The last few months have been very exciting for one of the NWU’s senior specialists in commercialisation.

FR Bezuidenhout of the institutional Technology Transfer and Innovation Support (TTIS) office has received a sought-after international scholarship and won a national prize for one of the projects he is involved with, which was judged the best in its category.

 

FR Bezuidenhout was one of only five technology transfer professionals from all developing countries in the world who were chosen for the prestigious scholarship of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM).

 

Scholarship opens doors

 

AUTM’s scholarship enabled him to attend the organisation’s annual congress, which took place in San Diego in February this year.

 

Receiving the scholarship is a great achievement considering that AUTM is a big organisation with more than 3 000 members from 65 different countries.

 

The congress hosted nearly 2 000 technology transfer professionals. Only the best specialists in the field are considered for the scholarship.

 

“It was a wonderful opportunity to learn from the best of the best in the technology transfer and innovation support fields. I am very grateful for the chance to rub shoulders with others in the industry and to benchmark our achievements, processes and projects with those from other countries.”

 

Project singled out for excellence

 

The AUTM congress was not the only highlight for FR and the team of TTIS. One of the projects they are closely involved with, the Mobile Agri Skills Development and Training (MASDT) mobile laboratory, won the award for Incubator of the Year.

 

This annual award is presented by the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and the Department of Small Business Development. Lindiwe Zulu, Minister of Small Business Development, announced the winner in March this year.

 

“We are so proud of this project which the TTIS office initiated. The NWU has played a significant role in empowering the MASDT laboratory. Prof Ingrid Dennis and the team of the Centre for Water Sciences and Management, with the support of the TTIS office, worked hard to ensure that the MASDT laboratory is a success,” says FR.

 

The MASDT laboratory is South Africa’s first mobile agricultural laboratory that enables farmers to test water and soil on their front stoep.

 

“This has been a very good year so far considering these two highlights,” says FR, referring to the scholarship and award. “We are excited about many promising projects this year. Hopefully this is just the beginning of very good things in 2016.”