BILL GATES VISITS UKZN

Mr Bill Gates and Professor Malegapuru Makgoba with UKZN post graduate students engaged
in HIV and AIDS research. from left: Jaclyn Wright, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, James
Ndrirangu, Christina Thobakgale, Manuel Macia, Bill Gates, Portia Mutevedzi, Bongiwe Ndlovu,
Vivek Naranbhai, Kerry Vermaak and Bronwyn Joubert.

Professor Malegapuru Makgoba and
Mr Bill Gates exchange greetings.

Mr Bill Gates, the Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was informed of the latest developments in HIV research undertaken by UKZN’s leading academics and postgraduate students during a visit to the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine on World AIDS Day (December 1).

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba led a round-table discussion on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis together with academics Professors Willem Sturm, Dean of the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine; Salim Abdool Karim, Director of CAPRISA; Professor Nhlanhla Mkhize, Head of the School of Psychology; Dr Regina Osih, Reproductive Health Unit; Professor James McIntyre, Perinatal Health Research Unit; Mr Jonathan Berger, AIDS Law Project, Medicines Control Council; and Mr Roger Phili HIV/AIDS, STI and TB Director for KwaZulu-Natal.

Discussions provided Mr Gate’s and other Foundation representatives an insight into advances made in HIV programmes in various disciplines at UKZN and an overview of current research pursuits by both academics and postgraduate students.

BILL GATES INTERACTS WITH UKZN’S POLLUTION RESEARCH GROUP

Professor Chris Buckley.

In an effort to support and learn more about water, sanitation and hygiene interventions, Mr Bill Gates and his team met the UKZN Pollution Research Group (PRG) while on a visit to Durban on December 1. PRG members Professor Chris Buckley and Ms Kitty Foxon as well as senior representatives of eThekwini Water and Sanitation were part of the meeting.

The visit involved a tour to on-site sanitation initiatives in Durban which has about 60 000 ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines and 80 000 urine diversion toilets, making it an ideal location to view sanitation technology at work.

The PRG, established in the 1970s to investigate problems of industrial water management in the Durban area, has been researching the biotransformation mechanisms occurring in VIP latrines and urine diversion toilets for the past five years.

SASCO CONFERENCE HELD ON EDGEWOOD CAMPUS

From left: Deputy President of South Africa, Mr Kgalema
Mothlanthe; Minister of Higher Education, Dr Blade
Nzimande; SASCO Secretary-General, Mr Magasela Mzobe
and Professor John Mubangizi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor
and Head: College of Law and Management Studies.

The South African Students Congress’ (SASCO) 16th National Congress hosted by UKZN’s Edgewood campus got off to a good start on December 8.

More than 2 000 student delegates from universities around the country attended the Congress. The Congress focussed, among other things, on transformation, access and financial difficulties facing students.

Present at the official opening were Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Nzimande, KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Dr Zweli Mkhize and South Africa’s Deputy President, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe. Welcoming the guests Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Law and Management Studies Professor John Mubangizi said: “We are very pleased as the University of KwaZulu-Natal to be selected by the leadership of SASCO to host this most important congress.”

AFRICAN CENTRE FOR CROP IMPROVEMENT RECEIVES GLOBAL RECOGNITION

From left: Director of the ACCI, Professor Mark
Laing; Dr Joe de Vries, Alliance for a Green
Revolution in Africa and Dr Chrispus Ouduori.

The work of UKZN’s African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI), which is dedicated to investing in Africa’s agricultural future by training African crop breeders in Africa for Africa, is making an impact on the world stage… thanks partly to Mr Bill Gates.

“The African Centre for Crop Improvement is crucial to our hope of training more PhDs in Africa,” said Mr Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while presenting the keynote address at the 2009 World Food Prize International Symposium in Iowa, United States.

In his presentation entitled: Support for the World’s Poorest Farmers, Mr Gates told the story of ACCI graduate, Dr Chrispus Oduori, who is the only plant breeder in Africa with a PhD degree focused on finger millet. Through his research and use of improved seeds and fertilizer, Dr Oduori has achieved four to six times the expected yield of a typical finger-millet farmer in Kenya.

UKZN GLASSBLOWER JOINS ELITE GROUP

Mr Clarence Mortlock at work in the
UKZN glassblowing workshop.

