{"id":17914,"date":"2024-03-15T14:35:52","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T14:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/?p=17914"},"modified":"2024-03-19T14:37:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T14:37:17","slug":"celebrating-engineering-research-excellence-the-saice-2024-national-ip-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/celebrating-engineering-research-excellence-the-saice-2024-national-ip-showdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating engineering research excellence &#8211; the SAICE 2024 National IP Showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>15 March 2024<\/em><\/strong> &#8211; The South African Institution of Civil\u00a0Engineering\u2019s\u00a0(SAICE) annual National Intellectual Property (IP) Showdown, where leading universities across the country submit their top performing student\u2019s final year research projects for evaluation in front of a team of eminent judges, recently took place at the SANLAM Auditorium, in Sandton.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The event is designed to recognise excellence amongst civil\u00a0engineering\u00a0students for their research efforts, presenting their civil\u00a0engineering\u00a0university\u2019s research and investigation\u00a0projects, which is part of the national curriculum for the undergraduate\u2019s final year civil\u00a0engineering degree.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students are required to address a topical issue and then conduct research in accordance with pre-set deliverables. Upon completion, the student then presents their findings to a panel of judges, which comprises of civil engineering industry leaders.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SAICE CEO, <strong>Sekadi Phayane-Shakhane,<\/strong> explains that the presentation criteria are measured against ascertaining if the contestants have gained an in-depth understanding of the research project; determining whether contestants showcase adequate communication skills by presenting their work to a diverse audience; and exposing them to the industry and to key players within the industry.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The panel of judges comprised:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<li><strong>Lorato Ntsie<\/strong> \u2013 Director at MAP SD AFRIKA, BIM facilitator at CYPE; also champion of the SAICE Support our Students Pillar;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dlozi Mnisi<\/strong> \u2013 Consulting Project Manager at the Gauteng Department of Settlements and also the Chairperson of the SAICE Future Leaders Panel;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fredrich Slabbert<\/strong> \u2013 Director at Sciendum Academy and also a SAICE Council and Executive Board Member;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oliver Rowe<\/strong> \u2013 Head of Membership at SAICE; and<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lethu Dlanjwa<\/strong> \u2013 Project Manager at SANRAL and also the Chairperson of the SAICE Transportation Division.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Fredrich Slabbert<\/strong> explained that it is of paramount importance for engineers to be able to communicate easily to the general public so that they are able to understand often highly complex topics. \u201cThe industry has been guilty of perpetuating the perception that engineers are \u2018boffins in white coats\u2019 that spend their time in laboratories! The IP Showdown highlights the contestants\u2019 ability to dispel that; and present in an unfamiliar environment to a non-technical audience in a manner that fosters understanding. The National IP Showdown is an invaluable platform for upcoming civil\u00a0engineering\u00a0professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Lorato Ntsie<\/strong>, echoed Slabbert\u2019s remarks adding: \u201cThis year was remarkable as we found a theme that resonated throughout many of the presentations \u2013 it was underpinned by an ethos of environmental consciousness. I\u2019m immensely proud of our young graduates for their attitude and commitment in undertaking demanding research\u00a0projects. These are our future engineers with whom the built\u00a0environment\u00a0is entrusted, and their enthusiasm and approach provides the confidence that their skills will meet the challenges of the many\u00a0projects\u00a0that lie ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year\u2019s finalists included Azhar Mohammed Hoosain from Stellenbosch University; Simone Singh and Tsematse Thabo Tsematse from WITS University; Deandre Pillay from the University of Pretoria; Francine Naicker from the University of KwaZulu Natal; Sibongile Khoza from the University of Johannesburg; and Mahima Maharaj from the University of Cape Town.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The winners of this year\u2019s IP Showdown were Simone Singh and Tsematse Thabo Tsematse from Wits University, whose presentation focused on the \u201cUse of Coal Bottom Ash as a Partial Replacement of Portland Cement in Concrete\u201d; followed by Francine Naicker, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in second place, who discussed \u201cSustainable Regional Freight Management Systems in South Africa\u201d. In third place was Mahima Maharaj from the University of Cape Town who presented on \u201cFeasibility Of Growing Bio-Building Materials From Carbon Dioxide &amp; Bacteria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phayane-Shakhane concludes: \u201cI extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the contestants for their exceptional presentations, and SAICE is grateful to all of the sponsors whose support made this event possible including BVi Consulting Engineers, Leica Geosystems and SANLAM.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>ENDS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>About SAICE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) is a learned society and voluntary organisation that acts as a catalyst for innovation and good practice in developing the civil engineering profession. SAICE has a membership base in excess of 15 000 Civil Engineering professionals and is involved in developing policies, standards, structures, and systems that impact infrastructure at national and international levels.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Media Contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Musa Aphane | SWM Communications<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">musa@swmcommunications.co.za<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contact: 081 530 3054<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Contact details: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nthabeleng Lentsoane<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SAICE: Head of Marketing<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nthabeleng@saice.org.za<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contact: (011) 805-5947<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>15 March 2024 &#8211; The South African Institution of Civil\u00a0Engineering\u2019s\u00a0(SAICE) annual National Intellectual Property (IP) Showdown, where leading universities across the country submit their top performing student\u2019s final year research projects for evaluation in front of a team of eminent judges, recently took place at the SANLAM Auditorium, in Sandton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","category-saice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17917,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17914\/revisions\/17917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}