The Durban University of Technology (DUT) has already started preparations to host the next SAUPEC/ROBMECH/PRASA Conference 2022 which will incorporate the 30^th Southern African Universities Power Engineering Conference, the 14^th Robotics and Mechatronics Conference of South Africa, and the 32^nd Annual Symposium of the Pattern Recognition Association of South Africa.  

DUT was recently nominated at the SAUPEC/ ROBMECH/PRASA Conference 2021 which brought together experts from the industry, academics and students in engineering, computer science, pattern recognition, robotics and mechatronics to present research papers, network, and expand the fraternity that has been built as part of the SAUPEC, RobMech, and PRASA legacies over the last three decades.  

The 2021conference was recently hosted by the School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering of the North-West University, in conjunction with the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE).   

DUT’s Department of Electrical Power Engineering Chair, Professor Innocent Davidson said at the 2021 edition of the SAUPEC/ROBMECH/PRASA Conference, DUT researchers accounted for 18% or 11 out of the 61 technical papers accepted out of 154 submitted papers. Technical papers presented by DUT researchers include:  

• Preliminary Design of a Bagasse Based Firm Power Plant for a Sugar Factory, by Moses Kabeyi and Oludolapo Olanrewaju.  
• Investigation and mitigation of temporary overvoltage caused by harmonic filters in an oil refinery, by Prenushka Ayar, Olatunji Ajibola Akinrinde and Evans Eshiemogie Ojo.  
• The Investigations of the Impacts of the Integration of Wind Energy into Distribution Network, by Ramesh Kumar Behara, Evans Eshiemogie Ojo and Timothy Kayode Akindeji.  
• The Study of Electrical Power Generation from Tidal Energy in South Africa, by Namhla Faith Mtukushe and Evans E. Ojo.   
• Loadability Assessment of a Photovoltaic Penetrated Grid to Offset Intermittency and Reduce Total losses using Battery Energy Storage System, by Nomhle Loji, Kabulo Loji, Remy Tiako, Innocent Davidson and Kayode Akindeji.   
• Financial Feasibility of Solar PV within eThekwini Municipality ‐ Business Customers, by Sanjeeth Sewchurran and Innocent Davidson.  
• Why Solar PV is Such a Lucrative Option for South African Municipal Customers, by Sanjeeth Sewchurran and Innocent Davidson.  
• Financial Feasibility of Solar PV within eThekwini Municipality ‐ Residential Customers, by Sanjeeth Sewchurran and Innocent Davidson.   
• The Recent Trend of Increasing Fault Current Levels and Mitigation Measures, by Vasu Chetty, Innocent Davidson and Gulshan Sharma.  
• Modeling and Simulation of Radial‐Grid Topology Based on Multi‐Terminal VSC‐HVDC System, by Sindisiwe Malanda and Innocent Davidson.  
• The Influence of the Signal Distortions on the Satellite Based Navigation Systems, by Bheki Madonsela, Innocent Davidson and Chrispin Mulangu.  

Prof Davidson who is also the Research leader for the Centre of Excellence in Smart Grids and Project leader for DUT-DSI Space Science Centre said full papers were rigorously assessed by at least two reviewers. He said papers accepted for presentation by the review panel were presented at the conference and the proceedings will be published in IEEE Xplore.   

“This IEEE conference will be hosted by DUT’s Department of Electrical Power Engineering, under the General Chair, Prof Innocent E Davidson, in conjunction with the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) and other industries and partners. SAUPEC/ ROBMECH/ PRASA became an IEEE accredited conference in 2019 and the proceedings of the conference have since been published on the IEEE digital explore library. Since becoming an IEEE conference, universities such as: CUT, UCT and NWU have hosted it in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively. This event promises to uplift DUT’s international standing and further galvanize research in DUT, as researchers make their contributions to the 2022 edition hosted by DUT. IEEE Journals and Proceedings are accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training,” explained Prof Davidson.  

DUT’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Reasearch, Innovation and Engagement, Prof Sibusiso Moyo congratulated all the DUT researchers who participated in the conference. Prof Moyo welcomes the prestigious opportunity DUT has been given to host the next SAUPEC/ROBMECH/PRASA conference.   

She also thanked, Prof Davidson, for ensuring there is a platform for DUT research staff and students to continuously engage and present their scholarly work amongst the best engineers and scientists both globally and internationally.   

Pictured: Prof Innocent Davidson  

Simangele Zuma and Prof Innocent Davidson.