Unisa online - Innovative research in action

Innovative safety practices were taught using this full-size model of a shack

The exhibition, “Innovative research in action”, held as part of Unisa’s Research and Innovation Week on 12 March 2012, revealed different ways in which innovation can make life easier for people.

A number of institutions displayed their innovation initiatives at the event. Mr Royal Lekoba from the Institute for Social and Health Sciences illustrated, by means of a full-size model of a shack, how safety is promoted in informal settlements. “We teach people about safety and how to move things around their small shacks safely to save lives,” he said. He added that the institution’s safety education is research based. “Before we launch any educational campaigns we do research, come up with findings and develop our own campaigns around those findings.”

Mr Lekoba said that common problems in informal settlements are electrocution and fire caused by imbawula (a heater made out of a drum with small holes), gas cylinders and candles that tip. He demonstrated different innovative methods of using candles safely so that they will not cause fire even if they fall over. “We told people to put a candle inside a glass bottle with a little sand at the bottom; even when the candle falls, it will be within the bottle and not cause fire.”

The Lego League Project exhibition

Team members of one of Unisa’s flagship projects, the Lego® League Project, shared how they encourage young kids to have fun with technology by building robots and different gadgets. Ms Patricia Gouws, from the Lego® League Project, said that there is a lack of young pupils who participate in this project and a lack of teams in the rest of Africa. “South Africa has about 100 teams, but there are none in the rest of Africa,” she said. She also mentioned that more has to be done to spread this project throughout Africa. “Our experience in South Africa has been that this is an excellent way of getting the kids to enjoy technology.”

Prof Lessing Labuschagne, Acting Executive Director of Research, said that with the Research and Innovation Week, Unisa is creating awareness about research and the concept of innovation. He added that exhibitions help, because people are able to physically see things as opposed to just asking questions about them in a discussion panel. Prof Labuschagne said that it also helps different colleges in seeing similarities in research projects they might be involved in. “Some people see what others do and they realise that they are doing similar things, yet they never realised that they were being innovative in their own right.” In conclusion, Prof Labuschagne said that Unisa wants to create more research groups where people will be working together instead of working alone.