UKZN Hosts the Eskom Tertiary Education Support Programme

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The College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science hosted the Eskom Tertiary Education Support Programme (TESP) at the UNITE Building on the Howard College campus.

TESP started in 1991 as a joint venture in the electrical energy technology area between Eskom, the National Energy Council and the National Research Foundation (NRF).

The focus of the programme was initially the development of human resource and expertise in: a) electrical energy systems, b) industrial electronics or power electronics, c) electric machines, machine control and drives and d) industrial control systems and measuring techniques.  Over the years the scope of the TESP has grown to include other areas relevant to Eskom’s long-term viability and customer satisfaction.

TESP visions included:

•  Assisting tertiary education institutions to develop future Science, engineering and technology skills to meet South African needs;
•  Establishing and supporting centres of excellence appropriate to South African needs;
•  Supporting research projects that increase the intake of students in science, engineering and technology;
•  Creating and maintaining collaborations between academia and funding institutions.

TESP grantholders from all over South Africa met at UKZN to present at the report-back meeting.

The Chair of the Organising Committee of (SAUPEC 2014), Dr Akshay Kumar Saha of the School of Engineering and his team ensured the meeting was efficiently and professionally hosted.

Saha said: ‘TESP is an invaluable programme that develops and support students, academics and researchers across South Africa. As a grantholder myself, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Eskom TESP for their total commitment to the advancement of researchers, academics and students in the area of science, technology and engineering.’

The project leader for the Insulating Oils and Materials Research Group at UKZN, Mr Ajay Bissessur, said: ‘The Insulating Oils and Materials Research Centre set up in the School of Chemistry and Physics has grown from strength to strength in terms of research output, student enrolment, projects undertaken and publication outputs.  TESP funding has certainly been the backbone of this initiative and no words are enough to express my gratitude to Eskom for their excellent efforts toward this project via Eskom TESP funding.’

UKZN has about 20 grantholders who have been supported by TESP.

The programme was officially opened by the Eskom TESP Chairperson, Mr Yashin Brijmohan, who said: ‘TESP has provided an enabling platform for Industry University collaboration in areas of learning and research. The Programme has shown excellent results in terms of its outputs, which is based on the value of trust, relationship building, and collaborative focus on productivity. I acknowledge the committed individuals in academia and industry for the success of this programme.’

-          Leena Rajpal