The College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science (CAES) is hosting its 12th annual Postgraduate Research and Innovation Symposium (PRIS) under the theme #ClimateChange. Some 200 postgraduate students will share their research through oral and flash presentations at the online event.
The School of Engineering has an international reputation for teaching and research and is among the top Engineering schools in the country. The school offers eight areas of specialisation. Each discipline provides students with the option of professional registration and access to numerous career opportunities in the fields of engineering, research and development, project management, production management, consulting and general management.
A total of 50 students from the School of Engineering will be presenting at PRIS 2022 with research projects that have environmental, societal and industrial impact. Some of the projects from our Masters students are as follows: Mr Kiaran Govender will present research on The production of a sustainable resin-free particleboard from sugarcane bagasse; Ms Yuri Ramruthan’s research project is about the Characterization of sludge for its optimal valorization; and Mr Samuel Okem will discuss the Stabilisation of Base Course Materials With Nanoemulsions.
The School also has a number of PhD entrants. Mr Gaogane Jephtah Gaogane’s research is about the Assessment and feasibility of converting municipal organic waste into biogas using anaerobic digestion: A South African case-study; Mr Mohamed Elmezughi will discuss Proposals of Empirical and Machine-Learning-Based Path Loss Prediction Models for Future Communication Networks; and Mr Audecious Mugwagwa will speak about A Survey into Security and Privacy Issues For Artificial Intelligence In Edge-Cloud Computing.
We will also be hosting online exhibitions from 30 of our industry partners. The College has strong linkages with industry because they believe in our research excellence. ‘We are proud to partner with UKZN and be a sponsor for PRIS 2022. Good luck to all the postgraduate students presenting,’ said Mr Philani Mpofu, Junior Software Developer at Allan Gray.
Some other highlights from PRIS 2022 include the keynote address from Dr Debra Roberts, Head of eThekwini Municipality’s Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit, and Co-Chair of the IPCC Working Group II. The event will close with a prize-giving ceremony in which all the best oral and flash presentations will be awarded prizes ranging from R3 000 to R15 000. There will also be a number of lucky draw prizes up for grabs for those in attendance.
Register on our website to join us online on 8 – 9 December 2022.
