Page 177 - UCT Research Report 2011

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faculty of engineering & the built environment
Departments
School of Architecture,
Planning & Geomatics
Department of Chemical Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
Department of Construction
Economics and Management
Department of Electrical Engineering
Department of Mechanical
Engineering
Professor Rob Knutsen, from the Centre for Materials
Engineering, was successful in his bid to obtain funding
from the NRF for the purchase of a state-of-the-art thermo-
mechanical process simulator (Gleeble 3 800) for hot
deformation processing of metal alloys.
Professor Alison Lewis, Dr Dyllon Randall and Jeeten
Nathoo from the Department of Chemical Engineering,
jointly won the Research Paper of the Year (2011) at the
South African Institution of Chemical Engineers Chemical
Technology Awards, based on a paper that was published
in
Desalination
.
The Women in Informal Employment: Globalising and
Organising (WIEGO) Research Conference on the
Informal Economy was hosted by the African Centre for
Cities (ACC). More than 60 participants from 16 different
countries attended the conference. The ACC published
the first edition of
CityScapes
, a high-quality illustrated
magazine devoted to broadening the urban research
agenda set by the global South. The ACC also hosted
the second South African Cities Conference over two
days in September; at which more than 120 academics,
students, and practitioners presented papers. The centre
continued to develop collaborative research partnerships
in and beyond South Africa, partly under the auspices of
the State of Cities in Africa programme. The ACC secured
US$ 850,000 in funding for 2011 to 2013 from the
Rockefeller Foundation, to pursue the Revitalising Planning
Education agenda, and to implement a collaborative
partnership forged with Shack/Slum Dwellers International.
Dr Olaf Conrad was appointed as Programme Director for
Hydrogen Economy South Africa (HySA)/Catalysis. During
2011, the student training contribution of HySA/Catalysis
grew to 17 postgraduate students and two postdoctoral
fellows. Since August 2011, HySA/Catalysis has been able
to produce industry-standard fuel cell electrocatalysts
at a commercially relevant scale, and this capability will
make HySA a credible participant in the fuel cell research
and development industry globally. Substantial progress
was made in the establishment of an international high-