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UNIVERSITY OF ™ ••...{.,, KWAZULU-NATAL COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, '{' INYUVESI � YAKWAZULU-NATALI ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE The College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science would like to express its grateful thanks to the following external partners of the 2017 College Postgraduate Research and Innovation Day: agriculture National & rural development Depettmenl: Research Agrb.,ltureendRLOIDeveloprnent RF Foundation �IIIP!> PROVINCE OF KWAZULU-NATAL • B·;,ft1J�-SCH WiRSHIII �- Anton Paar ULWAZI SCIENTIFIC � f> PerkinElmer f\ �Accreditationu�tn !1� System1 citrus� ARC•LNR�� h:chnoloq4 innovation acacJemy A G E N C Y inqaba biotec - Africa's Genomlcs Company EC SA ELSEVIER enterprisingIT and beuand NATIONALASTROPHYSICS AND SPACE SCIENCE PROGRAMME NASS..,,.� UNITED80 SCIENTIFIC"'..., Lasec �c.,'?!=��pplJ.s cc ®Eskom SHALOM � LABORATORY • WhiteSci " ,, ,, ' I SUPPLIES CC -•'' CELTIC�� ll.Metrohm MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS UMGENI Industrial Analytical ••••LWW (Pty) Ltd WATER ·AMANZI • ,so ,001:2000 Part of LGC Standards College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science Postgraduate Research and Innovation Day 2017 Westville Campus The College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science would like to express its grateful thanks to the following internal partners of the 2017 College Postgraduate Research and Innovation Day: UKZN School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences UKZN School of Chemistry and Physics UKZN School of Engineering UKZN School of Life Sciences UKZN School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science UKZN Information and Communication Services Division UKZN InQubate UKZN Research Office African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit (ACRU) Catalysis Research Group Centre for Composite Materials Centre for Quantum Technology Centre for Radio Access and Rural Technologies (CRART) Centre for Water Resources Research (CWRR) DST-NRF SARChI Chairs National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme (NASSP) National Institute for Theoretical Physics (NITheP) Pollution Research Group (PRG) Thermodynamics Research Unit (TRU) Dr Akshay Saha Professor Neil Koorbanally Dr Andrew Swanson Professor Onisimo Mutanga Dr Brenda Moodley Professor Prathieka Naidoo Dr Michael Brooks Professor Ross Robinson Dr Mzamo Shozi Professor Thomas Afullo Dr Roshila Moodley Professor Theresa Coetzer Professor Ademola Olaniran Professor Sivakumar Venkataraman Professor Bice Martincigh Professor Sreekantha Jonnalagadda Professor Cristina Trois Professor Steve Johnson Professor Hongjun Xu Professor Sunil Maharaj Professor Jules-Raymond Tapamo Professor Vincent Nyamori 1 College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science Postgraduate Research and Innovation Day 2017 Westville Campus The College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science would like to express its grateful thanks to the following exhibitors at the 2017 College Postgraduate Research and Innovation Day: AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (ARC) ALLAN GRAY ANTON PAAR ARMSCOR BOSCH ULWAZI CELTIC MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS CITRUS ACADEMY ELSEVIER B.V ESKOM FOSCHINI GROUP INDUSTRIAL ANALYTICAL (PTY) LTD INQABA BIOTECHNICAL INDUSTRIES KANTAR SOUTH AFRICA LASEC SOUTH AFRICA (PTY) LTD METROHM MONEY 4 JAM MINTEK NATIONAL ASTROPHYSICS AND SPACE SCIENCE PROGRAMME (NASSP) PERKINELMER SOUTH AFRICA SEPARATION SCIENTFIC SA (PTY)LTD SHALOM LABORATORY SUPPLIES CC SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ACCREDITATION SYSTEM (SANAS) TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION AGENCY (TIA) TRILAB SUPPORT UKZN AFRICAN CENTRE FOR CROP IMPROVEMENT (ACCI) UKZN ASTROPHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY RESEARCH UNIT (ACRU) UKZN CENTRE FOR RADIO ACCESS AND RURAL TECHNOLOGIES (CRART) UKZN COLLEGE OF AES: COLLEGE OFFICE UMGENI WATER UNITED SCIENTIFIC SOUTH AFRICA WHITEHEAD SCIENTIFIC (PTY) LTD WIRSAM SCIENTIFIC AND PRECISION EQUIPMENT (PTY) LTD 2 College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science Postgraduate Research and Innovation Day 2017 Westville Campus The College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science would like to express its grateful thanks to the School of Chemistry and Physics, who in conjunction with the College Public Relations Office coordinated the 2017 Postgraduate Research and Innovation Day. The 2017 Committee consisted of the following staff: Professor Thomas Konrad – Chair Asok Rajah Dr Giuseppe Pellicane Bheki Mthembu Dr Matthew Moodley Leena Rajpal Dr Sally Frost Moira Bolton Dr Zolile Mtumela Sashlin Girraj _________________________________________________________________________ The College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science would like to express its grateful