BIUST's Prof Totolo Dreams of coal to Liquid plant in Palapye
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Friday October 30, 2020 15:40
Those are the aspirations and dreams of renowned Scientist, Professor Otlogetswe Totolo, the vice chancellor at BIUST, the country’s only specialized science, research, technology, engineering, and innovation university, conveniently based in Palapye, the coal beneficiation hub.
A renowned Scientist par excellence, Prof Totolo’s university has taken the initiative and completed technological trials for coal to liquid conversion
project using a pyrolysis technology. He is confident and ready to work with investors and share with them the technological know-how especially on the model BIUST believe they have perfected for the best results in Coal to Liquids conversion, a subject which has gained traction in Botswana after the national oil company, Botswana Oil, recently invited potential investors to show interest in setting up a multi-billion pula coal to Liquids plant in Botswana, a country awash with an estimated 200 billion tonnes of untapped coal reserves.
Having spent 28 years at the University of Botswana (UB), where he held a number of Senior and Executive positions, Prof. Totolo says it is the opportunity to deliver real life scientific solutions and innovations to his country especially in this challenging era of job creation and the 4th Industrial Revolution, which keeps him as passionate as ever about BIUST.
“As a specialised STEM University, BIUST is primarily tasked to be the catalyst for transformation and innovation, with the aim of producing technological tangible products and services as well as striving for job creation, import substitution, use
of available raw materials and skills and knowledge transfer. I deeply share BIUST’s values, mission and vision to have products and services in the market which are developed by BIUST researchers”, he tells Mmegi.
As the country positions itself to transition from a natural resource to a knowledge-based economy, Prof Totolo says BIUST is strategically setting itself
to grab opportunities on offer and respond to the new and emerging demands of Botswana’s transformation agenda. “This shall ensure that BIUST assumes the leadership role at the apex of the tertiary education system especially in the areas of research, engineering and innovation. In that way, BIUST does not only engage in research and innovation but commercialise its products and services in accordance with its international stature”, enthuses the Professor.
Prof Totolo is no stranger to overseeing science and innovation initiatives in the country, having served in diverse portfolios including as Chairperson of the country’s innovation brains, the Rural Industries Promotions Centre (RIIC), and Botswana Technology Center (BOTEC), which has since transitioned to become Botswana Innovation Hub.
Prof Totolo is also the founding chairman of BITRI, the country’s research and innovation institute and boasts of being one of the first three Batswana to be inaugurated as Fellows of the Botswana Academy of Sciences; an independent scientific advisory body to the Government.
He is also the Deputy Chairman of the Botswana UNESCO Chapter and previously served as Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs at the University of Botswana, where he was also a Dean of Faculty of Sciences, Head of Department, Department of Earth & Environmental Science, and Director, Centre for Scientific Research, Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation (CesrIKi)
Under Prof Totolo’s watchful eye, BIUST’s Mechatronics Engineering Department is currently working on a Makeathon Project to develop an electric motor which upon completion is hoped will propel Botswana into the 4th Industrial Revolution which the country is being prepared for.
Being the accomplished scientist and administrator that he is, one of the developmental desires of Prof Totolo through BIUST is to see the country developing more and more of its own innovation prototypes like the electric car concept that BIUST spearheaded last year in conjunction with visiting German electric car innovator, ITQ GmbH, and the Special Economic Zone, as well as numerous
local universities, and technical colleges during the first ever makeathon competition to be held in this region of Africa in 2019.
In fact Prof Totolo sees the electric car innovation by Botswana engineering, technology, ICT students and lecturers as something huge for the country and Africa as a whole within the context of skills development in that area of innovation. Prof Totolo, sees the makeathon as having played a big part in helping to propel Botswana towards the 4th industrial revolution, as well as training students to embrace innovation and creativity as a way of life in preparedness for the demands of the 4th industrial revolution.
Most importantly, Prof Totolo sees the event as having created opportunity to build capacity and develop the technical skills that will be required by electric mobility industry or any other smart industry which will find Botswana a desirable space to setup.
The Vice Chancellor ascribes the manifestation of poor interest in proto types among some section of our population to historically low investment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) which he says has consequently resulted in the low production of home -grown prototypes resulting in a few home grown products and services.
However Prof Totolo says the BIUST was established to address such stereotypes and change the mindset of Batswana towards science and innovation as a step towards self-sufficiency and industrialisation.
One of his legacy projects at BIUST is the development of a Technology Park, which exists for purposes of turning research findings into tangible technological products and services.
Currently the following projects are being pursued through the Technology Park at BIUST: Mayonnaise Production, Production of Electricity from Botswana Coal through Gasification Process, Solar Network Project for Jamataka Village,
Pyrolysis Plant project, amongst others.
The array of innovations at BIUST has resulted in the University taking steps to patent some of their cut edge innovations, which when developed or commercialized can change the face of industries in this country.
