University of the Western Cape

UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

RESEARCH OPEN DAY ORAL PROGRAMME – 2008

DATE: TUESDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2008 VENUE: LIBRARY AUDITORIUM

TIME PARTICIPANT TITLE OF PRESENTATION 08h30 Registration Dr. Lorna Holtman 09h00 Opening and Welcome Deputy Dean: Science Faculty Prof. Renfrew Christie There is no such thing as free lunch! Research requires money, 09h05 Dean of Research hard work and imagination Prof. John Buckeridge Keynote: Global warming in Australia: a biologist’s 09h15 IUBS & RMIT Univ. Melbourne, perspective Australia 10h00-11h00 ORAL SESSION 1 – Hons Session 1 Mr Imran Achmed 10h00 Panoramic Video System (Computer Science) Mr Alexander Ilchev 10h20 Polymeric gas separation membranes (Chemistry) Ms Julian Peters A comparative proteomic analysis for the identification of 10h40 (Biotechnology) biomarkers specific for cancer cells 11h00 TEA 11h30-12h50 ORAL SESSION 2 – Hons Session 2 Mr Adolf October 11h30 Hydraulic and transport properties of fly ash (Earth Science) Mr Adeola Poroye 11h50 Smartphone communication for smart people (Computer Science) Ms Michelle Mukonyora The use of directed protein evolution to generate novel peptide 12h10 (Biotechnology) biomolecules for the targeted delivery of nanoparticles Ms Xiao Ping Hu Characterization of a novel cold-active esterase from Antarctic 12h30 (IMBM) soil 12h50 LUNCH and Exhibitions 13h40-15h00 ORAL SESSION 3 – Masters Session 1 Mr Vaughn Segers 13h40 An online system for plagiarism detection (Computer Science) Mr Segun A. Akinyemi Optimisation of selective extraction techniques as a tool for 14h00 (Earth Science) geochemical mapping in the Southern African region Ms Oluchi Mbamalu The use of Dioxy MP 14 (stabilized aqueous chlorine dioxide) to 14h20 (Pharmacy) control environmental airborne microorganisms Ms Henrietta R. Mofokeng 14h40 Identification of proteins involved in obesity from rat urine for (Biotechnology) biomarker discovery using proteomics 15h00 TEA

1 15h30-16h30 ORAL SESSION 4 – Masters Session 2 Mr James Magidi Spatio-Temporal dynamics in vegetatation in the Sandveld using 15h30 (BCB) 250m MODIS NDVI Data Ms Lizel Lubbe 15h50 Expression studies of human coronavirus NL63 M protein (Medical Bioscience) Mr Tuli Nakanyala Trends and determinants of contraceptive prevalence in Namibia: 16h10 (Statistics) From the 90s to the new millennium 16h30 CLOSING FOR DAY 1

DATE: WEDNESDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2008 VENUE: LIBRARY AUDITORIUM

TIME PARTICIPANT TITLE OF PRESENTATION 08h30 Registration SPONSOR / EXHIBITOR SESSION Mr. Sean McLean (Univ. IT Innovation, Trends and Opportunity: Insights from IBM 08h40 Relations Manager, IBM RSA) Research Ms Melissa Cloete (HR Discover Agriculture through the Young and Pre-Young 08h50 Officer, Dept. of Agriculture) Professional Persons Programme Dr. Pierre Cilliers (Research 09h00 Physicist, Hermanus Magnetic Space Weather Studies in Antarctica Observatory) Dr. Juliet Hermes (South 09h10 African Environmental Observation Amaz' Olwazi - Waves of Knowledge Network) 09h20 Dr. Neville Sweijd Research Careers at the CSIR (Competence Area Manager CSIR) 09h30-09h40 General questions and comments to exhibitors 09h40-11h10 ORAL SESSION 5 – Masters Session 3 Mr Simpiwe Eric Mahuzi Identification & characterization of sorghum microsomal 09h40 (Biotechnology) proteome in response to drought & salinity Ms Hadjira Peck 10h00 Conceptual modelling of the Stampriet Artesian Basin (SAB) (Earth Science) Ms Tasnim Suliman Characterisation of human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63) 10h20 (Medical Bioscience) ORF3 protein 10h40 TEA 11h10-11h50 ORAL SESSION 6 – Masters Session 4 Ms Elizabeth van der Merwe The effects of hand- vs machine-grading on the growth and 11h10 (BCB) survivorship of grow-out abalone Mr Cameron MacPherson 11h30 Transcriptional regulatory networks in the mouse brain (SANBI) 11h50-13h10 ORAL SESSION 7 – PhD/Postdoc Session 1 Mr Tajudeen Yusuf Mathematical analysis and simulation for HIV-1 cellular dynamics 11h50 (Mathematics) model

2 Mr Moredreck Chibi RBBP6 interacts with multifunctional protein YB-1 through its 12h10 RING finger domain, leading to ubiquitination and proteosomal (Biotechnology) degradation of YB-1 Mr Zakariya Mohammed The use of survival analysis in customer-based corporate 12h30 (Statistics) valuation Mr Andrew Nel Isolation of a cold adapted nitrile hydrolysing micro-organism 12h50 (IMBM) from Antarctica 13h10 LUNCH, POSTER SESSION and Exhibitions 14h00-15h00 ORAL SESSION 8 – PhD/Postdoc Session 2 Mr Kwazikwakhe Gabuza 14h00 Biomarker discovery in obesity (Biotechnology) Ms Adele Kruger 14h20 (SANBI) Inferring cellular hierarchies using micro-array data Dr. Deborah Robertson- Abalone farming and seaweed harvesting in South Africa: industry 14h40 Andersson (BCB) interdependencies and socio-economic importance. 15h00 TEA Prof. Ramesh Bharuthram - Keynote: Engaging in Research: Challenges and 15h30 Deputy Vice Chancellor Opportunities (Academic), UWC 16h10 Chair: Evaluation committee Summary and Awards Prof. Peter Witbooi Deputy Dean: CLOSING OF RESEACH OPEN DAY 2008 Science Faculty