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From the Dean's desk
Didibhuku Thwala from the Department of Civil Engineering walked away with a “Science Oscar Award” this year where he received
the much coveted NSTF-South32 Engineering Research Capacity Development Award for his impressive work in the area of
sustainable construction management, digitalisation, design error containment and leadership within the built environment.
I am indebted to Prof Simi Dube who took reigns and steered the college in the right direction while I was away on a much needed
executive leave for the rst months of 2022. I am also thankful to all the nontechnical staff members; laboratory technicians and
administrative staff who sometimes operate under difficult conditions but still manage to make a lot of things happen and move in
the college while providing support to our students. We also acknowledge our dependencies who also rise to the occasion and
provide us the assistance we require with minimal turnaround time. Here I am specically referring to the UNISA Science Campus
ICT department, the Unisa Supply Chain department, the Unisa Finance department as well as the UNISA Human Resources
department.
One key milestone made in the college this year was the formal institution of The institute for Catalysis and Energy Sustainability
(ICES) formerly known as IDEAS, on 1 October 2022 as approved by council. We are also delighted to share the approval of the
Fourth Industrial Revolution and Data Science Research Unit which will be led by Prof Ernest Mnkandla
It is not always a joyful matter when we have to bid farewell to colleagues who have tirelessly served the College and UNISA over the
years in various capacities. I am grateful to Professor Themba Dube from the Department of Mathematical Sciences who has served
the institution for many years and his contributions over the years were celebrated through the Topology, Algebra and Category
Theory conference of 2022 (TACT2022) that was hosted in his honour. To professor GJ Summers, Prof Loock, Dr Stella Mugisha and
Mrs Estelle De Kock who have been stalwarts and servant leaders at the Department of Chemistry, School of Computing, and
Department of Mathematical Sciences, I wish them well in their retirement. They have served UNISA selessly and with distinction.
We also bid farewell in 2022 to Professor Fulufhelo Nemavhola and Prof Hlengilizwe Nyoni who resigned this year to take up spaces
and higher positions elsewhere. As a college, we are truly grateful for all the efforts and the signicant contributions that the two
colleagues have made in the college and university at large.
To the many colleagues who have brought in third stream funding income, to the scholars who continue to publish their work on
various platforms, to the newly rated NRF Scholars and those who have successfully applied for re-rating, to the supervisors of
postgraduate students, to the educators of our students, to the Great Ambassadors of CSET, to the Chairs of Departments, Directors
and Heads of Institutes, the Deanery Staff, in particular, our College Administrator (Operations Manager) -Mr Mpho Tshabalala, I tip
my hat and congratulate you from the bottom of my heart. CSET would not be CSET, without you! We are also proud of our
Postdoctoral Fellows, Research Associates of UNISA, our postgraduate students and undergraduate students. You are our unsung
heroes and you have stamped your indelible mark on CSET. Thank you for choosing us as one of the milestones of your academic life
and your career.
The highlights for 2022 make for good reading as we once again reect collectively on the CSET's achievements in the current year.
We look forward to perusing the pages and to reminiscing as we wind up 2022.
I wish you and your loved ones a blessed festive season. Please nd the time to rest – and remain safe always. May you come back in
2023 energised and ready to hit the ground running!
CSET 2022 HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 02
