Ashley Dean Misho
The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) has officially launched a strategic shift from innovation for recognition to innovation for economic impact, as senior university leaders opened a one-day Intellectual Property, Innovation, and Commercialisation workshop jointly organised with the Companies and Intellectual Property of Zimbabwe (CIPZ).
Held at the Professor Phineas Magorosi Makurane Technovation Centre, the gathering brought together researchers, innovators, and industry partners to tackle the critical challenge of transforming laboratory breakthroughs into sustainable enterprises that generate income and drive industrialisation.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Mqhele Enock-Hershal Dlodlo set the tone by declaring that NUST is deliberately moving beyond awards and accolades. "Our focus is shifting from innovating for recognition alone to innovation for impact," he said. "Impact is the key word—driving commercialisation, industrialisation, and income generation that will strengthen both our institution and our nation's economy."
He praised Dr. Martha Chikowore, a council member and IP specialist, for conceptualising the workshop, signalling strong governing council support for revenue generation through innovation. He also extended an open invitation for future partnerships at the Technovation Centre.
Prof. Mqhele E. Dlodlo
Vice-Chancellor
Prof. Zephaniah Dhlamini
Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Innovation & Business Development
Prof. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda (NUST Chair of Council) and Prof. Lwazi Sibanda (Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology Education)
Echoing this vision, was the acting Pro-Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Business Development (IBD), Professor Zephania Dhlamini, who urged researchers to abandon the outdated practice of working in isolation. He called for early and continuous engagement with potential users and policymakers to ensure research outputs address real societal needs.
"Available evidence suggests that any effective research work must be guided by the voice and interest of users," he said, commending Dr. Chikowore for leading the university's Intellectual Property, Innovation, Technology Transfer, and Business Development Committee.
The official distinguished between horizontal technology transfer (across geographical borders) and vertical technology transfer (from research to commercialisation), noting that the workshop focuses on the latter while encouraging future attention to both. He highlighted that science, technology, and innovation (STI) are indispensable for development, citing Zimbabwe's Vision 2030 goal of becoming an upper-middle-income economy.
While acknowledging past achievements in crop breeding, drug development, and machinery, he lamented that few research outputs have been successfully commercialised due to weak knowledge transfer mechanisms and inadequate researcher-user interaction.
He expressed hope that the workshop's outcomes would inform Zimbabwe's ongoing national innovation system review and urged participants to share feedback with NUST's Innovation and Business Development Unit.
Both speakers united in their call for action: innovators must take their work beyond the laboratory and into the marketplace. As the Vice-Chancellor concluded, "Let us march towards making that difference."
The workshop marks a pivotal moment in NUST's evolution, positioning the university not just as a hub of creativity, but as a driver of economic transformation in Zimbabwe.