At the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) Programme Kick-off 2022 event of last week, Dr Janine Chantson (left), Chief Director: Technology Transfer Office at the North-West University, relayed the story of an academic who had successfully launched a product based on her research findings.
The said the scholar wanted her research to be commercialised and be impactful beyond academic publications.
EDHE’s Kick-off event took the form of a workshop on Innovation Systems and Academic Entrepreneurship, specifically seeking to equip South Africa’s academics and other professionals with strategies and best practices to bridge the gap between research, innovation, and commercialisation. Dr Chantson’s case study was complementing the opening seminar titled What is academic entrepreneurship and why do we do it by Dr Tim Hart, Development Director at Oxentia Ltd. So, the story of Maths Whartels was apt and fitting.