UKZN glassblower, Mr Clarence Mortlock, who recently earned his City and Guilds qualification from the British Society of Glassblowers (BSSG), joins the ranks of only a handful of qualified scientific glassblowers in the country.

Based in the School of Chemistry on the Pietermaritzburg campus, Mr Mortlock is currently the only person in South Africa to hold a scientific glassblowing qualification from this British-based organisation.

The qualification entailed a rigorous three-year training programme based out of Sheffield in the United Kingdom which saw Mr Mortlock spending extended periods of time overseas. It encompassed practical and written components, including six examinations. According to Deputy Head of School, Dr Murray Low, Mr Mortlock was “well ahead of the game” and finished his studies in two and a half years – a tribute to his dedication and work ethic.

MERITORIOUS AWARD PRESENTED TO UKZN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER

From left: Executive Director of SAICE, Mr
Dawie Botha, presents Mr Malcolm Jaros with
the 2009 Geotechnical Medal at the
AGM in Midrand.

Mr Malcolm Jaros, a lecturer in the School of Civil Engineering, Surveying and Construction, was recently awarded the 2009 Geotechnical Medal in recognition of his “significant contribution to furthering the art and science of Geotechnical Engineering in South Africa” in the course of his professional career.

The medal, presented by the geotechnical division of the SA Institution of Civil Engineers (SAICE), commemorates the pivotal role played by the late Professor J E Jennings in the development of geotechnical engineering in South Africa.

Mr Jaros boasts several recent accolades that include the Development in Technology 2009 Award for a system he devised to reinforce the earthfill embankments that carry the Gautrain across potential sink-holes in Snake Valley, between Centurion and Pretoria.

NRF RATING FOR PROFESSOR LESLEY STAINBANK

Professor Lesley Stainbank.

The Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies, Professor Lesley Stainbank, has been awarded a C-rating status by the National Research Foundation (NRF) following an evaluation of her research progress.

Professor Stainbank is one of only a few Chartered Accountants in South Africa with a doctorate and an NRF rating. The NRF C-rating is awarded to established researchers with a sustained recent record of productivity over the past eight years in the field. They also need to be recognised by their peers as having produced a body of quality work, the core of which has coherence as well as attesting to ongoing engagement within the field.

Furthermore, they need to have demonstrated the ability to conceptualise problems and apply research methods in investigating them. Professor Stainbank’s research interest area is in financial accounting or international financial reporting standards. She has completed research in three broad areas: Value-added and employee reporting; accounting education and professional accountancy education programmes; and differential reporting or financial reporting for small and medium-sized entities (SMEs).

UKZN’S DR BETTY GOVINDEN WINS LITERARY AWARD

Dr Devarakshanam
Betty Govinden.

Book cover

An analysis of the literary contributions of South African Indian women captured in the book: Sister Outsiders: The Representation of Identity and Difference in Selected Writings by South African Indian Women, has won the prestigious Hiddingh-Currie Award for the author, UKZN’s Dr Devarakshanam Betty Govinden.

Dr Govinden, a senior research associate at the Faculty of Education, will receive the award - which acknowledges high quality academic and scholarly work - from Unisa Press in February. The award is named after Dr William Hiddingh, one of the first advocates in the Cape Colony, and Sir Donald Currie, an early benefactor of Higher Education in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

UK UNIVERSITY VICE-CHANCELLOR AND UKZN ALUMNUS PRESENTS GUEST LECTURE

From left: UKZN's Vice-Chancellor,
Professor Malegapuru Makgoba; Professor
Gerald Pillay, Vice-Chancellor: Liverpool
Hope University and Executive Director:
Physical Planning and Operations,
Mr Charles Poole.

Professor Gerald Pillay, a UKZN alumnus and currently the Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University in England, presented a lecture on: The Challenges Facing Higher Education in the UK – Some Perspective, during a scholarly visit to his alma mater recently.

Attended by academics and students, the lecture on the Westville campus was the last in a series of public lectures for 2009 organised by the Corporate Relations Division.

Professor Pillay cited funding, universities maintaining admission targets and educating citizens to meet the country’s human resource demands as being among 21st century challenges facing the United Kingdom’s Higher Education sector.

