Research and Innovation Celebrated at UWC During Research Week – 28 September to 1 October
The University of the Western Cape (UWC) has patented a device that could potentially save the lives of countless oral healthcare workers (OHCW). An Alberta Federation of Labour analysis looked at 100 occupations and found that OHCW – which includes dentists, oral hygienists and dental assistants – runs the highest risk of COVID-19 exposure because of the close proximity to patients’ oral cavity and respiratory tract, which contain the virus. To protect these professionals Dr Riaan Mulder and Dr Suné Mulder-van Staden at the Dental Faculty of UWC have invented a novel aerosol suction device in collaboration with the UWC Technology Transfer Office. The main advantage of the device is the extra-oral functionality that increases the visual field of view for the OHCW. The device demonstrated a greater reduction in aerosol volume than conventional high-volume suction tips during the testing phase.
This month, UWC’s annual Research Week will showcase how its research and innovation, together with its national and international partners, contributed to the advancement and wellbeing of society during this unprecedented time.
This year, the theme of Research Week 2021 is, ‘The UWC Contribution to Fighting and Understanding the COVID-19 Pandemic’. Each Faculty will share its contribution to the fight against COVID-19 – research within the SDGs to “achieve a better and more sustainable future for all” during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Topics include the impact of COVID-19 on food security, the dynamics around the local design and manufacturing of ventilators and masks, and even waste reclaimers’ role during the pandemic.
Researchers will present and discuss their work, thereby addressing many of the common COVID-19 myths and concerns. The four-day event –28 September to 1 October – will also create a platform for engagement and active scholarship.
UWC Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation, Professor José Frantz, said: “This moment in our history allows universities to make research count like never before. As we come to the end of our second year of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, we realise that the only constant is change.”
Professor Burtram Fielding – Director: Research Development and Principal Investigator: Molecular Biology and Virology Research Laboratory Department of Medical BioSciences – explained that UWC has always encouraged a multi-, inter-and cross-disciplinary approach to research, involving postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows and researchers from various faculties and disciplines.
Said Prof Fielding: “It has embedded this approach by aligning its pillars of research to the 17 interlinked United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to find solutions to global challenges. This prepared us to confront the complex pandemic issues, and to this end, all seven faculties at UWC – from Dentistry, Arts and Humanities, Law, Natural Sciences, Economic and Management Sciences, Community and Health Sciences and Education – have been involved in COVID-19 research”.
Watch the Research Awards Ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAAjytzmqZg
