College of Science, Engineering & Technology

Joining forces in membranes and material science

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The College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) hosted a seminar on membranes and material science on 23 January 2019, with delegates from Tianjin Polytechnic University (TJPU), China. The keynote speakers for the seminar included TJPU’s Prof Dan Liu, speaking on nano- or molecular-scale rational tailoring of advanced catalytic materials and their applications, and Prof Zhenhuan Li, who spoke about studies on the environmental purification materials, carbon-based energy materials and biomass utilisation.

The director of Unisa’s Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability (NanoWS) research unit, Dr Lueta de Kock, stated that the purpose of the seminar was to strengthen the existing collaborative ties between TJPU and Unisa, which are embodied in the MoU that exists between the two institutions.

The seminar also served as a platform to introduce TJPU colleagues to the broader CSET community, as well as to provide an overview of the work being carried out in the areas of material science and membrane technology. In addition, colleagues from the Departments of Physics and Chemical Engineering provided details on the research being done in their respective departments. This seminar was also utilised for further discussions on areas of collaboration. It is hoped that the outcome will be stronger collaborative projects and joint funding applications that will serve to strengthen the ties between TJPU and Unisa.

NanoWS currently has strong ties with TJPU, with academics and postgraduate students from Unisa making regular research visits to TJPU. We envisage that this visit by our TJPU colleagues will result in greater mobility of staff and students from TJPU to Unisa to make use of the advanced analytical characterisation techniques that are available within the CSET laboratories, as well as provide training on the techniques and procedures that are available at TJPU. This visit also provided an opportunity to extend the collaboration to the wider CSET community.

The college is looking forward to many new joint projects involving CSET, TJPU, and the industry. We are also looking forward to strong external funding applications.

*Submitted by Thembeka Ntuli-Mpapama, Communication and Marketing Specialist, College of Science, Engineering, and Technology

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Publish date: 2019/02/13

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