneurs and inventors at the annual inventors awards ceremony co-sponsored with Von Seidels Intellectual Property attorneys. Apart from the special awards and patent awards, two new awards were introduced this year, vis-à-vis the copyright work with most commercial potential and the Plant Breeders rights with continued commercial income.

The ceremony was opened by special invited guest, Prof Stan du Plessis, SU’s Chief Operating Officer who congratulated the “stars who curved the innovation landscape in Stellenbosch most strikingly last year.” He said these innovators achieved Syzygi this year, referring to Technology Transfer guru Tom Hockaday who used this peculiar word to describe why it is difficult to bridge the gap between research and commercialisation in universities.

Du Plessis says Syzygi means “conjunction or a pair of connected or correlated things”.  “Hockaday argued that launching a company from the University requires Syzygi (alignment between many parties) - the researchers, the management of the company and the investors, to name but some. The interests of these parties are not automatically aligned and require careful work and mutual trust to achieve Syzygi.”

He said a technology transfer office and a business incubator could play a crucial role in achieving the required Syzygi. “We are incredibly fortunate at SU to have such high-quality teams at Innovus and the LaunchLab to fulfil these roles.”

“God may have made Stellenbosch for Pinotage, but Stellenbosch was made an entrepreneurial Centre for South Africa by Stellenbosch University and the business community. And, I hasten to add that Stellenbosch University was, in turn, made by the town of Stellenbosch.” Du Plessis said SU could be proud of the ecosystem it has built for entrepreneurship at the University. As this ceremony was all about innovation, Ralph van Niekerk, a partner at Von Seidels Attorneys addressed the audience on the interesting recent grant of a South African patent with Artificial Intelligence “DABUS” listed as inventor which is a world first.

 

Patent awards

Inventors are awarded for their continued support in seeing patent applications through to grant stage, without which these inventions cannot be commercialised through licensing. Said Kleyn (Dr Kleyn, Director Technology Transfer).  This year 27 inventors were granted patents.

 

Special awards

Rector, Professor Wim de Villiers, together with Anita Nel, announced GeoSUN Africa as the winner of the 2021 spin-out excellence award. Launched in 2012 as a spin-out company of the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies (CRSES) at SU, Riaan Meyer and his team of 13 staff offer various services and products relating to the solar energy industry in different Africa countries and abroad. Their focus is mainly on utility-scale solar projects. GeoSUN Africa has installed more than 100 weather stations, mostly in African and other developing countries around the globe.

“GeoSUN Africa has a history of experience with on-site solar resource assessments, albedo studies (which make them unique), solar and meteorological instrument calibration and PV module testing and inspection. GeoSUN has also now expanded their services in the wind industry through a new company GeoWIND,” said Anita Nel, SU’s Chief Director of Innovation and Business Development.

The award for  Innovus Group of Companies’ special awards was SU LaunchLab, currently under the leadership of CEO Josh Romisher, who joined in 2020. The special award was for the introduction of the Countdown programme to the entrepreneurial community.  Countdown is an idea validation and interactive 8-week business-building program to test the merits of any early-stage business idea. It seeks to answer the vital question: “I have an idea, but is it a business?”

A total of 34 companies/projects already completed the countdown programme since 2020, with many of them being SU spin-outs and projects.  This programme had helped many companies understand whether their ideas or products can be a viable business.”

In congratulating the winners, Nel reminded the audience that SU has one of the best intellectual portfolios in the country.  “The IP portfolio is directly linked to the high standard of research at the University. Our researchers are the reason for our success, and I thank them for their contribution towards innovation at SU and assure them that the Tech Transfer Team is committed to supporting them with the commercialisation of their research.”

The award winners were:

  

Spin-out Excellence Award

Innovus Group of Companies 2021

GeoSun (Pty) Ltd

Riaan Meyer

 

Special Award

Innovus Group of Companies 2021

SU LaunchLab

Josh Romisher

Special Award

the Plant Breeders rights with continued commercial income 2021

Willem Botes

 

Special Award

copyright work with most commercial potential 2021

Nicky Terblanche

 

Faculty Award

Granted Patents

2021

Faculty of Engineering

Prof Wikus van Niekerk

 

Faculty Award

Most Invention Disclosures

2021

Faculty of AgriScience

 

Faculty Award

Most Spin-out companies

2021

Faculty of Engineering

Prof Wikus van Niekerk

 

Certificates:  Granted Patents

 

SERUM HOST MARKERS FOR TUBERCULOSIS

Prof Novel  Chegou Njweipi

 

CYCLOPEPTIDE MATRICES

Wilma Van Rensburg,

Prof Marina Rautenbach

 

PLANT EXTRACT FOR USE IN TREATING CANCER

Prof Nox Makunga

 

RADIOMETRIC CORRECTION OF AERIAL IMAGERY

Prof Adriaan van Niekerk

 

A METHOD OF TREATING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Prof Resia Pretorius

 

LUNG FLOW MEASUREMENT APPARATUS 

Prof Willie Perold

Prof Johan Smith

 

MULTI-STRAIN PROBIOTIC

Deon Neveling

Leon Dicks

 

SIRNA FOR APHID CONTROL IN FOOD CROPS

Anna-Maria Botha-Oberholster

Hendrik Swiegers

Nicolaas Burger

 

RESVERATROL SEPARATION

Robert Pott

 

FERMENTATION FEEDSTOCK

Danie Diedericks

Steven Korsten

 

KUZI

Prof Quinette Louw

Dominic Fisher

 

CEREBROSPINAL FLUID (CSF) AND BLOOD-BASED BIOMARKERS FOR DIAGNOSING TUBERCULOUS MENINGITIS

Prof Novel Chegou

Regan Solomons

Masilo Manyelo