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02 July 2019 | Story Eloise Calitz | Photo Keagan Nkwaira
Entrepreneurship Intravarsity
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


News Archive

Three of UFS Unit for Language Management to international congress
2006-06-12

Three members of the University of the Free State's (UFS) Unit for Language Management (ULM), namely Prof Theo du Plessis (Director of the ULM), Prof Johan Lubbe (Research Associate of the ULM) and Dr Elbie Truter (Research Associate of the ULM), will be attending the Tenth International Congress of the International Academy of Linguistic Law at the University of Galway, Ireland, from 14-17 June 2006. 

This year, the theme of the congress will be “Language Law and Language Rights: The Challenges of Enactment and Implementation”.  More than 100 persons will deliver papers at this congress, which enjoys prominent status world-wide.  The UFS colleagues are all members of the International Academy of Linguistic Law, and will deliver papers offering perspectives on language regulation within the South African context. 

Other South Africans who will also be participating, and with whom the ULM has close professional relationships, are Dr Karel Prinsloo (editor of the well-known journal 50 Plus) and Mr Edward Sambo of the Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb).  The ULM’s participation in the congress is the result of a long-term research project, namely, the South African Language Rights Monitor, which was launched three years ago in partnership with Pansalb, and which is also financed by that organisation.


Prof Theo du Plessis
(Director of the UFS Unit for Language Management)

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