According to Prof Totolo, BIUST’s patenting process currently ongoing include a farmyard monitoring system, which includes automatic livestock counting and access control to enhance the efficiency of livestock management. There is also a patent for an electrical switching system for a building or installation, which is designed to optimise power consumption.
Recently BIUST put some of their proto-types innovations to good use, to tackle the threat of COVID-19, as the University started manufacturing of liquid soap, bar soaps, alcohol based sanitizers, and donated the soaps to the various public offices in its environments and beyond, while drones, with the support of the army, were developed and fitted with capacity to spray disinfectants into public airspaces to destroy airborne viruses. In conjunction with iThemba Labs of South Africa, BIUST also developed a Botswana COVID-19 Dashboard, which is being used by the Presidential Covid-19 Task team and researchers to see the geographical spread of the pandemic in the country since the first day to date.
Prof Totolo is also revered for the development and implementation of BIUST Strategic Plan 2016 to 2023; the strategy include the Entrepreneurship Strategy and a Research Strategy with the aim of fostering an enterprising culture, developing and maintaining the supporting infrastructure needed to turn BIUST into a STEM and entrepreneurial university, development and Implementation
of the University Statutes; development the Academic Size and Shape Strategy to align BIUST programmes with the labour market demands; as well as the successful accreditation of BIUST as a training & educational provider by the Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA).
Prof Totolo is excited by the fact that Botswana is undergoing a period of profound transformation as an aspirant of high income status that is being chartered for achievement by 2036 in accordance with the National Vision 2036.
Prof Totolo opines that his University continues to be an impactful academic and research institute in Africa and the world, thanks to its appointment to host a National Coordinator for the African Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network (AVN) initiative which is a precursor to the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). It is housing facilities that will be used to develop the capacity to operate and maintain an antenna for the telescope. BIUST is also hosting the SADC Satellite Receiver to enhance Botswana’s Geo-Information System through Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA) project. He also has a dream of setting an Astro Park and Planetarium in Palapye.
According to the Vice Chancellor the BIUST
University sits at the core of the national business discourse through research and development in collaboration with a variety of relevant key stakeholders.
“Through industry partnerships, BIUST has been able to undertake various projects aimed towards the intended goal of building a university of industries working with entities such as the Botswana Defence Force, Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), Morupule Colliery, Debswana Mining Company, Botswana Oil Ltd, Special Economic Zone Authority, ATIKA University, Japan, iThemba Labs, National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, to name a few”.
“BIUST has an obvious and vested interest in building these linkages and partnerships. For the University, they ensure relevance for its academic programme; opportunities for its students to obtain industry-ready skills and to promote the application of its research in a ‘real and live’ industry setting”, asserted the Vice chancellor.
As a global university, BIUST has a total of 31 signed effective collaboration agreements with International Strategic partners. Some of the institutions that BIUST has signed Memorandums/Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with include, Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in Russia, University of Wisconsin (USA); Central University of Technology, South Africa, and Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation.
One of Prof Totolo’s passions is travelling the length and breadth of Botswana with his various STEM teams sharing passion for mathematics and science with young people at lower education levels. The BIUST outreach and Engagement services take the University to the people and bring the people to the University. Through this policy. Prof Totolo has seen BIUST University train and graduate 67 Youth Development Fund Beneficiaries in entrepreneurship to support their business initiatives, while some 765 Primary and Secondary School Teachers were trained at BIUST in Introduction to Computing (COMP 101), including 50 trainers-for-trainers. In Palapye, 42 Palapye Rovers Scouts were trained in entrepreneurship to support their business initiatives, BIUST has also trained 489 Mathematics and Science Teachers both primary and secondary in a Problem- Based Approach to teaching STEM subjects.
According to Prof Totolo, BIUST also facilitates Design and Manufacturing Competition which involves design of engineering parts via CAD/CAM, manufacturing of engineering parts via machining and injection moulding. “It involves Teachers and Design and Technology Club members at Lotsane
(Palapye), Swaneng (Serowe), Moeng and Madiba (Mahalapye) Senior Secondary Schools, as well as our students”, he explains. One of the annual highlights of any year at BIUST is the STEM Festival. It is about celebrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics achievements by showcasing products and/ or intellectual fruits to motivate participants to develop more interest in STEM.
BIUST also has schools visitation programme which gives visiting school children an opportunity to talk to academic experts (lecturers and technicians) about the subjects of the learners’ interests or those deemed difficult using the latest digital technology.
BIUST runs several more outreach programmes related to taking the university to the public and nurturing interest in STEM subjects among lower level students of various kinds. These programmes according to Prof Totolo are not only in Palapye
and neighbouring areas but reach all corners of the country including remote areas, more recently they took their outreach program to Chobe, Ngamiland, North East, Kgatleng, Kweneng, Goodhope to name but a few.