Wits Innovation Centre (WIC)

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From Knowledge to Impact: Empowering bright minds

#WitsInnovation | #InnovationForGood | #WitsForGood

The Wits Innovation Centre (WIC) lies at the heart of the University’s innovation ecosystem that seeks to develop an ‘innovation mindset’ across all disciplines and boundaries. This is where brilliant minds come together to create, collaborate, and drive multidisciplinary innovation that leads to impactful solutions. The WIC is the leading interface for research-led, researcher-led, and student-led innovation, both within academia and with industry partners.

A new era in #InnovationForGood

The new Wits Innovation Centre (WIC) was officially launched on 17 April 2023. It is a dynamic multidisciplinary hub that will make a significant impact by harnessing the creativity and ingenuity of the Wits community to solve complex, real-world problems.

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Innovation newsLatest
Wits Innovation
About us Learn more about what we do, how we are governed and funded, and the Wits Strategic Plan for Innovation (2023 - 2027).
Innovation Support
Innovation Support The Innovation Support unit enables researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs to develop products, processes, and services.
Letlotlo Phohole and Dr Adam Pantanowitz will be leading the Wits Innovation Centre
Meet the team Dr Adam Pantanowitz holds the Chair in Innovation and is the inaugural Director of the WIC, and Letlotlo Phohole is the Centre's Senior Programme Manager.
Contact the Wits Innovation Centre
Need assistance? Contact us for all aspects of innovation, including fundraising, marketing, spinouts/incubation, negotiating commercial deals, intellectual property and protection strategies.

#InnovationForGood

The Pecogrid pilot study examines the viability of rolling out solar power and microgrid inverter systems in informal communities - providing energy to these communities, while it may at the same time acting as an income generator for individuals.

Professor Bavesh Kana and his team are dedicated to fighting Tuberculosis (TB) and developed advanced techniques such as genome editing to enhance molecular diagnostics for TB. These techniques are now used in 20 other countries around the world.

Coming in 2024: The new high-tech Digital Dome in Johannesburg will be a world-class digital facility that provides a cutting-edge 360-degree visual experience to enhance research, training, and innovation through immersion in multi-dimensional, cross-disciplinary worlds.

There is a critical shortage of expert medical specialists in South Africa and the new Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Lab helps to enhance the training of surgeons, across disciplines, in a state-of-the-art environment, with the best equipment available.

Distinguished Professor Andrew Forbes and his team of structured light researchers are investigating the role that quantum light can play in making communications systems not only faster, but more secure as well.

Dr David Fine, Wits alumnus and innovator
The Angela and David Fine Chair in Innovation "My hope is that the Chair in Innovation will help place Wits at the leading edge of innovation in the Global South," says Dr David Fine.
#WitsInnovation
About #WitsInnovation We are committed to using our knowledge for the advancement of our community, city, country, continent, and the globe.
Telkom Industry Solutions Lab
Telkom Industry Solutions Lab This is the first Industry Solutions Lab to partner with the Wits Innovation Centre and will collaborate to drive cutting-edge innovations in telecommunications.

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Wits is the first South African university to:

IBM scientist Stefan Filipp, takes a closer look inside the IBM quantum computer_© IBM

Host an IBM mainframe computer and the first African partner on the IBM Q Network in 2019
Endovascular robotics removes the interventionist from theatre to operate remotely from a cockpit

Launch an endovascular robotic unit in Africa to train specialists
Wits University in Johannesburg

Buy and and own a nuclear accelerator

Prof. Andrew Forbes structured light lab

Develop the first radar signals in SA in 1939 and is the first SA university to transmit data securely through light

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Curios.ty

Research & Innovation magazine

  • VISION

     

    Wits will be at the leading edge of innovation that serves society and will play a key role as a hub that links innovation ecosystems at universities in the Global North to those in the Global South.

  • MISSION

     

    Wits strives to meet society’s needs by turning knowledge into impactful solutions.

  • VALUES

     

    Innovation is what drives us forward. The WIC enables an environment to create, collaborate, and engage in impactful innovation, across disciplines and boundaries. We are committed to using our knowledge for the advancement of our community and wider society. The Centre also supports and encourages risk-taking, given that successful innovation depends on a tolerance for failure and risk-taking.

  • STRATEGY

     

    The comprehensive Wits Strategic Plan for Innovation is a dynamic document that provides leadership and guidance to innovation across the University.