thanks to the following judges of the 2017 College Postgraduate Research and Innovation Day: School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences Dr Alistair Clulow Dr Sandile Hadebe Dr Lembe Magwaza Dr Saumitra Misra Dr Lloyd Baiyegunhi Professor Mark Laing Dr Nicky Tyler Professor Michael Chimonyo School of Chemistry and Physics Dr Alan Matthews Dr Siphamandla Sithebe Dr Brenda Moodley Dr Zikhona Tywabi-Ngeva Dr Karin Pruessner Professor Neil Koorbanally Dr Mervlyn Moodley Professor Richard Mace Dr Moolla Suleman Professor Sivakumar Venkataraman Dr Mzamo Shozi Professor Sreekantha Jonnalagad Dr Roshila Moodley Professor Werner van Zyl 3 School of Engineering Dr Akshay Saha Dr Chiemela Onunka Dr Andrew Eloka-Eboka Dr Elena Friedrich Dr Andrew Swanson Dr Nishani Harinarain Dr Arman Goudarzi Professor Jules-Raymond Tapamo School of Life Sciences Dr Dalene Vosloo Dr Taurai Mutanda Dr Karen Pillay Professor Shahidul Islam Dr Matthew Adekele Professor Ursula Scharler Dr Shakira Shaik Professor Yogis Naidoo School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Dr Absalom Ezugwu Dr Tosin Mewomo Dr Faraimunashe Chirove Mr Edgar Jembere Dr Gareth Amery Mr Jean Medard Ngnotchouye Dr Mfanafikile Don Mhlongo Mr Luke Vorster Dr Riven Narain Mrs Rosanne Els Dr Sivuyile Mgobhozi Professor Serestina Viriri External Stakeholders Botlhale Mosoane - Allan Gray Christopher Williams - Allan Gray Donna Berjak - KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Janet Taylor - KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development John Cato – Engineering Council of South Africa Khangelani Mkhathini - KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nandi Mtsokoba - Transnet Nomfuzo Mkhize - KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Ron Braunstein – Sappi Sabelo Mzimela – Transnet Subhash Jagannath - Ethekwini Municipality Thabiso Mudau - Agriculture Research Council Technology Innovation Agency KwaZulu-Natal Regional Office of Technology Transfer-Charlotte Mashaba 4 College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science Postgraduate Research and Innovation Day 2017 Westville Campus MESSAGES OF SUPPORT The research community from the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Sciences continues to set the pace in terms of research outputs produced across the university. An important part of the new UKZN Strategy (2017- 2021) is the emphasis it places on growing the impact of the research that is produced at UKZN. Impact can be measured in terms of the influence our research has on the community in which we function, the manner in which it impacts on the policy environment but also the citations our published research attracts from the broader research community. This requires a focus on high impact journals and increasing the international collaborations, we engage with. These two factors alone will significantly strengthen the research profile of UKZN. Please use the opportunity afforded by this event to encourage all our students and academics to build their research profiles and to focus on the quality of the research produced to ensure that UKZN becomes well known for the transformative character of its research. Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, Vice-Chancellor and Principal: UKZN One of the most influential scientists of our modern times, Albert Einstein stated, “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" Given the pace at which our world is changing, it is no wonder that the human race is rapidly under pressure to become experts – to know more and more about less and less. The big challenge for us is to rapidly discover, inform and implement our small and big discoveries to make real changes. We have economic, environmental, health and cultural questions to respond to, for the benefit of the present and future generations. The mission of UKZN is to be relevant to our local communities, South Africa and the world. Our postgraduate students have made it possible for UKZN to deliver on its mission. The College Research Day is a significant moment for UKZN to highlight the efforts and successes of our students and their supervisors. Every presentation on this day is valuable. We are thankful to all students who took time to share their knowledge with us. Professor Albert Modi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Acting): College of AES, UKZN 5 College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science Postgraduate Research and Innovation Day 2017 Westville Campus Welcome to the seventh College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science Postgraduate Research day organised this year by the School of Chemistry and Physics in collaboration with the College Public Relations team. We are striving to ensure that the research carried out by our postgraduate students is relevant to society and contributes to the wellbeing of South Africans. In doing so, we are actively seeking collaboration and partnerships with industry and with