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24 May 2018 Photo Supplied
UFS alumnus wins National Liberty Radio Award - Thabang Moselane
At the Liberty Radio Awards, Thabang Moselane winner in the Night-Time Show category.
“When I started studying at the University of the Free State in 2015, I told myself I would not be an ordinary student. I knew the university offered many opportunities and I intended to take advantage of that,” says Thabang. The young radio personality, Thabang Moselane hails from a small town called Christiana in the North West. He is the recent winner of the Liberty Radio Award in the night-time show category.
 
“I still cannot explain how I felt when I was announced as the winner, happiness is an understatement. Winning this award is a recognition of my talent and efforts to change and impact lives of many people through the medium,” he said. Thabang is a Media Studies and Journalism graduate from the UFS and is currently studying his Honours degree in Film and Visual Media. “The university through Kovsie FM made it possible for me to develop and get experience,” added the award winner.

The UFS alumnus started his career in radio at Kovsie FM and later joined an online publication called The Journalist as a contributing writer. He now works at OFM where he hosts ‘A touch of Thabang’, the award winning show. “The show is quite unusual, it reflects my personality. It is a show for the people, about the people and the conversations are never light-hearted,” he said.
 
Asked what drew him to radio, Thabang said with a chuckle, “I have always wanted to be a psychologist but one morning five years ago, I woke up and told my mother I wanted to be a star. I believe my love for interacting and engaging with people drew me to radio.”
Apart from radio and writing, Thabang is also a motivational speaker, MC at events and an aspiring businessman.

News Archive

UFS boasts with world class research apparatus
2005-10-20

 

 

At the launch of the diffractometer were from the left Prof Steve Basson (Chairperson:  Department of Chemistry at the UFS), Prof Jannie Swarts (Unit for Physical and Macro-molecular Chemistry at the UFS Department of Chemistry), Mr Pari Antalis (from the provider of the apparatus - Bruker SA), Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean:  Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS), Prof André Roodt (head of the X-ray diffraction unit at the UFS Department of Chemistry) and Prof Teuns Verschoor (Vice-Rector:  Academic Operations at the UFS).

UFS boasts with world class research apparatus
The most advanced single crystal X-ray diffractometer in Africa has been installed in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS).

“The diffractometer provides an indispensable technique to investigate compounds for medicinal application for example in breast, prostate and related bone cancer identification and therapy, currently synthesized in the Department of Chemistry.  It also includes the area of homogeneous catalysis where new compounds for industrial application are synthesised and characterised and whereby SASOL and even the international petrochemical industry could benefit, especially in the current climate of increased oil prices,” said Prof Andrè Roodt, head of the X-ray diffraction unit at the UFS Department of Chemistry.

The installation of the Bruker Kappa APEX II single crystal diffractometer is part of an innovative programme of the UFS management to continue its competitive research and extend it further internationally.

“The diffractometer is the first milestone of the research funding programme for the Department of Chemistry and we are proud to be the first university in Africa to boast with such advanced apparatus.  We are not standing back for any other university in the world and have already received requests for research agreements from universities such as the University of Cape Town,” said Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean:  Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS.

The diffractometer is capable of accurately analysing molecules in crystalline form within a few hours and obtain the precise geometry – that on a sample only the size of a grain of sugar.   It simultaneously gives the exact distance between two atoms, accurate to less than fractions of a billionth of a millimetre.

“It allows us to investigate certain processes in Bloemfontein which has been impossible in the past. We now have a technique locally by which different steps in key chemical reactions can be evaluated much more reliable, even at temperatures as low as minus 170 degrees centigrade,” said Prof Roodt.

A few years ago these analyses would have taken days or even weeks. The Department of Chemistry now has the capability to investigate chemical compounds in Bloemfontein which previously had to be shipped to other, less sophisticate sites in the RSA or overseas (for example Sweden, Russia and Canada) at significant extra costs.

Media release
Issued by:Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
19 October 2005   

 

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