Abstract:
The Centre for Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing (CRPM) made a humble start in 1997 as a spin-off from a proposed research activity in 1995, at a stage when Technikons were still being seen as occupational training institutions rather than higher education institutions and and as such, were not funded for research. Addressing an area of high importance to the South African industry, the research activity soon grew into a research unit, commercial centre / centre of excellence, technology transfer unit and innovation support centre. Above all, the research started to impact on product development practices to deliver improved products. The paper considers the development of the available technology platforms at the CUT'S CRPM to become a technology power-house on the African continent, and how it impacted on Institutional Research Development in South Africa.
