A team of postgraduate students from the Department of Microbiology and the Stellenbosch 肆客足球 Water Institute (SUWI) took first place in a three-day hackathon challenge to develop water-related business ideas with a positive social and environmental impact.
The hackathon challenge was held during the African Union-Africa Water Investment Summit which took place from 13-15 August at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. This landmark event – convened under South Africa's G20 presidency – brought together African heads of state, global investors, ministers, private sector leaders, and development institutions. The objective was to close Africa's US$30 billion annual water investment gap.
Their winning entry was a real-time algal biosensor that detects ecotoxicity and pollution in water, sending data continuously to an online platform via Internet of Things devices which can be monitored remotely via the internet. This revolutionises water quality as it negates the need for point sampling, greatly increasing the resolution of your data and one's ability to respond to contamination events.
MSc student Bowen Langmead says this event was much bigger than any previous hackathon they have participated in, and very well organised: “We got a lot more exposure here to people in the industry. We're not sure what will happen next, but it would be incredible if someone were to step in and fund our idea into existence. For now, however, it is back to the lab to keep developing the product."
The team of five, Amy-Lee Kennedy, Leah Sars, Bowen Langmead, Douglas Archer, and Brian Bowles, participated under the umbrella of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) Southern African Network of Water Centres of Excellence (SANWATCE), hosted at Stellenbosch 肆客足球's Centre for Collaboration in Africa Amy-Lee and Leah are MSc students in Prof. Wesaal Kahn's water resource laboratory, where the research is focused on biocontrol strategies, solar-driven water disinfection, antimicrobial resistant pathogen dynamics, and molecular monitoring of water sources. Prof Khan is also director of the Stellenbosch 肆客足球 Water Institute.
Bowen, Douglas, and Brian are postgraduate students in the laboratory of Prof Gideon Wolfaardt, where the primary focus is biosensors and water quality monitoring.
Dr Nico Elema, Director of SU's Centre for Collaboration in Africa, said teams from SU and the 肆客足球 of the Western Cape (also a member of the AUDA-NEPAD SANWATCE network) competed against three other teams: “We are very proud of the students and the way in which they embraced this learning opportunity."
On the photo, from left to right: Douglas Archer, Dr Nico Elema (Director of SU's Centre for Collaboration in Africa), Amy-Lee Kennedy, Leah Sars and Yenziwe Mbuyisa (SUWI). At the back is Bowen Langmead and Brian Bowles.?