STUDENTS DESIGN A SOFTWARE PROGRAMME FOR SMALL AUTO DEALERS

The winning team from left: Mr Sayed
Enayat Sayed Ally, Mr Yusuf Ismail,
Mr Mohammed Yusuf Essa, Ms Fatima
Shaik and Mr Yusuf Gora Mahomed.

Third year students from UKZN’s School of Information Systems and Technology (IS and T) have created and implemented a user-friendly software programme to benefit operators of small sized used vehicle dealerships.

Designing and implementing a live web system is part of the Applied Information Systems module which comprises final year students, originating from a background of Computer Science and IS and T, implementing a live system in a team environment after analysing all the business processes within a specific company chosen by the team.

The winning team analysed the operations of Impulse Auto, a used vehicle dealership in Durban. An automated system known as AUTOmate was structured by the students once the analysis was completed. It is envisaged that the new system will assist the dealership with better control of the inventory.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN AND RESEARCH PROJECTS ON DISPLAY AT OPEN DAY

Some of the work on display by the final year
Mechanical Engineering students
during the Open Day.

The School of Mechanical Engineering held its annual Open Day recently giving final-year students an opportunity to showcase their design and research projects to outside evaluators, sponsors, parents and the general public.

“It also forms an important part of their education, as these projects are a significant portion of the final-year assessment and are a test of the students’ ability to be design engineers once they graduate from UKZN,” said Professor Lance Roberts, from the School of Mechanical Engineering.

“Throughout the afternoon the students were available to demonstrate their projects and to answer questions from the crowds of visitors.”

HEALTH SCIENCE DEAN'S ATTENDANCE AT WORLD SUMMIT SPARKS NEW COLLABORATION

Professor Sabiha Essack.

The attendance of the Dean of the Faculty of Health Science, Professor Sabiha Essack at the recent World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in Doha, Qatar, has opened the door to new educational collaborations between UKZN and international institutions.

Disciplines within the School of Audiology, Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology at UKZN are expected to initiate collaborative ventures with the University of California's Children with Special Needs Centre, and the Shafallah Centre in Doha on postgraduate programmes in the area of autistic spectrum disorders which the Health Science Faculty plans to launch next year.

The Faculty intends to augment existing linkages with the Institute for International Education (IIE) after the organisation launches a Higher Education Academy.

FINAL YEAR NURSING STUDENTS HEAR ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF COMMUNITY SERVICE

Staff and students present at a Career Day for final year Bachelor of Nursing Students.

The School of Nursing held a Career Day at the Innovation Centre aimed at assisting its final year students who will do Community Service next year.

Nurses, nursing academics and career advisors were among the array of speakers who presented expert advice to 35 Bachelor of Nursing students.

Acting Co-ordinator for the Bachelor of Nursing Programme, Professor Busi Ncama, who was responsible for the co-ordination of the event, emphasised the importance of preparing students for their work environment as qualified nursing professionals.

According to Professor Ncama, students are supported by academic staff while undergoing training at the School of Nursing and now required insights into the challenging community service work environment they enter on completion of their degree.

SCORES OF ZIMBABWEAN STUDENTS TO ENROLL AT UKZN NEXT YEAR

From left: the Honourable Mr Christopher Chindoti
Mushohwe, Zimbabwean Minister of Transport and
Communication; President Robert Mugabe and
Professor Dasarath Chetty in Harare .

More than 200 “academically competent” students from Zimbabwe will enroll at UKZN next year after receiving the Zimbabwean Presidential Scholarship.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Corporate Relations, Professor Dasarath Chetty, recently sealed the agreement with the Zimbabwean government to recruit the students.

Over the past three years, 76 students funded by the Government of Zimbabwe have enrolled for study in various UKZN Faculties. The new agreement facilitates the registration of 203 Zimbabwean students at UKZN for the next five years.

“These students completed their A-levels in Zimbabwe, a qualification superior to the South African matriculation endorsement, and this has resulted in reportedly high levels of academic performance from these students,” said Professor Chetty.

UNIT ESTABLISHED TO ASSIST UKZN STAFF MEMBERS IN DISTRESS

From left: Ms PSG Kutu Hlongwane,
Employee Assistance and Wellness
Officer and Ms Eleanor Langley,
Manager: Employee Assistance
and Wellness Unit.

