TLEAZ Celebrates Student Innovation at CUT Awards
TLEAZ has been honoured to lead an innovation competition for students at the Chinhoyi University of Technology’s (CUT) Directorate of Research and Graduate Studies in recent weeks, culminating in an awards ceremony hosted by the University on Friday, 30th May 2025.
We were delighted to attend and present prizes to the deserving winners and runners-up. This competition challenged students from CUT’s School of Engineering Sciences and Technology (SEST) and the School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SAST) to design and build a working model of a sustainable water heating device.
The goal? To help mitigate deforestation by providing an alternative to chopping down indigenous wood for fuel. Crucially, their designs had to use locally accessible and easily procurable materials, with a minimal budget for essential items. Students were also encouraged to incorporate university-provided resources and recycled waste materials. Each scalable model was presented in working form to a panel of judges, including representatives from the Faculty, TLEAZ, and Kutsaga .
The ceremony was officiated by CUT’s Pro-Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Administration, Prof. I.D.T. Mpofu, alongside our own Executive Officer, Mr. R. Holmes. Representatives from Kutsaga and TLEAZ members were also in attendance, sharing in the excitement.
Huge congratulations to the top winners, Bismark Nyota and Delight Machava! TLEAZ is delighted to cover their full university tuition fees for the year, along with a cash prize of USD300.00. Our runners-up, Amos Shoniwa and Valent Kalukwete, will receive tuition fees for one semester and a cash prize of USD50.00.
The ingenuity and creativity demonstrated by all the semi-finalist models were truly impressive. They showcased the students’ technological inventiveness and their keen awareness of Zimbabwe’s pressing deforestation issues, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable alternatives for heating and tobacco curing. It’s clear the future of innovation in Zimbabwe is bright!