Research

Innovation, Technology Transfer and Commercialisation

Within Unisa, the Directorate of Innovation, Technology Transfer and Commercialisation (DITTC) has spent the past decade designing and putting in place the many components that go into creating settings where innovation and innovators thrive. There is still a long way to go before all the ingredients of the ideal environment for innovation are fully in place and working together but, as the achievements of 2022 demonstrate, progress is certainly being made.

Intellectual property portfolio continues to grow

Since the first patent in Unisa’s name was granted in 2015, the university’s portfolio of patents has grown steadily. In 2022, a further 20 patents were granted, compared to 17 in the previous year. By the end of December 2022, the total number of Unisa-held patents stood at 75.

The two main jurisdictions in which Unisa innovations were patented were South Africa, with nine, followed by the European Union, with five. The remainder are distributed across the Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), Brazil, Canada, China, the United Kingdom and the United States. Figure 1 below shows the geographical distribution of the 22 granted patents.

Meanwhile, the DITTC filed a further 29 patent applications, compared to 41 in 2021. The applications for 2022 were distributed across 10 jurisdictions, as shown in figure 2.

With regard to patent prosecution, which refers to the interaction between patent applicants, their representatives and patent offices, the DITTC handled 211 prosecution-related matters, including the 29 patent applications.

The DITTC received 10 intellectual property disclosures from Unisa staff, compared to 13 in the previous year. The numbers for both years are lower than in the preceding eight years, when disclosures ranged from 15 in 2013 to a high of 34 in 2019.

Figure 1: Patents granted in 2022


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Figure 2: Distribution of patent applications per jurisdiction

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Inaugural Unisa Innovation Festival held

An important step forward for Unisa’s evolution as an entrepreneurial university was the hosting of the inaugural Unisa Innovation Festival in December 2022. The event showcased Unisa’s innovation initiatives and saw some of South Africa’s top innovation leaders serving as speakers and panellists.

Guest speakers who shared their insights into the latest trends in the broader South African innovation landscape included Dr Phil Mjwara, Director-General of the National Department of Science and Innovation, Ms Matsi Modise, Chairperson of the TIA Board, and Mr Patrick Krappie, acting Chief Executive Officer of the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA).

Senior executives of leading funders of African start-up companies also attended the inaugural Unisa Innovation Festival, serving on the panel of judges for The Crucible, a pitching session for eight Unisa innovators, comprising staff and students, whose inventions were nearing market readiness.

The role of the judges included assessing the potential “bankability” of the participants’ inventions – meaning how likely these are to succeed in the marketplace. This was the first time Unisa had invited outside experts to comment on the bankability and commercial prospects of its innovators’ inventions.

According to the judges, the “most bankable pitch” was that of Mbuso Ngcongo, a BSc computing student, whose uMbalabala Education Toolkit is designed to help preschool children learn numeracy, literacy and coding skills.

Mbuso was also the co-winner of the People’s Choice Award, alongside Nkamogeleng Matloga, a BSc biochemistry and microbiology student who founded BCycle SA, which aims to create a “culture of mobility” in South Africa. The two also won the “People’s Choice” awards, having received the most votes from the audience attending the festival,

A second pitching session, called The Forge, was also held. This session was the final phase of the 2022 Innovation Challenge for Unisa students starting out on their journey to turn their innovative ideas into practical solutions to societal problems. This was the 10th edition of the Innovation Challenge, which has grown in leaps and bounds since its inception in 2012.

The judges chose three winners from The Forge pitching session: Noncedo Ngebulana, leader of the team whose ServeU project envisages a platform for connecting customers with artisans; Thokozani Pega, team leader of an animal and plant diagnostics project; and Lisa von Benecke, who aims to help solve the energy crisis by creating mobile solar blinds.

Each of the three winners qualifies for R100 000 in seed funding to take their innovations further. They will also join the Unisa DITTC Start-Up Academy as the 2023 cohort, where they will receive mentorship, training and assistance with prototype development and piloting, and support to establish start-up or spin-out companies.

Innovation Club and Start-Up Academy strengthen Unisa’s innovation infrastructure

Unisa’s innovation and commercialisation expanded in 2022 when the DITTC launched the Innovation Club and reconfigured the Pre-incubation programme, as it was previously known, into the Unisa Start-Up Academy.

The Innovation Club, launched on 8 April 2022, is for winners of the annual Innovation Challenge for students, enabling them to network with each other and established entrepreneurs, innovators, funders and investors, and to benefit from opportunities for innovation training, events, funding opportunities, incubators and accelerators.

Events for Innovation Club members were held throughout the year, some presented virtually and others in person. Guest speakers were invited to present on topics such as the innovation/entrepreneurship ecosystem; the start-up journey; branding, marketing and digital strategies for early-stage start-ups; and funding opportunities.

