Story by Tichaona Kurewa
CONSTRUCTION of the Technovation Centre at Lupane State University (LSU) in Matabeleland North Province is progressing well, with the contractor finalising key components of the building’s foundation as the institution moves to strengthen innovation-driven education.
Once complete, the over US$10 million facility will house laboratories, classrooms and offices designed to support research and innovation activities at the university.
Acting Director of Physical Planning, Works and Estates at the university, Engineer Herbert Mbiza, said the project, which is expected to be completed by 2028, has reached a critical stage.
“We are currently doing the foundation of the Technovation Centre, and this foundation includes piles, pile caps, beams and the slab. Currently, we are left with 1 000 square metres out of 5 500 of the slab, which is about 20 percent of the slab. From the overall building progress, that is constituted about 24 to 25 percent of the overall building.”
The Technovation Centre is central to implementing Zimbabwe’s Education 5.0 philosophy championed by the Second Republic.
The model focuses on teaching and learning, research, community engagement, innovation and industrialisation.
“To be able to attain those five pillars, there is a need for infrastructure that can support the five pillars of our education philosophy. That is why the Technovation Centre came into play. In that Technovation Centre, you are not only having teaching and learning facilities, but facilities that can facilitate the transition of knowledge into tangible goods and services, including incubating ideas that are commercialisable,” LSU, Director for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Industrialisation, Dr Fortune Jomane said.
The completion of the Technovation Centre is also expected to significantly boost enrolment at Lupane State University, with the current student population of about three thousand projected to double.
