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11 October 2018 | Story UFS | Photo Zama Feni
UFS launch student business incubator project
Rector and Vice-Chancellor Francis Peterson cutting the ribbon as the office of Student Business Incubator Project was officially opened last Friday.
The University of Free State has recently launched a Student Business Incubator Project that will provide impetus to students with business ideas.

The initiative, which is under the management of the Directorate for Research and Development (DRD) was conceived a few years ago with objective of untapping the entrepreneurial potential of students. 

And it was on Friday last week that all the energy and efforts that were directed towards the planning of this project culminated into the official launch and opening of the offices where the students will conduct their business operations.

Generate new business ideas

Delivering a brief address at the launch, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen encouraged students to generate new business ideas that would make them job creators at the end of the day. 

“As a university, we should disseminate our output to society through research, education and technology transfer. The Incubator Project is a good initiative and I would like to see it growing so that more students can benefit from a facility such as this,” he said. 
Professor Petersen encouraged the student innovators to engage society so that they can make quality of life better through new knowledge.

“You must continue to incubate ideas and develop them,” he said adding that one of the great things that a university is measured about is the employability of its graduates.

Business ideas awarded 
On the previous day, DRD hosted a pitching competition for the business ideas that students were invited to submit.

Assistant Research Officer and Project Manager, Ayanda Makhanya said they were excited about the outcome of their call to students as they received an overall total of 60 ideas.

“We screened all the inputs and came up with 14 ideas. We will now be working with these students to provide the necessary support,” she said.

The winner in the pitching competition was an LLB student Mannini Setai whose idea was the production of eco-friendly bricks.

The office are located near the UFS Sasol Library and has computers and a big flat screen.

News Archive

Shimlas: Unbeaten Varsity Cup Champions!
2015-04-14

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    Photo: Johan Roux
    Spotlight Photo: Spektor Photography
    Photo gallery

The UFS Shimlas rugby team made history on Monday 13 April 2015 when they won their first ever Varsity Cup tournament, beating North-West University (NWU) Pukke 63-33 in the final.

Not only did Shimlas make history by winning their first-ever tournament title since the inaugural tournament in 2008, but they did not lose a single game in the 2015 Varsity Cup, thus claiming the cup in front of their home crowd at Shimla Park in Bloemfontein.

Shimlas outscored their traditional intervarsity rivals with nine tries to four. Pukke put the first points on the scoreboard with a penalty kick. The home side started off slowly in the first half. However, Shimlas’ lock, Johan van der Hoogt, did score the first try of the match followed by flyhalf and player that rocks, Niel Marais’s successful conversion kick. Yet, the men from the North-West retaliated full force for the greater part of the first half and, two tries later, had a 18-8 lead over the UFS team. 

Shortly after the first strategy break, Shimlas No.8, Niell Jordaan, crossed the try line following a driving maul, but the visitors received another penalty and succeeded with the kick at goal. The last ten minutes before half time saw Shimlas taking advantage, with the Pukke skipper being sent to the sin bin. Wing Maphutha Dolo hit a gap in NWU’s defense, and scored the try that put Shimlas in the lead again. Not long after, Marais sparked in making a play, offloading to flank Daniel Maartens to score a final try before half time, securing a 26-20 lead.

The second half had not been in play too long when the home side crossed the try line again, scoring their fifth try. Marais was again central in creating the play that saw Shimlas outside centre, Nico Lee, putting the points on the board.

NWU fought back again, scoring a pushover try from a scrum. But Shimlas would not give up the lead again, and a well-timed pass from Marais had Lee crossing the line for his second try.

More Shimlas tries piled up from Marais, Dolo, and Maartens, leaving the Potchefstroom side behind 63-25, giving them little opportunity to score again. One desperate consolation try by Pukke in the final seconds did manage to close the gap on the scoreboard, but it was not nearly enough to snatch the title from the hungry and undefeated Shimlas.

FNB Player that Rocks: Niel Marais
Shimlas point scorers:
Tries: Johan van der Hoogt, Niell Jordaan, Maphutha Dolo (2), Daniel Maartens (2), Nico Lee (2), Niel Marais
Conversions: Niel Marais (6)

 

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