(Newswire.net — March 11, 2019) — From astonishing medical breakthroughs and advancements, elegant solutions to real-world problems for everyday people on the ground, innovative engineering solutions, to one particularly impressive adhesive, we take a look at some of the most interesting South African inventions, engineering and innovations of the past few decades.
Water collection solution for developing nations – the Hippo Water Roller
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Elegant in its simplicity, the Hippo Water Roller makes the tough and tedious task of collecting potable water from far-off taps much less strenuous for those in developing nations. Consisting of a barrel-shaped container which can roll along the ground and a handle attached to the axis, men and women who would previously have to carry heavy and cumbersome buckets are able to transport a larger quantity of water with relative ease. Invented by Pettie Petzer and Johan Jonker, the Hippo Water Roller was awarded the 1997 South Africa Design for Development Award.
Retinal Cryosurgery
Used in the treatment of such great names as Nelson Mandela and Margaret Thatcher, South Africa’s Dr. Selig Percy Amoils invented the world’s first surgical tool to use extreme cold to destroy unwanted tissue. Named the Amoils Cryo Pencil, the device consists of a cylindrical tube with a minute opening inside the tip through which nitrous oxide flows. The expanding gas leaving the opening causes the tip of the pencil to drop to below -70 degrees Celsius. An avid inventor since the age of 18, his work in the field of cryosurgery has earned him many awards, including the Queen’s Award for Technological Innovation in London and the Order of Mapungubwe: Silver, one of South Africa’s highest honors.
Pratley’s Putty
Famous for its role in the 1969 moon landing, where it was used to hold bits of the Apollo XI mission’s Eagle landing craft together, Pratley Putty was also used in repairs to the Golden Gate Bridge spanning the San Francisco Bay – and because it is able to set hard underwater, has even been used in the repair and lifting of sunken ships.
Invented by George Montague (“Monty”) Pratley in the early 1960s while trying to develop a glue and insulator that would hold components together in an electrical box, the Pratley company is still going strong today with over 800 products on the market. George’s son, Kim, who took over the company after his death, wowed audiences with one of most famous marketing events in South African history. At the launch of Pratley Wondafix, Kim stood calming addressing spectators whilst a 13-ton bulldozer attached to a crane by two plates stuck together with only a tiny layer of the product between them dangled above his head!
Innovative landfill protection solution for Kusile power station
Image source: https://www.prs-med.com/casestudies/landfill-protection-protecting-coal-ash-landfill-south-africa/
Working together with international company PRS Geo-Technologies, local power provider Eskom came up with an innovative cellular confinement system in SA to protect local groundwater from contamination by fly ash, a byproduct of the coal burning process at the power station. Because this coal waste needs to be stored for a minimum of 60 years, they needed an extremely durable solution which could sustain high loads over time without deformation. By combining a local multi-tiered composite liner system with a layer of geocells to provide long-term support, the two groups came up with a solution that was both cost-effective and simple to install, while also durable and stable enough for the long lifespan of the landfill.
The CAT scan
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Particularly useful in identifying cancer, pneumonia, bleeding in the brain, diagnosing unexplained pain and assessing the extent of damage after an accident, CT scans provide more information than a normal X-ray could, as they also show blood vessels and soft tissues. They tests are also minimally invasive and can be conducted quickly.
The Computed Axial Tomography Scan was developed by physicist Allan Cormack and his associate Godfrey Hounsfield in Cape Town in 1963 and won them the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The Kreepy Krauly
Aptly described as a ‘vacuum cleaner for your pool’, the Kreepy Krauly was invented by Ferdinand Chauvier from Springs, South Africa, in 1974. A hydraulic engineer by trade, he realized that the ordinary operation of the pool’s filter could be used to automate the tedious task of keeping swimming pools clean. Although he died in 1985, his devices still assist people the world over.
The Dolos (plural Dolosse)
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The great international success of the Dolos stems from the fact that they aim to dissipate rather than block the energy of waves with their unusual interlocking shape, making them more difficult to dislodge than a similar sized object with a flat surface. Now used all over the world, they were first designed in 1963 by South African’s Eric Merrifield and harbor draughtsman, Aubrey Kruger.