Staff members at UKZN overwhelmed by personal or workplace problems can now turn to the newly established Employee Assistance and Wellness Unit for assistance.

The Division of Human Resources and Equity set up the Unit recently in an endeavour to foster an enabling and happy work environment to ensure the optimal performance of staff.

Managed by Ms Eleanor Langley with the assistance of Ms PSG Kutu Hlongwane, an Employee Assistance and Wellness Officer, the Unit is set to introduce a range of programmes to assist staff resolve personal problems and maintain good health.

The Unit, based at the Howard College campus, will extend its services to staff across all campuses however, present space constraints have not permitted on-site visits to the Edgewood campus and the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine.

VIRTUAL REALITY DISSECTIONS NOW A REALITY AT UKZN

From left: Vice President: South African
Hindu Maha Sabha, Mrs Dhunluxmie Desai;
DUT Chancellor, Ms Ela Gandhi; Professor
Sabiha Essack, Dean: Faculty of Health
Sciences; eThekwini Municipality
Councillor, Mr Rabi Gobind and Professor
Leana Uys, DVC and Head of the
College of Health Sciences.

The Discipline of Anatomy launches its
new LAN facility on the Westville
campus recently.

UKZN’s Department of Clinical Anatomy (DOCA) has embraced new interactive digital technology in the training and development of its Allied Health Science anatomy students with the introduction of a R3,5 million Multimedia LAN Facility and refurbishment of the Dissection Hall on the Westville campus.

DOCA unveiled its state-of-the-art multi-media technology for teaching and learning before the University community, eThekwini Municipality officials, Department of Health officials and the media.

The Department demonstrated that human cadavers were not the only alternative for allied health science anatomy students seeking practical training. Instead, Dr Edwin Naidu, a Senior Lecturer at DOCA demonstrated how students could obtain experience in dissection through interactive computer software programming called Real Anatomy which provided virtual images of human cadavers.

UKZN TO CO-HOST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AFRICAN CIVIL CONFLICTS

The Conflict Transformation Programme of the School of Politics will co-host an international conference with the Ohio State University’s Centre for African Studies on the Pietermaritzburg campus next year.

The theme of the conference, which takes place on January 29-30, is: Territorial Origins of African Civil Conflicts.

The conference will examine the extent of sub-national regional inequality in present-day sub-Saharan Africa, assess the extent to which sub-national regional disparities play a role in armed conflicts, review the extent to which African systems of governance currently address and redress territorial differences and grievances, and review and analyse peace accords in Africa in which decentralisation, civic engagement, and citizen empowerment play a role.

HEAD OF SCHOOL ELECTED PRESIDENT OF ENGINEERING BODY

Professor Jeff Smithers.

Head of the School of Bioresources Engineering and Environmental Hydrology, Professor Jeff Smithers, was recently elected as President of the South African Institute of Agricultural Engineers (AIAE) for 2009 and 2010.

The SAIAE is broadly responsible for the promotion and development of the agricultural engineering profession and is actively involved in supporting and encouraging research and training in the discipline.

Under Professor Smithers’ leadership, the Council of the SAIAE will focus on establishing norms and standards, training students, supporting members, and marketing and representing the agricultural engineering profession.

Professor Smithers joined the former University of Natal as a Senior Research Fellow in 1989. Since then, he has steadily moved up through the ranks and was appointed Head of School in 2002. He is a prolific researcher in the field of Engineering and Design Hydrology and Hydrological Modelling and is a sought-after consultant on issues relating to his field of expertise.

LEADERSHIP CENTRE CO-HOSTS COLLOQUIUM ON INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA

Invited thought leaders and some of the
colloquium facilitators.

UKZN’s Leadership Centre partnered with Africa!Ignite recently to host a colloquium titled Indigenous Knowledge and Leadership in Africa.

The colloquium was part of a pilot research project - funded by the National Research Foundation - which is intended to kindle dialogue around the history, mythology, philosophy and value strands of leadership thought to have originated on the African continent.

Professor Cheryl Potgieter, UKZN’s Dean of Research, opened the colloquium saying the project is in line with UKZN’s research goals because researching indigenous knowledge is UKZN’s primary strategic research area.

