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16 March 2022 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo IAN VAN STRAATEN
Prof Francis Petersen (UFS), Alex Hickman (AMRF), Dr Ralph Clark (UFS), and Prof Shen Xiaomeng (UN Europe)
Prof Francis Petersen (UFS), Alex Hickman (AMRF), Dr Ralph Clark (UFS), and Prof Shen Xiaomeng (UN Europe)
Mountains matter; 60-80% of the earth’s fresh water comes from mountains, and 50% of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are in mountains. In addition, 50% of land across the world relies on mountain ecosystem services.

This is according to Prof Shen Xiaomeng, United Nations Vice-Rector for Europe, on the first day of the first-ever Southern African Mountain Conference (SAMC2022). The conference, under the theme Southern African Mountains – their value and vulnerabilities, is taking place from 14 to 17 March 2022 in the majestic Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa and Lesotho. 

“We need to go beyond national and regional boundaries to have the collaboration. We have the opportunity to create a world worth living in for ourselves and our children. We can create and co-create together by transcending boundaries,” said Prof Xiaomeng.

The conference – a collective voice for the sustainable management of Southern African mountains – brings together a network of more than 200 delegates from across the globe to discuss a wide array of interventions to ensure the preservation of the ecosystem under global change.

Dr Ralph Clark, chairperson of the SAMC2022 local organising committee and Director of the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) on the Qwaqwa Campus, said the conference – a first for the southern region – presents an opportunity for new collaborations in transdisciplinary research.

Bringing together people from various disciplines in one space for networking and information sharing, the conference seeks to create a space for robust regional and international collaboration and comparative mountain studies with an increase in research activities, student capacity, researcher capacity, and academic outputs that feed into policy and action. 

The conference was officially opened by the Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, Prof Francis Petersen, as well as Prof Xiaomeng.

Prof Petersen said the UFS firmly believes in getting involved with its surrounding communities and applying skills and knowledge towards making a real, practical, and positive impact in their lives. “Higher education institutions cannot afford to conduct research simply for its own sake. Our research efforts must address the needs of our surrounding communities and the wider world. Which is why, together with Teaching and Learning, and Research, the UFS – like many other South African universities – has a third core function, namely Engaged Scholarship, where we use our academic expertise with an intentional public-benefit purpose,” he said.

The programme has six parallel tracks – one of which is dedicated to postgraduate students – with about 200 papers delivered. In addition, there is a special Mountain Research Institute (MRI) session on long-term monitoring activities and associated data availability for climate change-related applications across Africa’s mountains, as well as a special UNESCO session on regional collaboration.

News Archive

Machinery and equipment to the value of R6 million acquired by UFS Instrumentation Division
2015-07-02

Photo: Supplied

At an information session held on the Bloemfontein Campus, the Instrumentation Division in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) introduced its new Computer Numeral Control (CNC) machines to the value of R6 million.

Initially, the primary aim of the Instrumentation workshop was to design, produce, and maintain special research equipment which is unavailable on the market, mainly for academic departments. The small-scale production focused on producing support material and equipment for research work.

However, with new equipment and machinery the Division now also can deliver a service to corporate companies and external associates.
 
The CNC machines include a 5-axis Vertical Machining Centre from Haas imported from America. This is one of only four in South Africa, with two in Johannesburg and one in Cape Town.  The lathe makes it possible to produce sophisticated parts, which were previously cumbersome and difficult to make. The machines also cover a wide spectrum in the mechanical field such as the the FLOW Water Jet, which cuts a wide variety of material ranging from titanium to wood without utilising heat, thus saving electricity. This makes it possible to cut a wide variety of materials.

With the new machinery now available, the Instrumentation Division is able to perform high quality and quantity production with precision.

“The advantage of the machinery is that it stimulates production, and is much faster and more accurate than the conventional way of doing things,” said Pieter Botes, Head of the Division.

Botes explained that, by having students and professional artisans at the university design and manufacture equipment, costs are reduced when compared with the expensive nature of equipment and tools found in the market. In addition, “the machines broaden the scope of research conducted” said Botes. The technical dynamics of the machinery advances the scientific knowledge needed to operate it, so bridging the gap between theory and practice.

The Central University of Technology, Signs Division Bloemfontein, Product Development Technology Station (PDTS), Maizey’s, and Knottco Truckparts are some of the university’s trade partners.

The workshop collaborates with the Chemistry, Physics, Microbiology, Botany, Agriculture, and Electronics departments, as well as the Institute of Groundwater Studies at the UFS, and others. These departments receive services in the form of pipette stands, containers for test tubes, bottles, laboratory trolleys, stands for cadavers for Anatomy, pump repairs, stainless steel bailers, filaments, and heaters.

The Instrumentation Division is, therefore, a vital support unit for the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences as well as the university at large.

Companies, institutions, or individuals who need the Division’s expertise may contact Pieter Botes on botespds@ufs.ac.za.

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