The University of Zimbabwe is running its Industrialisation Week, highlighting research and innovation as key drivers for Zimbabwe's economic transformation.
Opening the event, running under the theme; "Promoting innovation ecosystems to advance value chains for Zimbabwe's industrialisation", Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Dr Frederick Shava emphasised the need for more research-driven and innovation-oriented solutions to stimulate economic development.
"Such events underscore the university's commitment to harnessing our natural endowments and indigenous knowledge systems, both of which are key to boosting local production and competitively expanding export potential," said Dr Shava.
Industrial initiatives that define Zimbabwe's economic recovery plans should speak to the key areas captured in the National Development Strategy 1 and supported by the Education 5.0 model.
The UZ was walking the talk in implementing heritage-based Education 5.0 philosophy, which put emphasis on education that delivers products, goods and services.
"Today, we witnessed a huge milestone in the University of Zimbabwe's research-innovation-industrialisation ecosystem, where innovators compete productively to come up with relevant goods and services tailored to respond to the needs of our people," he said.
"During my tour of exhibitions, I witnessed models, designs, prototypes and related cutting-edge research outputs and innovations spanning across all the major economic sectors including agriculture, engineering and food and nutrition sciences among others."
These innovations were anchored on the country's endowments and would help grow Zimbabwe's economy in line with the national mantra "Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo."
"The exhibits reflect the university's commitment to driving industrialisation using our resources, skills, capabilities and talents. This is a testament of the university's own philosophy of 'kuziva kugona nekuita'. I would like to applaud the University of Zimbabwe Vice Chancellor (Professor Paul Mapfumo) and his team for their clarity of thought in actualising Education 5.0."
"Different sub-thematic areas underscore the university's commitment to harnessing our natural endowments and indigenous knowledge systems, both of which are key to boosting local production and competitively expanding export potential."
Prof Mapfumo said the innovations augmented the heritage-based education 5.0.
"With the pronunciation by President Mnangagwa, that we change into education 5.0, what the university undertook to do was to develop what we call a research-innovation-industrialisation ecosystem," he said.
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The newly opened facilities acted as the womb of innovation.
"When we talk about innovation, sometimes people think that it's only about the tangibles, but it's also about the intangibles, the humanities, the social sciences, the business sciences. Innovation is for every discipline.
"So, what we are demonstrating today is that we do have a psychological services and training clinic that arises from the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences."
Exhibitors like Benson Munjengwa, who is studying chemistry, said he made a pyrolysis plant that converts plastic into fuel.
"This initiative will help the nation in addressing the importation of commodities like fuel," he said.
