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SA's finest innovators, entrepreneurs celebrated at prestigious awards ceremony


Tshwane, 25 Nov 2015
BIOTECH Special students recognition.
BIOTECH Special students recognition.

The best innovators and entrepreneurs across the country gathered at The Innovation Hub on Friday, 20 November, for the Biotech Fundi and Gauteng Accelerator Programme (GAP) Innovation Competitions Awards 2015 during the Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Global Entrepreneurship Week is a time where innovators and entrepreneurs are celebrated across the globe through various activities that ignite ideas, create larger networks and inspire people to contribute positively to their community. It is these ideals that the GAP innovation competitions and the Biotech Fundi Awards are based on.

Annually, calls for entries are made to innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs who are working on novel ideas to improve service delivery and competitiveness in the public and private sector. The entries are then adjudicated on by esteemed panels of judges, who agree on the most innovative and viable innovations.

In its fourth year running, the GAP innovation competitions, which are run with partners that include Technology Innovation Agency, Emory University (Atlanta, USA), and Pfizer, have attracted more than 1 000 entries across the province of Gauteng and also from the rest of South Africa. Winners were awarded cash prizes, seed funding and incubation. The Gauteng MEC Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development, Lebogang Maile, in delivering the keynote address, emphasised "the need to invest in innovation so as to modernise and reindustrialise the Gauteng City Region economy".

GAP Special Recognition.
GAP Special Recognition.

Phindile Baleni, the Gauteng Province Director General, in congratulating the winners, also noted the importance of innovation and The Innovation Hub to the Gauteng City Region, and Gauteng Premier David Makhura's visit to The Innovation Hub on 10 November, together with members of his Cabinet to which industry was invited.

The 2015 top winners in each category are as follows:

* GAP ICT: Luke Jordan won the first prize of R190 000 for his innovation, Grassroot, which is a simple, purpose-built tool that allows ordinary people with any phone to call meetings, take votes, and log actions and decisions. This reduces the cost, time and skill it takes to organise in low income communities across South Africa.
* GAP Green: Rotenda Nevhutalu won the first prize of R240 000 for his innovation, briGado, which is a sustainable, manually operated brick-making kit, designed to address the issues of housing and unemployment. It equips users in rural and informal settings to make bricks and build their dream homes, and also creates a platform for entrepreneurship, where individuals can use brick-making as a source of income.
* GAP Medical: Musa Morgan, Lwazi Ntshangase and Banele Ngwenya were awarded first prize of R200 000 for their innovation, Circumfort, an underwear for circumcised men and boys to use after the circumcision to keep the penis in the upright position. Simply wrap it around the penis, strap it around the waist and comfort is yours.
* GAP Biosciences: Prof Luke Chimuka, and his team from the University of the Witwatersrand, was awarded first prize of R500 000 for a water-based Moringa extract innovation that is extracted through their patented extraction technology under their company, Extra Green.
* Special Recognition Award: Finalists Prof Mashudu Tshifularo and Jillian Nyakane were both awarded R50 000 each in seed funding as their innovations showed great potential. A medical prosthesis used to restore hearing quickly, easily and safely with minimal complications to be surgically implanted by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist into the middle ear was an innovation by Prof Tshifularo. Nyakane's Natural Body and Hair Butter is 100% natural, with no chemicals, synthetics, fillers or parabens.

Established in 2007 by the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD), the Biotech Fundi Awards is an initiative that recognises individuals involved in making an impact in the biotechnology sector by awarding them incentives and support to further develop their research and innovation.

The winners in each category are as follows:

* Capacity Builder: Prof David Roy Katerere, an associate professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), was awarded the Capacity Builder award for empowering trainees in the biotechnology sector. He won R15 000 in cash and R25 000 that will go towards capacity development activities.
* Young Researcher: Dr Henriette Hobbs, based at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), was awarded the Young Researcher Award for a researcher under the age of 35 years who has conducted research that will significantly contribute to improving the quality of life and has potential to be used as a commercialised biotechnology product. Dr Hobbs won R10 000 in cash and R25 000 for further research activities.
* Researcher of the Year: Dr Kulsum Kondiah, researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand, was awarded R15 000 in cash and R25 000 towards research and development for cutting-edge research in biotechnology.
* Best Postgraduate Award: GDARD funds commercially viable research projects conducted by post-graduate students. Stephanie Naidoo from the University of the Witwatersrand was the best performing postgrad student from the funded pool, winning R7 000 in cash and training worth R10 000 from DNA Biotec.
* Special Student Recognition: Students who performed well at tertiary level from across Gauteng universities, and sponsored by GDARD, were awarded R4 000 in cash and training worth R2 500 from DNA Biotec. The winners are: Dineo Motau from the Vaal University of Technology; Kanyane Nchabeleng from the University of Johannesburg; Stephanie Naidoo from the University of the Witwatersrand; Stephanus Engelbrecht from the University of Pretoria; and Nompumelelo Mtsweni from the Tshwane University of Technology.

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GDARD

The Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (http://www.gdard.gpg.gov.za/) is informed by Gauteng's achievements of the past 15 years and the needs of communities looking ahead, the department, in alignment with the Gauteng Provincial Government as a whole, focused on the following priority areas:

* Creating decent work and building a growing, inclusive economy;
* Promoting quality education and skills development;
* Providing better healthcare for all;
* Stimulating rural development and food security;
* Intensifying the fight against crime and corruption;
* Building cohesive and sustainable communities; and
* Strengthening the developmental state and good governance.

GGDA

The Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) (www.ggda.co.za), previously known as Blue IQ and GEDA, is a merged entity by the Gauteng Department of Economic Development (GDED). GGDA is the implementation arm of the GDED and assists the department in leading, facilitating and managing sustainable job creation and inclusive economic growth and development in the Gauteng City Region.

The Innovation Hub

The Innovation Hub (www.theinnovationhub.com), a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA), is Africa's first internationally accredited Science Park and a full member of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP). It is strategically located in Tshwane, South Africa's executive capital in the 'smart' province of Gauteng. As the leading knowledge-intensive business cluster in South Africa, The Innovation Hub implements initiatives identified in the Gauteng Innovation Strategy and Green Economy strategy to advance the economic development and growth of the province through innovation. The Innovation Hub has created a unique space for hi-tech entrepreneurs, world-class businesses, academics, researchers and venture capitalists to meet, network and prosper.

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