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27 September 2021 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied
Dr Jacques Maritz, a lecturer at the UFS Department of Engineering Sciences (EnSci), recently hosted and chaired a mini-symposium on the role of UFS Grid Related Research.

During 2020 the University of the Free State (UFS) Qwaqwa campus experienced a loss of electricity supply for 10% of the year which led to emergency generation costs reaching R1.2-million. 

This is one of the problems Dr Jacques Maritz, a lecturer at the UFS Department of Engineering Sciences (EnSci), and the UFS Grid Related Research group are looking to address with their research on green and sustainable digital transformation efforts of local campus power grids.

Dr Maritz recently hosted and chaired a mini-symposium on the role of UFS Grid Related Research during which research strategies, visions and missions were shared by different research groups. These groups included the UFS Grid Related Research Group (presented by Dr Maritz), the UFS Initiative for Digital Futures (presented by Mr Herkulaas Combrink and Prof Katinka de Wet, both interim directors) and the Block Chain Research Group (presented by Mr Riaan Bezuidenhout, a PhD student at the Department of Computer Science and Informatics).  

Dr More Manda, on behalf of merSETA strategy and research, presented its strategic priorities for the next couple of years, which included the observation to drive the development of Digital and Green Skills. Mr Nicolaas Esterhuysen, from UFS Department of University Estates, also presented a live demonstration of the current state of the UFS smart grid. Industry partners presented a synopsis of their efforts and products pertaining to the evolution of digital and green campus grids. 

The symposium highlighted the existing synergies and visions

The symposium boasted an international keynote by Dr Veselin Skendzic (locally supported by Mr Deon Joubert, SEL), a principal research engineer with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories  Inc (SEL), on the detection of power grid faults using the phenomena of travelling waves.

“The symposium highlighted the existing synergies and visions shared between UFS research groups, our industry partners and funders. An innovative model of industry engagement via shared case studies and technical papers, with emphasis on local campus grids, was explored and discussed. 

“The UFS Initiative for Digital Futures placed emphasis on the value-add of multidisciplinary research teams when attempting to solve the most critical social problems, especially in the South African digital paradigm. One of the notable successes of this symposium was that it provided a platform for several research groups within the paradigms of science, engineering and social sciences to synchronise with industry and showcase their expertise towards the effort of creating green and sustainable campus grids,” says Dr Martiz.
Mr Nicolaas Esterhuysen, from UFS Department of University Estates, also presented a live demonstration
of the current state of the UFS smart grid. (Photo:Supplied)

According to him, the critical discussions observed during the symposium aim towards future efforts that include working more closely with industry partners and leveraging internal collaborations in order to advance the digitalisation, optimisation, reliability and research-readiness associated with campus grids. The latter is also part of the mandate of the UFS Grid Related Research Group to build local research instruments that will serve a wider community of scientist and engineers. 

Additional benefit

An additional benefit of a fully digitally twinned campus grid is the value-add of the corresponding data lake, an entity that will serve the establishment of new frontiers in digital R&D exchanges, governed by the appropriate digital ethics, says Dr Maritz.

He continues: “The UFS is in a unique position to compete in the Digital Futures paradigm, with emphasis on its ability to generate innovative digital backbones to serve multidisciplinary research interactions between internal research groups and industry, with unique contributions generated in the field of digital training. The UFS Grid Related Research Group has also been receiving valuable support, training, and guidance from the Emerging Scholars Accelerator Programme (ESAP), led by Dr Henriëtte Van Den Berg, including mentorship by Prof Pieter Meintjes, senior professor at the Department of Physics, UFS. 

“This symposium was part of the engagement efforts by the UFS Grid Related Research Group as the main driver of the merSETA funded UFS project for Digital and Data Engineering, which is closely affiliated with the initiative for Digital Futures.”

News Archive

UFS lecturer overcomes barriers to become world-class researcher
2016-09-05

Description: Dr Magteld Smith researcher and deaf awareness activist Tags: Dr Magteld Smith researcher and deaf awareness activist

Dr Magteld Smith researcher and deaf awareness
activist, from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology
at the UFS.
Photo: Nonsindiso Qwabe

Renowned author and disability activist Helen Keller once said the problems that come with being deaf are deeper and more far-reaching than any other physical disability, as it means the loss of the human body’s most vital organ, sound.

Dr Magteld Smith, researcher at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology (Ear, Nose and Throat) at the University of the Free State, said hearing loss of any degree can have psychological and sociological implications which may impair the day-to-day functioning of an individual, as well as preventing the person from reaching full potential. That is why Smith is making it her mission to bring about change in the stigmatisation surrounding deafness.

Beating the odds
Smith was born with bilateral (both ears) severe hearing loss, which escalated to profound deafness. But she has never allowed it to hinder her quality of life. She matriculated from a school for the deaf in 1985. In 2008 she received a cochlear implant   a device that replaces the functioning of the damaged inner ear by providing a sense of sound to the deaf person   which she believes transformed her life. Today, she is the first deaf South African to possess two masters degrees and a PhD.

She is able to communicate using spoken language in combination with her cochlear implant, lip-reading and facial expressions. She is also the first and only deaf person in the world to have beaten the odds to become an expert researcher in various fields of deafness and hearing loss, working in an Otorhinolaryngology department.

Advocating for a greater quality of life
An advocate for persons with deafness, Smith conducted research together with other experts around the world which illustrated that cochlear implantation and deaf education were cost-effective in Sub-Saharan Africa. The cost-effectiveness of paediatric cochlear implantation has been well-established in developed countries; but is unknown in low resource settings.

However, with severe-to-profound hearing loss five times higher in low and middle-income countries, the research emphasises the need for the development of cost-effective management strategies in these settings.

This research is one of a kind in that it states the quality of life and academic achievements people born with deafness have when they use spoken language and sign language as a mode of communication is far greater than those who only use sign language without any lip-reading.

Deafness is not the end

What drives Smith is the knowledge that deaf culture is broad and wide. People with disabilities have their own talents and skills. All they need is the support to steer them in the right direction. She believes that with the technological advancements that have been made in the world, deaf people also have what it takes to be self-sufficient world-changers and make a lasting contribution to humanity.

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