Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology
Prof RF Sandenbergh, Dean
Telephone number: 012 420 2440
Fax number: 012 362 5173
E-mail address: roelf.sandenbergh@up.ac.za
Message from the Dean
Research forms an integral part of the activities of the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology. It not only provides a sound basis for the programs in the faculty, but also contributes to knowledge and its application in the fields and professions served by the faculty.
Departments were encouraged to develop research areas relevant to the areas served by the programs offered, and staff members were encouraged to join and build existing and emerging research groups. Significant growth in the accredited research outputs by the faculty was achieved in 2006, and the quest is to improve on both the participation of staff and the number and quality of the outputs for the future.
The University was awarded a DST Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence for Prof Andries Engelbrecht of the Department of Computer Science, and we plan to establish a National Centre for Artificial Intelligence in the near future. During 2006 several more initiatives were launched to further develop research in the faculty as will be discussed in the following paragraphs.
Research as an integral part of our activities was furthered by internal research seminars and poster sessions by our staff and students, by increasing the research requirements of our graduate programs, by focussing on research skills and achievement as part of the requirements for appointment and promotion of academic staff, and by pursuing opportunities to increase our research funding and facilities. The activities in the faculty were also made more accessible to the wider public through the publication of the Innovate magazine.
Departmental visitations by the faculty research committee, and other interested staff members, during which the departments presented their research planning and outputs, were used to increase awareness of the research activities in the faculty and to stimulate cross fertilization and cooperation. Interdisciplinary activities in telecommunications, computer security, and the built environment flowed from this. The excellent progress that some departments made with their research also served as a stimulus to others.
A publication workshop by a professional in communication, supported by senior researchers and a journal editor, was again held to develop the professional writing skills of emerging researchers and to facilitate publication of completed research. The workshops were well received, but made it clear that sustained effort will be required to continue to develop the skills of emerging researchers.
Conference participation by staff members was encouraged, and supported by the faculty, to increase the international exposure and cooperation of staff members. The feedback received is indeed very encouraging and contributed significantly to the research outputs achieved. Staff members also actively participated in the organising of conferences such as the World Housing Conference, which was held on the campus.
Consolidation of research activities was encouraged and several departments responded by focussing their research activates such that sustainable groups were formed with the potential to significantly contribute, both locally and internationally. An example of this is the research groups in the department of Computer Science, namely Information and Computer Security Architectures (ICSA), Computational Intelligence (CIRG), Distributed Components and Middleware (Polelo), and Software Engineering – Theoretical and Applied Research (Fastar/Espresso), which are already making significant international contributions.
International peer review of our research activities was increased by the appointment of leading researchers as external examiners for theses, encouraging peer review of our staff through the NRF rating system, and encouraging publication of research in leading international journals. We are indeed encouraged by the rising number of staff that received NRF ratings, and by the increased participation of leading international researchers in our activities.
Strong links with and support of the research in the faculty by industry was again achieved with most of the research projects receiving at least some support from industry. Typical examples are the industry support of the Industrial Metals and Minerals Research Institute in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, which enables leading edge research on metals production and finishing, and of the Chair in Broad Band Multimedia Communications supported by Sentech in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering.
The further development, application and commercialisation of research are priorities for the faculty. Thus the further development and commercialisation of silicon light emitting devices that has the potential to significantly enhance the speed of electronic devices by using these devices for on chip communication was taken further and additional funding and international cooperation are presently being pursued. The faculty is also involved with the development and commercialisation of software applications at the Coach Lab, housed on the Innovation Hub, with the support of industry.
HIV/AIDS is a disease demanding attention from every individual in South Africa. The faculty made several contributions to prevention and control of the disease. Researchers in the School of IT focussed on the employment of advanced ICT technologies in combating the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS, as part of the activities of the larger research area in Health Informatics. In the School of Engineering control theory is being utilized to design treatment strategies in cooperation with researchers in France.
We are indeed encouraged by the very significant progress that the faculty made with its research initiatives during 2006. We not only achieved a significant increase in formal research outputs, but also strengthened the foundations for sustained growth into the future. Increasing our physical infrastructure, research support, and the number of graduate students are priority challenges for solution in the near future.
Prof RF Sandenbergh
Dean
|
