The South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE) entered a video, Sustainable automotive technologies: a TUT case study, for the 2025 CAETS Communication Prize and on 10 September 2025 at the gala dinner of the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS)   in Brisbane, Australia, it was announced the winner.

The five-minute video, submitted by Dr Christiaan Oosthuizen of TUT’s Department  Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering and Fellow Prof Barend van Wyk, DVC for Teaching, Learning and Technology at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), competed with nine other entries from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, China, India, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland and Uruguay and came out the winner. The prize covers the registration fee to the annual conference as well as travel and accommodation costs (up to $5000 USD) in addition to a $5000 USD monetary award.  Dr Christiaan Oosthuizen attended the conference and received the prize from Luca Noldus, the Chairman of the CAETS Communication Committee.

The annual competition is open to all members of CAETS   and the prize is awarded to the most outstanding audiovisual communication of excellence and innovation in technological sciences or engineering. The aim of the competition is to inspire students to follow careers in engineering and technological sciences and to educate the general public on the impact that engineering and technological sciences have in their lives and future.

The 2026 CAETS Communication Competition will be launched on 1 October 2025. Prospective entrants can contact the SAAE office at office@saae.co.za for more information and an entry form.

South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE)

“The mission of the South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE) is “To promote the technological welfare of the nation by marshalling the knowledge and insights of eminent members of the South African engineering profession, elected by their peers, and to be a source of expert advice on matters pertaining to global competitiveness and quality of life for the nation”.

The origins of SAAE date back to 28 April 1992 when the South African engineering fraternity founded the Academy of Engineers as a chapter of its then multi-disciplinary professional umbrella body, the Society of Professional Engineers, SPE. The Academy was to bring together the most eminent engineers in the country to form an organisation with the necessary standing to advise Government on engineering related policies, and to provide role models for young engineers and prospective entrants into the profession.

Subsequently the Academy of Engineers found that its effectiveness would be enhanced if it were fully independent of SPE and therefore reconstituted itself on 1 March 1995 as an autonomous entity operating under its own Constitution along the lines of Academies in other countries. On 11 March 1997 the name of the Academy was changed to the South African Academy of Engineering to reflect greater inclusivity within the engineering industry in line with similar trends elsewhere in the world.

In 2008 SAAE applied for membership of CAETS (Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences) and in 2009 it became a member of CAETS. SAAE currently has 213 members representative of all engineering disciplines.