Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
24 May 2021 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa
The 2021 Kovsie ACT Eco-vehicle race puts students’ sustainable energy and critical thinking skills to the test.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Division of Student Affairs’ (DSA) Director of Student Life, Dr WP Wahl, believes the knowledge and skills that students have gained through participating in the 2021 Eco-vehicle project will position them more optimally in the future world of work. “We are also tremendously grateful for the project funding received from merSETA; without their support, none of this would have been possible,” he remarked.

The Kovsie ACT Eco-vehicle race, in conjunction with the overall programme, was established to encourage students to learn more about the technology and logic behind sustainable energy sources and how this can influence the future global society.

This year’s events witnessed students competing according to their UFS residence teams, with Sonnedou, Legatum, Kestell (SonLeTell); Soetdoring, Beyers Naude, Arista (Soetbeyrista); and Roosmaryn, Kagiso, Karee (Kar-is-myn) ending in first, second, and third place respectively, obtaining the highest scores for the races they competed in.

Anton Calitz, Electrical Engineer in University Estates who was the announcer on the day, described the event as one that exceeded his wildest expectations. “From a sustainable energy point of view, the eco-vehicle race results really turned the tables, with lower energy usage per lap being successfully recorded – as anticipated,” he further added.

Andre van Wyk, Client Liaison Officer of merSETA (Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Seta) for the Free State and Northern Cape – as one of the sponsors of the innovative programme – extended warm congratulations to the UFS for hosting an outstanding event. He further applauded the university for its resourcefulness in virtually adding electronic media broadcasts to extend the event to the entire UFS community.

“The Kovsie ACT Eco-vehicle programme was eye-opening and exposed me to the broad field of electronics. It definitely came as a challenge – one I had not anticipated on that level, because at times I couldn’t even see what all the building was leading to, but I just had to put my mind and hands to work – it pushed me to think critically and creatively. I was honoured to have been part of this entire experience and I’m grateful to Anton and his team, as well as the Kovsie ACT office, for being a constant support structure throughout the process, as it was not easy.” 

These were the humble words of Sinegugu Sibisi, a University of the Free State (UFS) student who was part of the 2021 Kovsie ACT Eco-vehicle race, where sustainable energy was at the order of the day.

For more information about the Kovsie ACT eco-vehicle skills programme, email ACT at ACT@ufs.ac.za
 

 

News Archive

Busy medical student’s message to Kovsies
2014-05-23

Stefan van der Westhuizen is a third-year medical student at Kovsies and although he performs well academically, it is not only his studies that keep him busy.

In 2012 Stefan was part of the Leadership for Change programme visiting the International Christian University in Tokyo and in 2013 he visited Stanford’s Sophomore College in California. More recently, he was a guest speaker at this year’ Kovsie Open Day.

His message to current and prospective Kovsies is as follows.

“It is important to me that all students should know: at Kovsies it isn’t only about what you see at the surface. At Kovsies we build a holistic student. And there is a great variety of opportunities – this is what made me decide to come here.”

“The more you do, the more you can do. Something important that I would like to say to prospective medical students, is: here at Kovsies you will not only swot medicine. You learn to be a human being. And this is something you won’t find at other universities.”

“You must decide what you want to achieve, who you want to be and where you want to make a difference. I would rather be a 60% medical student than a 60% human being.”

Stefan would like to go abroad again in future, but then he would like to study at an American medical university. He aims to eventually specialise in cardiothoracic surgery.

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