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On Friday, 6 March 2009, on land parcel 21, a Memorandum of Agreement for the establishment of a world class Aviation Medicine Facility at The Innovation Hub was signed by our acting CEO Mr. Tsietsi Maleho, Acting Secretary of Defence Mr. Tsepe Motumi and the Chief Director Military Health Force Support, Major General Lifeni Make.
The signing marks the conclusion of a decade-long project to relocate the National Institute for Aviation Medicine to a place conducive to innovation, collaboration and development.
Tsietsi Maleho welcomed guests and saluted General Make for his perseverance in bringing IAM to The Innovation Hub, as well as for the subsequent de-militarization of the project. Our CEO also made mention of the fact that with the signing of this agreement, “no member of The Hub will ever have an excuse to be unfit again.”
The Institute for Aviation Medicine (IAM), a specialist division of the South African Defence Force, aims to promote the capacity for international and southern hemisphere training and collaborative research through the establishment of a new Physiological Training Centre that will include a modern human centrifuge, a disorientation chamber, new hypobaric chambers, a hyperbaric oxygen therapy unit, and a Military Psychological Unit.
IAM’s envisaged collaboration with educational institutions such as the University of Pretoria, as well as research and development institutions, such as the CSIR, makes The Innovation Hub the ideal location for this facility because of its close proximity to these important role-players. The Hub provides the required infrastructure and ideal environment including business networks for collaborative research and development.
General Lifeni Make presented guests with an overview of “Project Starlight” – the history there-of dating back to 1999. He related the process of convincing strategic stakeholders of the value and benefits of relocating to The Innovation Hub that ultimately brought us together on this day of “another first”.
Acting Secretary of Defence, Mr. Tsepe Motumi, expressed his “pleasure in finalising the project while looking forward to seeing the first bricks being laid and the resultant development and job creation.” He provided insight to the need for a state of the art, specialist aero medical facility as identified due to emerging new technologies over the last few years.
The Innovation Hubs strategic positioning, as well as its overall vision of developing clusters of knowledge that include an aerospace cluster, makes the relocation of the Aviation Medicine Facility to this ‘smart address’ a logical next step.
Mr. Mandla Nkomfe, Gauteng MEC, expressed pride in Gauteng Province’s association with the project as well as his interest in seeing our Defence Force being viewed as participants in ensuring provincial growth that is “globally competitive and attracting global investment at the same time.”
“This collaborative opportunity between The Innovation Hub and The Institute of Aviation Medicine adds impetus to the Cluster Development strategy within the precinct, while promoting cooperative interaction between the Civilian Community and the Military” says Paul Bisogno: Business Development, Marketing and Value Added Services Manager: The Innovation Hub.
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The agreement was signed and witnessed by members of the press, TIHMC members, and representatives from the South African Defence Force, Government as well as Blue IQ Investment Holdings. Newly elected CEO of Blue IQ, Amanda Nair, concluded the formalities by toasting the project and those involved in making this day happen. “Yet Another First for The Innovation Hub.”
For more information contact Paul Bisogno at: pbisogno@theinnovationhub.com
On 6 March 2009, at The Innovation Hub, a Memorandum of Agreement is signed between the Innovation Hub and the Institute of Aviation Medicine. From left to right is General Lifeni Make, Tsepe Motumi: Acting Secretary of Defence, Dr. Robert Bedford, and Tsietsi Maleho: Acting CEO of the Innovation Hub
From left to right: Tsepe Motumi: Acting Secretary of Defence, Tsietsi Maleho: Acting CEO of The Innovation Hub, and Thibi Matshele: COO of The Innovation Hub, at the MOA Signing Ceremony between The Innovation Hub and the Institute of Aviation Medicine (Department of Defence |
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