NMMU, represented by Innovation Office staff, exhibited a number of market-ready or near-market-ready technologies, including:
Advanced Circuit Design (Prof Farouk Smith): Circuit design solutions for detecting and mitigating single event upsets in digital circuits.
Hot Rock™ (Prof Russell Phillips): A low-risk and cost-effective system for the collection, storage and generation of energy at a small scale.
Microalgae to Energy (Prof Ben Zeelie/InnoVenton): The cultivation of microalgae for the beneficiation of coal fines and further processing to energy products.
PVInsight (Prof Ernest van Dyk): A laboratory for the performance testing of photovoltaic modules.
Segmented Turbine (Prof Russell Phillips): A segmented wind turbine for small-scale applications capable of improved energy yield.
Weldcore® (Prof Danie Hattingh/eNtsa): Non-destructive sampling to determine the remaining lifespan of plant infrastructure subject to stress.
NMMU had a good presence in the media, with Jaci Barnett discussing the Microalgae to Energy project on Morning LIVE and Mary-Ann Chetty discussing the SunWheel™ Planter, a University of Fort Hare innovation, on SAfm. NMMU also assisted the University of Fort Hare by exhibiting a prototype of their SunWheel™ Planter.
Three exhibition awards and three innovation awards were given out, with NMMU winning an innovation award (and a cash prize of R100,000) for the Microalgae to Energy project, in the category of “innovation most likely to impact public procurement.”