UCT Sustainability and the SDGs 2022 - Report - Page 27
Acinotech
Launched in 2022, UCT’s most recent spin-off company
is an excellent example of the value of cross-disciplinary
research. A collaboration between the African Robotics
Unit in the Department of Electrical Engineering and a
neuromuscular physiology researcher in the Division of
Exercise Science and Sports Medicine at UCT’s Faculty
of Health Sciences resulted in an advanced 3D forcesensing system with potential uses in biokinetics.
Towards a sustainable production of
aquatic animals
MariHealth Solutions, a marine biotech and UCT spin-off
company, was officially launched in October 2021 but
gained real momentum in 2022, as the founders from the
Molecular and Cell Biology Department at UCT’s Faculty
of Science began to engage key stakeholders in the
global aquaculture industry.
The company currently has two products that are
ready to go to market: a probiotic for enhancing the
health, survival, and growth of hatchery-produced
abalone, as well as proteomic biomarkers for measuring
environmental stress in these farmed environments.
Proteomics involves the systematic analysis of proteins
that are present in cells at a particular time under certain
conditions.
As land-based agriculture is under immense pressure
and aquaculture witnesses a global boom, the work
of MariHealth Solutions can make the commercial
production of aquatic animals more sustainable.
African Centre for Cities
The African Centre for Cities (ACC) is an interdisciplinary
hub at UCT conducting research into issues faced by
cities in the Global South. One of their many initiatives is
the African Infrastructure Futures Conference.
African Infrastructure Futures
Conference
Achieving sustainable urban infrastructure requires
engagements with public and private operators and
decision-makers around infrastructure investment. The
African Infrastructure Futures Conference took place in
November 2022 and fostered a frank dialogue between
social partners; governments, investors, businesses,
academia, civil society organisations, and cultural
practitioners.
Above: The award-winning, green star-rated
Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking Afrika
(d-school Afrika) building at UCT.
Far left: UCT supports its innovators by
protecting and patenting their inventions.
Sustainability and the SDGs 2022 – 27
