SIRIM building a multi-billion Ringgit LED lighting industry

CSIR India design first Highwall Mining in India

Beautiful futuristic solar cells in glass

General Publications: A collection of newsletters, Annual Reviews and a one-pager brochure describing the activities of the Alliance can be found on the website at http://www.research-alliance.net/information.html

GRA Nerve Centre contact details

The Nerve Centre of the Global Research Alliance (GRA), previously hosted by the CSIR, has relocated to The Innovation Hub. This first internationally accredited Science Park in Africa, situated across the road from the CSIR, is home to a regional centre of innovation and knowledge creation. The GRA Nerve Centre’s new contact details are as follows:

Enquiries:

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Annual Meeting of GRA Principals

The Annual meeting of the GRA Principals was held in The Netherlands early in May. The meeting was hosted by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) at their Head Office in Delft.

The Principals agreed on the focus of the Alliance for the coming year and defined the actions required to highlight the aim of the Alliance of being ‘a global knowledge pool for global good’

High level German delegation visits The Innovation Hub in Pretoria

Dr Alfred Gossner, Member of the Executive Board of Fraunhofer and a Principal of the GRA accompanied the Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister, Dr Guido Westerwelle and the Development Minister Dirk Niebel when they visited South Africa recently.
The German delegation visited The Innovation Hub in Pretoria where Dr Gossner introduced the GRA and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and The Innovation Hub.  In the picture (from left to right) Dr Alfred Gossner, Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle and Dr Haresh Haricharun the CEO of The Innovation Hub, during the signing of the MoU.

The focus of the Global Forum held in Washington on 10th and 11th December was STI Capacity Building Partnerships for Sustainable Development. The GRA was well represented at the Forum. Dr Mashelkar presented a paper entitled ‘STI Lead Inclusive Growth : Shifting Paradigms’ and Dr Biesenbach’s paper focussed on ‘Pro-poor Innovation and Pro-Poor STI for Development’. The 2009 STI Global Forum provided a platform for the generation of new ideas on STI capacity building partnerships for sustainable development. More.....

Connecting the Unconnected

The Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communications Systems have recently launched a new competence Centre – Net4DC which is focussed on developing technologies to provide access to global communication infrastructures and services for rural, emerging and developing areas. Targeted areas of Net4DCs activity portfolio are, a Think Tank to gather studies, concepts and evaluation of sustainable solutions and the bringing together of international experts and partners; hands-on-technology providing a real-world test and evaluation environment for technology and services and performing R&A Activities at the cutting edge of technology. Click here to visit the Net4DC website.

Sustainability in a Changing Climate

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) was recently launched at their inaugural symposium on the abovementioned subject. Dr Mashelkar, the President of the GRA was an invited guest at this event. The guest list included heads of state, presidents and leadership of the world’s top universities, distinguished scientists and global business leaders.

KAUST, Saudi Arabia is an international, graduate-level research university dedicated to inspiring a new age of scientific achievement that will benefit the region and the world.

1st ever Biomaterials Africa conference to be held at CSIR South Africa

Biomaterials-Africa 2009, which is to be held from 20 to 22 September at the CSIR International Convention Centre, will be the first of its kind and, it is believed, of many more to come.

The conference is being hosted by the Biomaterials Association of South Africa (BioMatASA) and its theme is ‘Advancing biomaterials in Africa’. This is also in line with its aim. “Through the conference we hope to advance biomaterials research in South Africa and the rest of Africa as well as to foster and develop national and international multidisciplinary collaborations and networks. Issues pertinent to the continent will be addressed and highlighted,” explains Avashnee Chetty, the conference’s organisational chair. ...... more

·Our Future World
CSIRO has recently published a report of the outcomes from a CSIRO global foresight project. Five global megatrends and global risks are presented and also included are eight identified ricks from the megashocks work of the World Economic Forum. Click here to download the report.

·WIPO scheme to give patents to poorest
A scheme initially devised by Dr James Moody of CSIRO in Australia and associates is now being developed further by a committee comprising WIPO, the WEF and representatives from the law, research, business, NGOs, and philanthropic organisations. Under the scheme corporations would give free access to IP to the poorest developing countries.

·Manager of the Year 2009
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Jörg Bullinger, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has been named as “Manager of the Year – 2009” by the German based Manager Magazine. The selection was made by a six-person jury of economic experts. According to the official statement, under his management, the organisation has contributed more than ever to technological innovations and economic growth.

·Laser workshop
Fraunhofer ILT and the CSIR in South Africa are currently holding a series of workshops on R&D in Laser Technology and Opto-Electronics. This is a follow-up to the successful workshops held last year and will focus on the applications and requirements identified in previous workshops and will delve more into prospective subjects of international collaboration.

·Batelle publication
Global research and development (R&D) spending is expected to increase by 4.0 percent in 2010 to $1,156 billion, according to the closely watched Battelle – R&D Magazine 2010 Global R&D Funding Forecast released recently. This valuable and informative report can be downloaded via a link on the Battelle website : http://www.battelle.org/aboutus/rd/2010.aspx

·First South Africa – Germany Bonding Workshop 2009
This workshop will raise awareness for industrial adhesive bonding technology and the need for workforce training in this area. The 2-day conference with South African and international speakers is organised and headed by the Fraunhofer IFAM. Various speakers will give talks on adhesive bonding technology from the perspective of their specialist fields. To view the provisional programme and registration details click here. More ...

·Lecture Explores Science and Economic Growth in Africa
In a recent public lecture, Harvard professor, Calestous Juma, explored the role emerging technologies can play in fostering growth and improving human welfare in Africa. His talk focused on new opportunities for international cooperation on development issues in light of the current global food and financial crisis. Access his Powerpoint presentation here.

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