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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

nGAP lecturers welcomed by the UFS academic community
2016-06-30

Description: nGAP lecturers group photo Tags: nGAP lecturers group photo

University of the Free State’s newly-appointed nGAP
lecturers. From the left, Neo Mathinya,
Phumudzo Tharaga, and Kelebogile Boleu.

The University of the Free State (UFS) was allocated six positions as part of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP). Four candidates have filled positions in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of the Humanities and the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences – with two positions still vacant.

According to Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, nGAP is part of the Staffing South Africa's Universities Framework, which focuses on the expansion of the size and compilation of academic staff at South African universities, especially with regard to transformation. The focus of the programme is the appointment of black and coloured candidates as well as women.

The Department of Soil, Crop, and Climate Sciences in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences welcomed two nGAP lecturers, Phumudzo Tharaga and Neo Mathinya. The Faculty was allocated four positions. Two positions are filled, while two positions in the Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences are almost ready to be filled with exceptional candidates.

Agrometeorologist with his feet on the ground
Phumudzo Tharaga holds an MSc from the UFS, and is currently pursuing a PhD. Tharaga’s research focuses on quantifying the water use efficiency of sweet cherry orchards under different climate conditions in the Eastern Free State. Tharaga will offer his students a wealth of practical experience, which he began accumulating while working at ABSA as an agro-meteorologist, before moving on to become a senior scientist at the South African Weather Service. In 2015, Tharaga became a research technologist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and then returned to the UFS as an nGAP candidate at the beginning of 2016.  

Description: Beynon Abrahams, nGap lecturer Tags: Beynon Abrahams, nGap lecturer

Beynon Abrahams, nGap lecturer
at the Faculty of Heath Sciences
Department of Basic medicine

Motivated scholar turned academic
Neo Mathinya, who hails from Taung in the North West, has made the UFS her home. She received both her undergraduate and honours degrees from the university. Apart from joining the department as a lecturer under the nGAP initiative, she is currently studying for her MSc in Soil Physics. She will continue with this research when she comes to her PhD. Mathinya’s research focuses on soil salinity - the process of increasing salt content - which affects the ability of plants to take up water, a process, known as osmotic stress. She will investigate the effects of irrigation water salinity on the grain yield and quality of malt barley.

Researcher with a passion for crime prevention
Kelebogile Boleu joined the Department of Criminology in the Faculty of Humanities, with a fresh take on diversion and crime prevention. Boleu holds a BA Criminology (Hons) and is now pursuing her Master’s degree. She worked for NICRO a non-profit organisation specialising in social crime prevention and offender reintegration, with programmes that prevent young and first-time offenders from re-offending, thus reducing crime. Boleu said that her practical experience makes her lectures to third-year criminology students exciting. Boleu’s research focuses on analysing the value of pre-sentencing reports in assisting adjudicators to make well-balanced judgments in cases.   

Research with a winning plan for fight against breast cancer
Beynon Abrahams joined the Department of Basic Medical Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Abrahams holds a BSc, BSc (Hons), and MSc in Medical Biosciences from the University of the Western Cape. Abrahams’ Master’s research focused on breast cancer, research on which he is building in his PhD. This doctoral research involves the exploration of P-glycoprotein, a protein expressed on cancer cell and responsible for multi-drug resistance in cancer treatment. The aim of this research is to develop a therapeutic drug treatment strategy that will improve breast cancer patient survival outcomes. Abrahams’s greater vision is to look at conventional cancer therapeutic regimens, to find ways in which they can be improved.

The nGAP initiative offers these young lecturers an opportunity for growth and development as academics, while providing them with opportunities they would have not have been exposed to otherwise.

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