Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
26 May 2020 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo iStock
UFS campuses are transforming into research instruments while simultaneously improving campus operations through the Smart Grid initiative.

Imagine living in a smart home. Imagine monitoring your household’s electricity usage via an integrated system that would notify you of your daily electricity use, peak usage times, and tariffs and consumption at the location of the house. As a user, you would be able to take advantage of such information in order to manage your resources in a more efficient manner. This is just one example of what a Smart Grid can do.

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences has teamed up with the Department of University Estates to drive our very own Smart Grid initiative that is transforming the university’s power network into one with full control and monitoring. “A Smart Grid allows for resource optimisation and asset protection, especially in times like these,” said Nicolaas Esterhuysen, Director of Engineering Services. 

Why is it important for our university to have a Smart Grid?
Dr Jacques Maritz, Lecturer of Engineering Sciences at the Faculty, considers a Smart Grid the natural evolution of power grids in the era of Big Data, IoT and Machine Learning. Resources such as electricity, water and steam can now be monitored and controlled to promote savings and the protection of valuable infrastructure. “Aiming towards Smart Grid status, the UFS will improve resource service-delivery to its staff and students, while sculpting a digital twin of its campus’s power grid, consumer network and resource generators,” he added.
  
How will a Smart Grid improve student success?
The integrity, sustainability and continuous supply of energy directly affects the academic project on all three campuses. The implementation of a Smart Grid could allow improved service delivery and reaction time when any utility is interrupted, as well as maintaining the valuable infrastructure that serves the UFS community.

In what way does a Smart Grid improve the lives of staff members?
According to Dr Maritz  and Esterhuysen: “A Smart Grid will support staff to perform their teaching and research duties in a seamless manner, continuously optimising the energy that they consume to enable full comfort and reliability in energy supply, whilst simultaneously generating savings in energy and preventing wastage.”

The UFS already boasts most of the fundamental building blocks associated with the Smart Grid initiative, especially focusing on monitoring, grid protection, centralised and decentralised solar PV generation and software platforms to serve all these domains. However, to integrate all of these domains into one digital real-time paradigm will be a first for the UFS.

Some examples of the UFS smart grid applications currently in practice
Real-time remote monitoring and control that focuses on the following:
- We are able to detect power outages and don’t have to rely on customer complaints. This enables faster response time and fault identification, thus less downtime and an increase in reliability;
- Solar plant generation; 
- Monitoring our standby generation fleet; 
Identifying usage patterns and saving thereof;
Benchmarking buildings in terms of application usage, area or occupancy to determine energy efficiency and identify savings; and condition-based preventive maintenance that will increase reliability while saving costs.

News Archive

UFS offers bursaries for interpreters
2005-12-01

The Unit for Language Management (previously Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment) at the University of the Free State (UFS) is offering bursaries to persons who want to apply for the Post-graduate Diploma in Language Practice (interpreting) for 2006. 

The Unit was involved in the setting up of a comprehensive interpreting infrastructure at the Free State Legislature and provided the interpreting services for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for the latter’s full duration.

“The UFS supports a multilingual society.  Our language policy, which was approved by the Council in 2003, is a striking example.  This policy is in accordance with the national movement towards multilingualism and the recognition of language rights.  Through the training of interpreters the UFS is empowering others to exercise their language rights and to partake meaningfully in formal conversations,“ said Prof Theo du Plessis, head of the UFS Unit for Language Management (ULM). 

“The UFS has been using interpreter services at executive management meetings and other occasions such as meetings, seminars and conferences for several years.  The demand for these services has risen quite considerably.  We have found that the current three interpreters on the Main Campus will soon not be able to cope with this demand,” said Prof du Plessis.

According to Prof du Plessis institutions like the Mangaung Local Municipality and the Motheo District Municipality use the interpreter services of the ULM on a regular basis. 
“Because the demand for interpreter services is becoming so great, the demand for trained interpreters is also increasing.  This is why we are offering bursaries for persons who want to be trained as interpreters to register in 2006 for the Post-graduate Diploma in Language Practice (interpreting) as offered by the UFS Department of Afro-asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language,” said Prof du Plessis.

According to Prof du Plessis the UFS will be able to use these students on an ad-hoc basis to assist with interpreter services on the Main Campus or to deliver interpreter services to institutions outside the UFS. 

The bursaries will preferably be awarded to persons with English as mother tongue with an above average knowledge of Afrikaans or Sesotho.  The duration of the bursaries is one year and only tuition fees will be paid.  “To qualify for the bursaries, prospective students must have an undergraduate qualification,” said Prof du Plessis.

The closing date for applications is 25 January 2006.  For any enquiries, Mrs Susan Lombaard can be contacted at (051) 401-2405 or 072 605 4966 during office hours or at lombasc.hum@mail.uovs.ac.za.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:  (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
1 December 2005
 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept