Latest News Archive
Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
02 July 2019
|
Story Eloise Calitz
|
Photo Keagan Nkwaira
Audience members listening attentively to the presentations at the Entrepreneurship Inter-varsity on the Bloemfontein Campus.
The UFS continuously creates opportunities for students to develop and explore platforms where they can showcase their talents and share their innovative concepts. In the light of this, it is important for the institution to become a preferred academic knowledge partner that can conceptualise, develop, and successfully commercialise research activities, and through this foster an innovative and entrepreneurial culture that aligns to its Integrated Transformation Plan.
This is why opportunities such as the Entrepreneurship Intervarsity Competition are so important, since it encourages students to demonstrate their entrepreneurial talent, and through this connect with investors and industry leaders to start up a business.
The competition
Student entrepreneurs across the 26 public universities in South Africa were invited 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. The opportunities created through this initiative are twofold:
1. For student entrepreneurs to present their innovative ideas and businesses.
2. For universities to demonstrate their entrepreneurial talent and the ways in which they support and grow the next generation of business leaders.
The competition takes place in five stages. The process started with each student submitting their short videos and applications on the official competition site. Each institution also had the opportunity to select student entrepreneurs to take part in the competition. Fifteen students pitched their ideas during internal rounds at the UFS on 30 May 2019. Of these students, four were selected to represent the UFS at the regional rounds of the Entrepreneurship Intervarsity, where the finalists will be chosen.
The students were judged in four categories:
• Category 1: Innovative Ideas
• Category 2: Tech Businesses (existing businesses, formal or informal, undergrad or postgrad)
• Category 3: Social Impact Businesses (existing businesses, formal or informal, undergrad or postgrad)
• Category 4: General (existing businesses, formal or informal, undergrad or postgrad)
The following UFS entrants were selected to take part in the regional finals:
• Christopher Rothman for his liquid yeast culture that can be used in the fermentation of beer.
• Driaan-Lou Kemp for his patented water-saving device.
• Grace Mthembu for her electricity-saving system.
• Martin Clarke for his idea to use drone technology for the mining industry
New wheels for students with disabilities
2012-06-06
 |
|
First Car Rental donated two vehicles to our Unit for Students with Disabilities to meet their transport needs. The minibus will later on be converted to meet the specific transport needs of students with disabilities. From the left are Mr Mokgethi Tshabalala, Executive Head of Thebe Foundation, Mrs Hetsie Veitch, Head of the USD and Mr Bruce Barritt, Managing Director of First Car Rental.
Photo: René-Jean der Berg
06 June 2012
|
Transport problems of students at our Unit for Students with Disabilities (USD) are now something of the past.
The USD received two brand-new vehicles from First Car Rental, a vehicle rental company, for the transportation of students with disabilities.
“The vehicles are especially useful to transport students of the unit to and from classes and examinations between the two campuses in Bloemfontein. It also helps us to transport students should they have doctors’ appointments or to perhaps have their physical aids serviced,” says Mrs Martie Marina, senior officer at the Unit for Students with Disabilities.
The two vehicles consist of a passenger vehicle and a minibus. The minibus will later on be converted to meet the specific needs of the students.