The Intellectual Property series Summit TV speaks Dr Eugene Lottering from the Innovation Fund about solar cell technology that’s now being manufactured in Germany, and an electric car that’s about to hit the streets powered by South African intellectual property

Stephan Lamprecht: Welcome to the Intellectual Property show. You may have heard or read about South Africa’s latest success story in the form of an electric passenger vehicle locally designed, developed and manufactured that’s expected to go into production by 2010. This initiative was funded by the Innovation Fund in Pretoria. Dr Eugene Lottering chief executive of the Innovation Fund is at the Summit TV studio. Eugene, it’s quite good to hear about all these breakthroughs you are having. Let’s talk a little from an intellectual property point of view about the car - that’s still in development, but let’s talk about your other big transaction you’ve licensed offshore being the solar cell technology - what’s the background on that?

Dr Eugene Lottering: The solar cell technology was initiated by the University of Johannesburg’s Professor Vivian Alberts - in this he was partnered by the University of Pretoria, and expertise from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Collectively these individuals sought to create a thin film solar technology different from silicon-based solar panels using different elements that turned out to be highly successful. Upon completion of the project about six months ago - but prior to the completion of the project - investors from overseas were interested in the technology. A holding company was created at the University of Johannesburg to hold the intellectual property - because by law we are not allowed to ship IP offshore. These international investors got a license to the technology and a plant has been set up in Germany in the Brandenburg province at a cost of about €75million (euro) and as of last month I believe they’ve been producing solar panels.

Stephan Lamprecht: Using your new technology?

Dr Eugene Lottering: Using our new technology, yes.

Stephan Lamprecht: That is wonderful. You decided to first licence it that way and get the operational plant running - what happens then?

Dr Eugene Lottering: We had tried to attract South African investors initially - but the nature of the technology meant that there wasn’t a vast amount of expertise to put up a plant of that nature in South Africa, so we partnered with potential investors that could assist us in setting up a plant of this nature. The next plant is promised to be in Cape Town - and investment discussions are underway to put up that plant in the Western Cape area.

Stephan Lamprecht: How does this technology compare with other solid technologies?

Dr Eugene Lottering: It’s really front line stuff. Because there are constraints around silicon - silicon is used throughout the superconductive industry - we went with a different combination of the elements indium, gallium and selenium in a five micron layer on a flat glass substrate and it’s working beautifully so far.

Stephan Lamprecht: The licensing transaction - dealing with the Germans, dealing with the fact that you are licensing South African IP to a foreign entity - what were your learning experiences in that regard?

Dr Eugene Lottering: It was an extremely complicated transaction because you are involving public entities with private entities - and ensuring that benefits accrue to South Africa in the long term. You have to deal with issues of people believing that you’re selling South African developed intellectual property offshore - and try to educate people about licenses, versus the sale of intellectual property offshore. I believe we have very solid intellectual property experts in the country that assisted us to put together a good deal and assisted the University of Johannesburg in putting together the transaction.

Stephan Lamprecht: The relationship between the various academic institutions - you mentioned Pretoria and NMMU - was it tricky to structure that relationship?

Dr Eugene Lottering: Yes, it’s always tricky. At the beginning when the professors get together to develop the technology you really can’t see what is going to happen three years down the line. In the first instance it’s let’s get the Innovation Fund money in and get doing what we like to do - but it gets very complicated with success and the interpretation of the actual clauses in the contracts.

Stephan Lamprecht: Especially if it’s announced in the newspapers and it sounds very good…

Dr Eugene Lottering: Yes, if it’s announced prematurely it hurts our case in trying to get things across to the professors…

Stephan Lamprecht: One of the other transactions that I know about is your involvement with Geratech - how is that going?

Dr Eugene Lottering: Again, a very important investment on our side in minerals beneficiation - there is an emphasis on minerals beneficiation in South Africa. This is in zirconium beneficiation. It’s gone extremely well over the years and insofar as project development and technology development is concerned we now have a demonstration plant out in Krugersdorp that is producing products to world class specifications. The diversity of the markets is incredible - we hold enormous reserves in South Africa in zirconium which was the primary reason for us to go into that. It has gone so far that a Canadian company is taking an interest in trying to invest in the technology, and we are busy in transactions now with a deal with them as a strategic partner for market access globally.

Stephan Lamprecht: So it’s a whole different dimension of beneficiation - if you think about it we are a minerals rich country and we need to beneficiate, and thinking about production what we are talking about here is developing the fundamental beneficiation technology for commercialisation…

Dr Eugene Lottering: Exactly. It’s one thing to pull the minerals out of the ground and send them overseas - the technology component is about taking those minerals and making the actual products that places like China usually make and sell to the global markets. We want to do that as part of the industrial sector we are setting up in South Africa…

Stephan Lamprecht: I want to take a different slant and say if you look at our conversation and listen to some of the technologies you’re involved with this is really cutting edge high tech stuff - the Innovation Fund is part of the Department of Science and Technology mandate - how do you relate the impact that you’re having in terms of us being a developing economy? We want to address the skills shortages, we have huge unemployment - what is the relationship between having this really sophisticated approach to intellectual property whilst at the same stage we are still very much a developing country? How do bring the two together?

Dr Eugene Lottering: Where we are now is in a country where we cannot forgo technological development at the frontiers of technology for a period of time - and hope to catch up at a later stage. You have to keep driving and maintain your momentum with the existing scientific capacity that you have - because after all it’s innovation that makes major contributions to economic growth, and that economic growth spills over and everybody benefits from that. If we set up high tech industries in South Africa and factories and plants that employ people - surely that is of benefit to South Africa as much as just giving grants for social development?

Stephan Lamprecht: That is very encouraging to hear. Any other projects you have under wraps that we would like to know about that will be announced in the newspapers soon?

Dr Eugene Lottering: The battery powered electric vehicle is going to have a major impact in South Africa in the future. I really would prefer to leave that up to the company to make their official announcement of the car - and how they would like to announce it in the future. I am sure you would welcome everyone on board in a future show to tell you more about the car...

Stephan Lamprecht: Absolutely. It’s always encouraging to hear these stories of amazing achievements by South Africans.

Links:

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Vivian_Alberts_thin_film_solar

http://www.dacst.gov.za/science_technology/innovation/other_funds.htm