Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
02 March 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath
Francois van Schalkwyk, Keenan Carelse, UFS Alumni, Bertus Jacobs, UFS, University of the Free State, alumni relations, IoT.nxt.

We are pleased to host Bertus Jacobs in our second episode of the Voices of the Free State podcast series. As Chief Technology Officer at IoT.nxt. (Internet of Things), Bertus’ mind is constantly searching for new techniques, and imparting these to his team of developers. Evident from his ‘always on’ approach, Jacobs has optimised his passion for turning ideas into mainstream realities. He co-founded a successful software company, CSS Software, which saw its humble beginnings grow from Bloemfontein-based to an international-footprinted company. CSS Software is regarded as having some of the most innovative products in its market segment and was acquired by a JSE-listed group.

François van Schalkwyk and Keenan Carelse, UFS alumni leading the university’s United Kingdom Alumni Chapter, have put their voices together to produce and direct the podcast series.  Intended to reconnect alumni with the university and their university experience, the podcasts will be featured on the first Monday of every month, ending in November 2021.  Our featured alumni share and reflect on their experiences at the UFS, how it has shaped their lives, and relate why their ongoing association with the UFS is still relevant and important. The podcasts are authentic conversations – they provide an opportunity for the university to understand and learn about the experiences of its alumni and to celebrate the diversity and touchpoints that unite them. 

Listen to the podcast: 

Our podcast guest

While studying towards his BScHons (Computer Science) at the University of the Free State, Bertus developed an SDK (Software Development Kit) with low-level integration into various graphics hardware.  

Bertus has researched many ways of contributing to the growing IT industry – from developing point-of-sale systems that still run today, qualifying as MCP and MCSE, engineering telematic and biometric solutions for clients (UFS was one of them). After being approached to consult in developing a solution for the government, his search for a certain hardware problem and his expertise in the IT realm resulted in his invention of a controller and the birth of the RAPTOR.  Reports that took eight weeks to compile previously, are now at the fingertips of those who need it – all through data harvesting and dashboarding that combines software and hardware. The world-changing RAPTOR delivers a complete IoT solution, which has been internationally validated as being at the forefront of the emerging IoT wave.  IoT.nxt was named Best Commercial and Best Overall Winner at the MTN Business M2M Awards in 2017.  

Stay tuned for episode three to be released on 5 April 2021. 

For further information regarding the podcast series, or to propose other alumni guests, please email us at alumnipodcast@ufs.ac.za 

News Archive

UFS appoints top academic
2010-05-13

 
Prof. Kwandiwe Kondlo


The University of the Free State (UFS) has acquired the services of a well-known political analyst, Prof. Kwandiwe Kondlo, as a Senior Professor in the university’s Centre for Africa Studies (CAS).

Prof. Kondlo, who worked for the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) prior to this permanent appointment, is an accomplished researcher and a well-heeled scholar in issues of transitional democracies, governance and social justice.

“I joined this university particularly because of its difficult history and what I have observed to be a sincere orientation to transform,” he said.

“I think that under the leadership of Prof. Jonathan Jansen (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS) and his team we are going to see a very interesting rebirth of the University of the Free State. And some of us who believe in ideas of reconciliation in negotiated democracies as part of nation formation actually feel we should throw the best we have into the transformation process and support this great guy.”

“I see my appointment as part of the excellence aspect of the transformation journey because the UFS, even though it does good work in certain areas, is not highly rated in terms of academic excellence and publications. That is why I was glad to be appointed to make a humble contribution,” he said.

“I think it is going to be useful to the UFS to have more people of high academic standing because the idea to improve scholarship is very central and of course shifts the focus to scholarly discourse. Let scholarly excellence reclaim the centre of the debate as the leadership deal with legacy issues and genuine transformation.”

“Let us see academics from this institution stand up to articulate key issues that are relevant to state formations and transformation in the country. Let us debate our role as academics in supporting the consolidation of our young democracy”

Prof. Kondlo sees his key role within the CAS as improving research output.

“In other words, I see myself as leading the way in the generation of journal articles, books and also national and international seminars,” he explained.

He said a lot of work still needed to be done, though, to profile the CAS nationally and on the continent as it was still a new initiative and thus relatively unknown.

“We will need to be very innovative in terms of research initiatives and identification of research associates in order to profile the work of the Centre,” he said.

“I think the UFS will claim its seat in the greater African academic family by virtue of the quality of its products. We do not want to re-invent the wheel; we want to come up with products that are unique and in that way help this university to claim its rightful position within the greater African academic family.”

Prof. Kondlo has also worked for, amongst others, the Department of Land Affairs, the National Prosecuting Authority and the South African Chamber of Commerce, as well as being involved with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
13 May 2010
 

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