Two awards boost NUST's innovation drive

Rozanne Swart
  • 29 Minutes Ago

The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) has received two major innovation awards, strengthening its reputation as a growing hub for research, entrepreneurship and technology development in Africa.

The university received the Organisational Growth in Innovation Management Award at the 2026 Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) Excellence Awards, as well as the Technology Transfer and Commercialisation Champion of the Year award at the 2026 Africa Startup Ecosystem Builders (ASEB) Awards for its NUST Innovation Hub (NUST-i).

Presented in Johannesburg, South Africa, the SARIMA award recognises NUST’s efforts to strengthen innovation management and help turn new ideas into practical applications. The ASEB award highlights NUST-i’s contribution to technology transfer and commercialisation across Africa. It emerged among the top five finalists from a field of 1 786 continental nominations.

The recognition reflects the university’s efforts to create opportunities for students, researchers and emerging entrepreneurs to develop and commercialise their ideas. These include prototype development at FABlab, practical design support through the Innovation Design Lab, business skills training through ICE-PIP and early-stage funding through the All-4-One initiative.

Valerie Garises, director of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship in NUST’s Directorate of Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Development (DRIP), said the university had expanded its support for innovation since establishing the function in 2018.

“Since establishing its innovation function in 2018, NUST has strengthened support for students, researchers and emerging entrepreneurs through entrepreneurship training, prototype development, intellectual property support and industry engagement,” she said.

Garises said the awards recognised the collective efforts of the university community to help promising ideas become practical solutions. “This award is a proud moment for our team and the NUST community. It reflects our collective effort to give promising ideas the support they need to develop into practical solutions. We look forward to building on this progress and helping more students and researchers turn their ideas into opportunities that benefit Namibia,” she said.

The awards highlight the growing role of universities in connecting research with business opportunities, while giving young Namibians a platform to develop ideas, build entrepreneurial skills and create solutions with the potential to benefit communities and the wider economy.