OPEN DAY PROVIDES VALUABLE EXPOSURE FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

The 2009 final-year design prize-winners with
Head of School, Professor Stanley Mneney (centre).

Final year Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering students showcased their design projects to examiners, parents, donors and the public at the School’s annual Open Day on the Howard College campus.

The Open Day featured 120 individual projects and represented the culmination of five months of rigorous research and intense design.

The students were given their design specifications for their projects in June and spent the first few months researching their topics and formulating ideas of how to proceed. However, it was only in mid-October, when they had completed their final examinations, that they were able to work full-time on their projects.

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF CENTRE FOR VISUAL METHODOLOGIES FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

From left: Dr Mark Dent,
Centre for Environment, Agriculture and
Development; Dr Jean Stuart, co-Director,
CVM; Dr Angela James, Faculty
of Education; and Professor Jonathan
London, University of California.

August, 2004. The scene: Three editing suites, a couple of camcorders, a printer, a drawer-full of simple point and shoot cameras, and a group of eager postgraduate students, researchers and young people from Mariannhill eager to make videos.

The result: The birth of UKZN’s Centre for Visual Methodologies for Social Change (CVMSV).

The two-day video-making workshop conducted by Ms Monica Mak of the McGill University in Canada was the beginning of what has become a thriving proto-centre in the School of Languages, Literacy, and Media Education in the Faculty of Education.

Co-directed by Dr Jean Stuart and Professor Naydene de Lange, and with Professor Claudia Mitchell, an Honorary Professor in the School as the Executive Director, the CVMSC has a key commitment to community engagement.

UKZN RHEUMATOLOGY DEPARTMENT ASSISTANT RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

Ms Ntombifuthi Seboya receives her
certificate from a member of the
International Steering Committee,
Professor Nick Walsh of Texas at
the 2009 Bone and Joint Decade
Global Network Conference.

Ms Ntombifuthi Seboya (55) fell victim to rheumatoid arthritis when she was just 16 years old. The disease crippled her leading to two hip replacement operations - one of which was not successful.

Unfortunately for Ms Seboya the drugs which are currently used to manage rheumatoid arthritis were not available when she developed the disease.

Ms Seboya has thus spent most of her life on crutches - a situation which could have easily led to embitterment.

Instead the former medical technologist chose to dedicate a large part of her life towards helping medical science treat and combat the disease which has seriously hampered her mobility.

About 10 years ago Ms Seboya joined the Patient Partner Programme where she works with medical students using her experience and knowledge of the disease for teaching and training purposes.

AWARD IN RECOGNITION OF COMMITMENT AND MENTORSHIP

Mrs June Mcintyre.

Part-time occupational therapy lecturer Mrs June Mcintyre has been rewarded for her commitment to uplifting the lives of people with disabilities and for her mentorship to community-based occupational therapists.

The Excellence in Healthcare Award 2009 was presented to Mrs Mcintyre at a Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) awards ceremony in Gauteng recently. The Excellence in Healthcare Award is presented to individuals who through their work have displayed outstanding performance in the delivery of healthcare to disadvantaged communities and shown their commitment to principles enshrined in the Patients' Rights Charter.

Nominated for this award by colleagues at the Discipline of Occupational Therapy, Mrs Mcintyre has worked tirelessly with Wheelchairs KZN in distributing 10 000 wheelchairs to people with disabilities.

POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS HIGHLIGHT RESEARCH PROWESS

Professor Dean Goldring (second from left) and
Professor Bala Pillay (centre) with prize
winners at the Postgraduate Research Day from
left Miss Jolly Musoke, Mr David Choveaux,
Ms Evita Pillay and Mr Kyle Goetsch.

The School of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology’s Postgraduate Research Day provided an opportunity for Masters and PhD students to present their research to judges, sponsors, fellow students and academic staff.

Oral and poster presentations from Pietermaritzburg and Westville students dominated the day’s event held on the Pietermaritzburg campus.

The main sponsors included Inqaba Biotec and UKZN’s Research Office with Merck and Whitehead contributing to some of the prizes.

The biochemists dominated the prizes, winning first, second and third place in the oral presentation category.