By Kgothatso Monono
Innovation, creativity and academic excellence took centre stage as the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FoICT) at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) hosted its annual Faculty Research Day on 21 October 2025 at the Prestige Auditorium on the Pretoria Campus. The event brought together staff and students to celebrate cutting-edge research and the transformative power of technology.
Executive Dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Etienne van Wyk
In his opening remarks, Executive Dean Dr Etienne van Wyk, reaffirmed the Faculty’s commitment to purposeful and transformative research aligned with TUT’s vision of becoming an entrepreneurial university of technology shaping the future. “Today we gather to share research outputs while LAO reaffirming our collective commitment to research excellence. This is research that is purposeful, transformative and aligned with the new vision of the Tshwane University of Technology,” he said.
Dr van Wyk highlighted the Faculty’s impressive 2024 milestones, including 1,150 graduates, among them 101 postgraduates, with 20 Master’s and 8 Doctoral degrees. Faculty researchers also produced 43 conference papers, 45 journal publications and 6 book chapters, strengthening FoICT’s growing presence locally and internationally.
He outlined four key research priorities guiding the faculty’s future: advancing technological frontiers, fostering innovation and impact, building research capacity through collaboration and driving digital transformation. He also announced plans to establish a new research hub focused on intelligent technologies to address societal challenges. “Research excellence does not happen by chance. It is built on curiosity, collaboration and perseverance,” he added.
The keynote address by Dr Amos Shibambu from the University of South Africa (UNISA), titled “Digital Transformation in the Public Sector: Opportunities and Challenges in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” explored how emerging technologies are reshaping governance, service delivery and innovation across sectors.
Dr Amos Shibambu from the University of South Africa (UNISA), delivering the key-note address
Throughout the day, students and researchers presented thought-provoking studies tackling real-world challenges through ICT-driven solutions.
- Top Oral Presentation Winners:
- 1st Place: Glen Moepi – “Smart Surveillance System for Real-Time Monitoring of Farming Environments.”
- 2nd Place: Elesa Ntuli – “Optimizing Spectrum Utilization in White Space Networks: A Real-Time Framework for Interference Mitigation and Management.”
- 3rd Place: Darick Mahlangu – “Early Behavioural Cattle Health Detection Model Using Deep Learning and Body Area Sensors.”
- Best Postgraduate Oral Presentation:
- Goodwil Mabuza – “Network Downtime Prediction in Telecommunications.”
- Master's and Doctor of Computing Poster Presentations:
- Pearl Modisha: “A Systematic Review of Real-Time Insider Threat Detection Using GANs.”
- Confidence Selomo: “Remote Tracking Model for Indoor Farmers Using Computer Vision and Deep Learning.”
- Victor Ranko: “From Fragmentation to Innovation: A FAIRification Framework for South Africa’s Multilingual Data Landscape.”
- Postgraduate Diploma Poster Presentations:
- Phathutshedzo Hlayisi: “Recent Advances in Pipe Burst and Water Loss Detection Using Deep Neural Networks and IoT.”
- Rachel Matshoga: “Network Log Analysis for Anomaly Detection Using Rule-Based and Deep Learning Models.”
- Suprise Malepe: “An Automated Lecturer Evaluation Using LMS Data and Machine Learning Techniques.”
Derick Mahlangu, Oral Presenter
Glen Moepi, Oral presenter, receiving his prizes
Hlayisi Phathutshedzo, Poster presenter receiving her prize
The event concluded with an awards ceremony honouring the most outstanding presentations. FoICT’s Research Day 2025 once again highlighted TUT’s leadership in digital innovation and its commitment to producing research that drives technological advancement and social progress in South Africa and beyond.