The DITTC Start-Up Academy is a technology incubation support programme in which Unisa assists innovators in developing their innovations from the ideation phase through to the pre-seed funding phase. Participants have access to training on all aspects of innovation and entrepreneurship, including revenue models, brand positioning and business strategy. They are also partnered with mentors from business and industry, who engage in skills transfer and connect the participants with potential customers, suppliers and funders.

In the last phases of the Start-Up Academy process, the participants have intensive exposure to project management methodologies and prototype development, in partnership with incubators, accelerators and makerspaces across South Africa.

Ensuring accountability and proper monitoring, all participants are expected to submit quarterly reports on milestones achieved with their innovations and to account for the spending of funds made available to them.

In other noteworthy innovation highlights of 2022:

  • Unisa was represented at two major innovation events in 2022, namely the BIO African Convention in August and the World Science Forum in December. Some of the Unisa-generated innovations on display at these events included a novel drug combination to treat colon cancer, a diagnostic kit development platform, Africa BioGenome Project, waste beer recovery and the Research Methods Index.
  • Dr Lindani Ncube of the Environmental Sciences Department in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences won the Innovation Support Programme (ISP) for Unisa staff. Her successful entry entailed the development and application of a SuperCeasar hydro-geomorphic model for the reliable prediction of flood and erosion, with the Zambezi, Limpopo, Orange and Nile rivers as test cases. Dr Ncube was awarded R100 000 in seed funding for the further development of the modelling system.
  • were selected to participate in the first phase, called Bootcamp Ignite. Thirteen projects proceeded to the final stage of the challenge and three were selected as winners, receiving seed funding and pre-incubation support, including the opportunity to develop and pilot their ideas. The winners were R Quina and TT Pega with their Digital Plant and Animal Diagnostics project; N Ngebulana and L Mamkayi with their platform for connecting artisans with customers; and L von Benecken, with her Mobile Modular Solar Window Blind.
  • A full range of InnovationSense™ training and awareness initiatives were presented for interested staff and students. These included masterclasses on IP, innovation and technology commercialisation for 346 participants, special topic sessions for 182 students and staff, Business Model Canvas training for more than 70 students, Innovation in Action lectures for 32 staff and students, and the World IP Day celebrations for 20 participants

How Unisa’s innovation investments are nurturing a new generation

Ten Unisa students achieved significant successes during the year, receiving recognition not only from the university itself but nationally, regionally and even internationally.

Mbuso Ngcongo, a BSc computing student, has won numerous awards for his uMbalabala Education Toolkit, which is designed to help preschool children learn numeracy, literacy and coding skills.

His EdTech innovation, which is in the prototype development and validation stage, was one of 10 African start-ups selected for a Swiss residency programme in the inaugural Swiss-Africa Start-Up Business Innovation initiative. Mbuso was also a South African top six start-up finalist for the International Blue Ocean Awards, and was nominated to take part in a five-day entrepreneurship training programme by the Technological Higher Education Network South Africa (THENSA), where his innovation was selected as the most financially viable idea.

His own university, of course, has recognised the potential of his idea. Mbuso was selected as the winner of the People’s Choice Award and the Most Bankable Pitch at the inaugural Unisa Innovation Festival in December 2022 (see page X of this report).

Another student who attracted national and international attention was Caroline Matenchi, a biomedical sciences student, whose agricultural smart sensor saw her being selected to participate in the United Kingdom’s Future Female Business Programme for six months.

Then there is the eco bicycle of Nkamogeleng Matloga, a BSc biochemistry and microbiology student who aspires to build a culture of mobility in South Africa. She was selected as a South African Top 10 finalist for the Entrepreneurship World Cup and as a South African Top 6 finalist for the International Blue Ocean Awards. She also won a People’s Choice Award at the Unisa Innovation Festival.

Other winning ideas were the innovative Circular Economy Toilets of Kaveto Tjatjara, founder of Flushh, which was chosen as a Top 5 African start-up for the University of Cape Town’s Solution Space e-track programme, and the waterless maize meal innovation of Lunga Phaliso, who was nominated for the five-day THENSA training programme.

Then there was Bonginkosi Mabaso’s EdTech innovation, Ann Connect, which was accepted for The Innovation Hub incubation programme for 2023, as well as for the Technology Innovation Agency Grassroots programme.

Meanwhile, Kgalabi Mongatane’s Eco-Ba handwashing system was accepted onto the Reckitt Fight for Access accelerator programme, and Mzwakhe Xulu’s auto mechanical tap was a Top 17 start-up in the University of Pretoria’s Vice-Chancellor Challenge.

These accomplishments did not come out of the blue. They are the products of young talent combined with great ideas being systematically nurtured and supported through Unisa’s holistic innovation and commercialisation infrastructure.

Last modified: 2023/12/20