This new book ties into the University\u2019s Thrive UP 2038 campaign, a long-term institutional strategy and roadmap that was launched in February 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Thrive UP 2038 campaign focuses on empowering South Africans by providing the tools they need to succeed, building the economy, and creating a better world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Campus Catalyst highlights examples of this strategy in action, showcasing how UP alumni are pioneering new technologies and building successful businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe book we are launching tonight, Campus Catalyst, celebrates these individuals across diverse sectors,\u201d said Francis Petersen, UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese achievements strengthen our economy while demonstrating to South Africa and the University of Pretoria that our students and staff possess the talent to generate novel thinking and translate it into societal impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creating Campus Catalyst<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UP-1-1-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>Francis Petersen, UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal, discusses the Campus Catalyst.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Campus Catalyst book was published to unpack the role universities play in society by sharing tangible examples of successful companies, partnerships, and ventures by UP alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This builds credibility for higher education and ensures that the impressive achievements of the UP alumni aren\u2019t overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUniversities are generally not very good at storytelling. We have countless remarkable stories to tell, but we often fail to tell them or do not convey them effectively,\u201d said Petersen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHopefully, this book serves as an example of how to tell our story well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Success stories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Campus Catalyst includes 10 notable success stories of alumni who have succeeded in the South African market across a wide range of sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This includes cases such as hearX, a mobile hearing test developed in a UP laboratory that is now the foundation of an international hearing-health technology company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HearX began as a simple question of whether an affordable smartphone could be turned into a reliable hearing screening device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To solve this question, the project brought together expertise from UP\u2019s departments of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Electrical, Electronic, and Computer Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UP then supported the protection, licensing, and commercialisation of the resulting intellectual property, the hearScreen mobile screening app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new app led to the founding of a startup and the development of a suite of digital tools to detect, diagnose, and address hearing loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is just one of the success stories detailed in the Campus Catalyst \u2013 the rest of which can be read in the Campus Catalyst book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Click here to learn more about the University of Pretoria\u2019s Campus Catalyst book.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UP-3-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UP-4-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UP-5-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The University of Pretoria has published Campus Catalyst, a new book that outlines notable success stories of its alumni.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":881531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2115002819518288381","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2250718549081877","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[26944,20466,521,26946,7137,8393],"class_list":["post-881513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-campus-catalyst","tag-event","tag-launch","tag-success-stories","tag-university","tag-university-of-pretoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881513"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881579,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881513\/revisions\/881579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a>The Campus Catalyst book was published to unpack the role universities play in society by sharing tangible examples of successful companies, partnerships, and ventures by UP alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This builds credibility for higher education and ensures that the impressive achievements of the UP alumni aren\u2019t overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUniversities are generally not very good at storytelling. We have countless remarkable stories to tell, but we often fail to tell them or do not convey them effectively,\u201d said Petersen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHopefully, this book serves as an example of how to tell our story well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Success stories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Campus Catalyst includes 10 notable success stories of alumni who have succeeded in the South African market across a wide range of sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This includes cases such as hearX, a mobile hearing test developed in a UP laboratory that is now the foundation of an international hearing-health technology company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HearX began as a simple question of whether an affordable smartphone could be turned into a reliable hearing screening device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To solve this question, the project brought together expertise from UP\u2019s departments of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Electrical, Electronic, and Computer Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UP then supported the protection, licensing, and commercialisation of the resulting intellectual property, the hearScreen mobile screening app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new app led to the founding of a startup and the development of a suite of digital tools to detect, diagnose, and address hearing loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is just one of the success stories detailed in the Campus Catalyst \u2013 the rest of which can be read in the Campus Catalyst book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Click here to learn more about the University of Pretoria\u2019s Campus Catalyst book.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The University of Pretoria has published Campus Catalyst, a new book that outlines notable success stories of its alumni.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":881531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2115002819518288381","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2250718549081877","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[26944,20466,521,26946,7137,8393],"class_list":["post-881513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-campus-catalyst","tag-event","tag-launch","tag-success-stories","tag-university","tag-university-of-pretoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881513"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881579,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881513\/revisions\/881579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"