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12 March 2018 Photo Leonie Bolleurs
Second triumph for young pollution and pharmaceutical researcher
Emmie Chiyindiko, winner of Famelab.

“I am grateful to be reaping the benefits of stepping out of my comfort zone. By facing the unfamiliar, that challenge will allow me to see what great things I am capable of,” said Emmie Chiyindiko, winner of Famelab 2018.

With FameLab, the world’s leading science communication competition, participants have just three minutes to win over the judges and crowd with a scientific talk that excels in content, clarity and charisma. Contestants from around the world participate, armed only with their wits and a few props.

Emmie won the Postgraduate School’s Three-Minute-Thesis competition for master’s level in 2017.

She said: “My research is based on the synthesis and characterisation of a series of unique metal complexes.” These complexes are used both as active pharmaceutical ingredients and cosmetic additives to reduce the detrimental effects of UV radiation on the skin. They are incorporated into anti-ulcer, gastro protective drugs, anti-asthmatic, lung disease drugs, with anti-cancer and anti-diabetic agents,” she said.

With her research she can also monitor air pollution. Formaldehyde is a known toxin to human health. “Using metal complexes, I am able to monitor the production of formaldehyde and consequently come up with exposure prevention methods,” said Emmie.

She believes that it is okay to not ”fit in“. “Mannerisms such as your quirks make you different and distinctive. Live your life intentionally, imprint your personal mark on this universe and always choose faith over fear.”

News Archive

Messages and mail – what people say about Kovsies
2014-10-02

 
Letters from Kovsie students, parents, the community and even visitors to our university from across the globe regularly pour into our mailboxes and onto our social media pages.

To give you a glimpse of what they say about our institution, here are a few examples:

•    If you continue with this innovative thinking then the UFS will soon become the Ivy League institution of South Africa. – Chris Abels, United Kingdom

•    My daughter loves Kovsies. She has really come out of her shell as a result of the wonderful environment created by Kovsie leaders. She is flourishing and has for the second year in a row achieved the distinction of being a top academic student. Once again, thank you for your kind assistance which clearly indicates to me that Kovsies treat their students like family and not merely a number. – Grant Combrink, Port Elizabeth

•    The state of the University of Free State inspired me to go back to school and do my law degree. The cleanliness and the mood of the institution was inspirational and not only to me but also to a few of my colleagues. – Joseph Peter Kgomo, a journalist with the public broadcaster

•    I arrived in Bloemfontein to begin a one year appointment as a Fulbright Scholar. I have remarked to friends and colleagues in America that we can learn a great deal about hospitality towards our foreign visitors by embodying the altruism demonstrated throughout your campus. Thank you for the opportunity to become a Kovsie. – Professor Brenda C Eppley, Professor at Area Community College in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA

•    I would like to congratulate you on the job well done regarding transformation and integration thereof. Indeed, the UFS that I am in is not the UOVS that I was in. – Tefo Masoetsa

•    I attended the Oprah Winfrey graduation ceremony in 2009 and when Dr Desmond Tutu received his honorary Doctorate. On both occasions one felt something big and miraculous was happening and many in the audience were moved. You are doing something down there in the Free State that really deserves attention! – Joy Summers, Producer: Carte Blanche

•    There will be much more hurt before our country is healed, but it will be the Kovsie doctors, psychiatrists and teachers applying the plasters and it will be the Kovsie architects, quantity surveyors, jurists and farmers building and regulating a new country. – Marzanne Lombard, proud former member of Soetdoring and Welwitschia Residences

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