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19 August 2019 | Story Charlene Stanley | Photo Ayanda Makhanya
Entrepreneurship Intervarsity
Entrepreneurship Intervarsity finalists, far left, Christopher Rothman, and second from right, Grace Mthembu, with fellow Kovsie competitors Driaan-Lou Kemp, second from left, and Martin Clarke, far right, at the regional finals held at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein in early August 2019.
A natural heating and cooking system and liquid yeast in its purest form – used in the brewing of beer – form the basis of two innovative business ventures that have earned their inventors a place in the finals of this year’s Entrepreneurship Intervarsity.

LiquidCulture

Christopher Rothman is currently busy with his PhD in Biotechnology at the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology at the University of the Free State (UFS). He and a fellow student started the company LiquidCulture last year to make high-quality yeast for their own commercial brewery called Kraft Brewing Co. 

“We realised that because of our backgrounds as microbiologists, we could grow our own yeast, have a better quality product, and save some money while also expanding our choice of yeast strains to use. This quickly became more than a solution to our own problems, as other breweries were also interested in using our yeast. We then formed LiquidCulture and started supplying the industry,” says Christopher.

Organic Heat

Grace Mthembu’s inspiration for her eco-friendly, cost-effective heating and cooking device, came after reading about devastating fires in rural and informal settlements caused by cooking fires.

“I decided to investigate the cause of these fires and found that the majority of the households did not have access to electricity or they couldn’t afford it,” explains Grace.
Her invention is based on the traditional metal cylinder or “imbawula”, used by many households in informal settlements to cook or heat with wood or coal. What makes her invention different is that it has a water filtration interior system which makes it safer and ensures that the smoke produced during the heating of the sources does not get released into the home and the air in general.

Her invention has already earned her awards for best community development, best mechanical engineering and best rural development project in the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, plus a gold medal and all-expenses-paid trip to represent South Africa at the London International Youth Science Fair.
She plans to establish a brand for the system with the name “Organic Heat”.

Student entrepreneurs showcased
  
The Entrepreneurship Intervarsity gives student entrepreneurs from across the country’s 26 public universities the opportunity to submit their innovative ideas as part of a competition supported by Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE), in collaboration with the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation.
Both Christopher and Grace see it as a great honour to represent the UFS in the finals, which will be held in Johannesburg on 18 September 2019. 

“The intervarsity has been fun thus far and the quality of the competitors is really high. Luckily I like public speaking and I am really passionate about my company so pitching to the judges has been very comfortable for me so far,” says Christopher. 

“I’m not obsessed about winning,” says Grace. “I’m looking forward to networking and connecting and building relationships with potential investors. If I do happen to win, it will obviously be amazing and will provide me with a lot of exposure and bring opportunities.”

News Archive

UFS hockey teams crowned as Free State hockey champions
2009-09-21

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) men’s and women’s hockey teams were recently crowned as the Free State hockey champions during the championship that took place on the university's astro fields in Bloemfontein.

Kovsie women defeated Raiders (the defending champions) 6-0 and the Kovsie men’s hockey team successfully defended their title against Tweespruit. During a penalty shootout UFS Reds beat the team of the Central University of Technology (CUT 1) 8-7, thereby ending in the third position.

Very early on the Kovsie women’s hockey team showed that they wanted to break the five-year drought without a trophy and within the first ten minutes they took the lead with 2-0 against Raiders. Liza Dreyer scored her first two goals out of four and from that moment on the Raiders were with their backs against the wall. With the score of 4-0 at halftime it was clear that Kovsies would have a second trophy in their cupboard after their recent success during the USSA championships. After halftime, Odie Swart scored another goal from a penalty corner and Liza scored her fourth goal, to bring the end score to 6-0. Malisa Kala was the other Kovsie who scored a goal.

Odie Swart, captain of the Kovsies played her last match for the Kovsies with Cat van Zuydam. She excelled in the attack as well as in the defence.

The Kovsies men’s hockey team has now done it three out of three times! Within the first twenty minutes the Kovsies men’s hockey team defeated Tweespruit with brilliant hockey by scoring three goals. Luke Sanan (2) and Kurt Henzberg (1) scored the goals. All three the goals were well-executed field goals. The current Kovsie team is surely the best-rounded hockey team that the Free State has had over the last ten years. In the past three years the students played in more than 45 club matches and they did not lose one match!

With the joy also comes sadness. For Braam van Wyk it was his last match as coach of a Kovsie team. For the past 17 years Braam has been involved with Kovsie hockey, in which he led the girls to twelve victories in the Free State league. The last three years he managed the men’s team, who won the league for the past three consecutive years, indeed an achievement. With Braam, three other senior players of the past three years made their last appearance for Kovsies. They are Morne Odendaal, Renaldo Ogle and Braam van Wyk (jr.).

Literally during the last moments of their game against CUT 1, the UFS Reds, who were 1-4 behind, scored a goal, which brought the final score to 4-4. The Kovsie students won the penalty shootout with 4-3, thereby winning 8-7 and thus ending third in this year’s men’s Free State league. 
 

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