Innovation Bridge aimed to enable linkages and networking between South African and international innovators, industry and public and private technology development and commercialisation funding partners.
The Nelson Mandela University was represented by staff of the Innovation Office, whom exhibited the following technologies which are currently at or approaching a market-ready stage:
•HiStart – A control strategy and hardware, which allows for a temporary increase in power output of the generator to supply a large starting load.
•Olive Waste - The development of a formulation for a trial cosmetic product containing olive waste (pomace) in a processed form. This pomace will be incorporated into a cosmetic formulation (such as an oil/water emulsion cream) for topical application.
•Solar Heat Engine - The system harnesses energy from the sun and is able to store and convert the energy into electricity without relying on expensive solar panels and lead acid batteries. The product consists of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) to produce power.
•Media Player for the Blind - The inventors have utilised the latest technology to create a portable media player for the visually impaired.
•High Yield Turbine - A unique turbine blade arrangement for a fluid-driven turbine that is most useful for low scale wind power generation applications. The primary purpose of the product is to enable every person to benefit from an affordable, convenient energy solution.
•Concentrator Photovoltaic - CPV utilises precision optics and relies on high energy that generally exceeds the yield from a conventional flat plate. This technology provides a solution to address the current shortcomings of non-favourable irradiance conditions affecting solar power outputs. It will be a cost-effective option.
•Microalgae to Energy - cultivation of microalgae for the benefication of coal fines and further processing to energy products.
•Low Smoke Fuel - The use of coal and biomass for household heating and cooking is recognised to be a major threat to people's lives across the world. A process has been developed that can transform waste ultrafine coal into a valuable low smoke fuel which could be supplied to the domestic market at a similar price to that of coal.
•Growing-up: Children Building Careers - GCBC is a computer-based career development learning program that focuses on assisting learners in achieving the right mind-set to make appropriate and relevant career choices for the future.
•Soft Contact Lenses - The profiles of contact lenses currently available on the market are not suitable for the eyes of Black Africans as commercial contact lenses are designed for corneas having steeper profiles.
•Space Radiation - Digital electronic circuits, both Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), as well as programmable digital logic circuits, are subject to interference caused by radiation resulting in errors, know as Single Event Transients (SETs) and Single Event Upsets(SEUs). The invention is a SET suppression circuit for non-volatile FPGAs and ASICs. It is able to detect and correct more efficiently as well as consumes less space on the circuit board than traditional solutions.
The 2017 event was implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO).