CoMSIRU wins big

The year 2012 was one of the most successful years for CoMSIRU. Academics and students alike were the recipients of various prestigious awards that put the research unit on the map. This culminated in promotions from Dr to Associate Professorship (A/Prof.) for Hans Beushausen and from A/Prof. to Professorship for Pilate Moyo.

Awards poured in from early in the year with PhD student Rachel Muigai  scooping the Green Talent Award, the second time that a CoMSIRU student has been the recipient of the award, with Mike Otieno scooping it in 2010. The Green Talents competition awards 25 young sustainability experts from around the world and links them to the German research landscape. As stipulated Rachel will attend a forum with other "Talents" and spend at least 3 months at a German research institute of her choice.

Prof. Mark Alexander, A/Prof. Hans Beushausen and Mike Otieno joined forces to produce the best peer-reviewed paper in the American Concrete Institute (ACI) journal, to receive the internationally recognised ACI Wason Medal. This was for their 2010 original research paper on concrete materials entitled: "Suitability of Various Measurement Techniques for Assessing Corrosion in Cracked Concrete."

A/Prof Beushausen followed this up with the University of Cape Town (UCT) College of Fellows Young Researcher Award in recognition of outstanding scholarly work. The award is given yearly to the top six UCT young academics producing significant independent contributions to research in their field.

Later on, Gladwell Nganga and Lombe Mutale, PhD and MSc students respectively received the Women in Science Award; a yearly award organised by the South African Department of Science and Technology to sponsor up and coming researchers in different fields. The awards reognise outstanding ability and potential in research, thereby enhancing women's research experience and output.