Built environment

Auxiliary services are essential for success of Gautrain The success of the Gautrain will depend largely on the quality of the services that 'feed' passengers into the system as well as distribution services, and on the integration of these with existing transport services. This is one of the main findings of a CSIR study focusing on such issues.

Hospital health engineering expertise recognised Walking away with a joint-first prize as well as the second prize for his papers at a conference in Port Elizabeth recently, Dr Sidney Parsons went to Barcelona in October to present a paper on hospital health engineering for controlling airborne diseases.

CSIR looks at innovative technologies for low-cost housing Most countries face a move of people away from rural to urban areas; the majority worldwide currently live in urban areas. Thus a crucial planning imperative is to investigate how urban growth can be made more effective, especially regarding poverty alleviation, and how new forms of urban growth can be developed cost effectively.

Focus on nanotechnology for use in transportation infrastructure Nanotechnology and transportation engineering structures operate on different dimensions. When looking at the application of nanotechnology in the transportation engineering field, the challenge is to scale up nanotechnology to ensure the benefits gained through working in the nano-sphere are realistic in the macro-sphere.

Strengthening access to rural healthcare Rural healthcare delivery - particularly for the terminally ill - appears to have somewhat shifted from the formal healthcare system to home-based care practitioners. It is generally acknowledged that gender and access issues have a significant bearing on rural formal and informal healthcare delivery.

Looking at ways of improving traffic safety The role of severe law enforcement and other interventions to improve road safety in South Africa is being investigated by the CSIR. The research is part of the NyendaWeb project that uses advanced technologies for improved transport and traffic-related data.