Prof Tania Douglas and Dr Jill Fortuin of the Division of Biomedical Engineering received 2017-2019 Community Engagement Awards from National Research Foundation.

The Community Engagement Awards are competitive grants that provide the space for research that contributes both to knowledge production within the ambit of community engagement as well as research on the processes and dynamics of engagement from the perspective of the higher education sector. The awards support inquiry with some of the philosophical and conceptual challenges associated with the dynamics of community engagement and social responsiveness, as a field of research enquiry.

The project of Prof Douglas will examine university engagement with external stakeholders for health technology development in South Africa. The knowledge generated is expected inform strategies for successful health technology innovation, from the higher education perspective.