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24 April 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Eco-vehicles race
Join the UFS on 18 May 2024 from 10:00-13:00 at the Red Square Parking area for the seventh annual Kovsie ACT Eco-Vehicle Race. Come and support your favourite team to victory!

Kovsie ACT at the University of the Free State (UFS) proudly presents the seventh Kovsie Eco-Vehicle Race, set to take place at the Equitas Parking area on the Bloemfontein Campus.

According to Karen Scheepers, Assistant Director: Student Life, ten teams will be participating in this year’s race, featuring the three UFS campuses as well as the Central University of Technology. The event promise excitement like never before.

Scheepers says, besides an exciting race, spectators can look forward to a new track and viewing area. She invites the public, staff and students to come and support the competing teams as they showcase their skills on the racetrack.

Event details:

  • Date: Saturday 18 May 2024
  • Time: 10:00-13:00
  • Venue: Red Square Parking area (opposite George du Toit Building)

Breakdown of the programme:

09:00 -10:15 Performance by student artists 
10:15 -10:35 Walkthrough by judges
10:35 -10:40 Welcoming
10:40 Races commence
12:30 -13:00 Announcement of winners

13:00 -14:00 Performance by student artists

The Eco-Vehicle Race marks the culmination of a nine-month co-curricular skills programme, aimed at empowering participating students with a set of skills for the world of work. Through this programme, they are equipped with basic knowledge and abilities on sustainable energy, enabling them not only to compete in the eco-vehicle race but also to comprehend the inner workings of the vehicle. This understanding is important to the teams for when they are doing repairs during the race.

Students will be competing in three events:

• Obstacle course: Teams will be challenged by obstacles to test their control over the car.
• Smart lap: A timed lap in which the drivers take the main track for the first time.

• Endurance race: The teams need to finish as many laps as possible using the least amount of energy in 45 minutes.

The winners of the three events will each be awarded a trophy. Additionally, there will be a trophy for the best pit stop as well as a spirit cup for the team with the best energy and support from the audience.

For more information, contact Teddy Sibiya.

News Archive

Nobel Laureate for Chemistry to visit UFS
2017-10-28

Description: Prof Levitt read more Tags: Prof Levitt read more

Prof Michael Levitt will be hosted by the UFS from
14 to 16 November 2017, where he will present the
first lecture in the Vice-Chancellor’s
Prestige Lecture Series.
Photo: Supplied

It is a great honour for the University of the Free State (UFS) to host Prof Michael Levitt, recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, which he shares with Marti Karplus and Arieh Warshel.

The trio received the Nobel Prize for their development of multiscale models used for complex chemical systems. “Being awarded the Nobel Prize is a unique and marvellous experience that no one can prepare for or could in any way know what to except,” said Prof Levitt during his 2013 Nobel Lecture at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

First lecture in Vice-Chancellor’s lecture series

The South African-born Nobel Laureate and Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) Visiting Scholar will present the first lecture, Birth and Future of Multiscale Modelling of Macromolecules, in the Vice-Chancellors Prestige Lecture Series at the UFS on 14 November 2017. Prof Levitt is well-known for developing approaches which predict macromolecular structures.

He is one of many distinguished academics invited annually by ASSAf to deliver lectures as part of the Distinguished Visiting Scholars’ Programme, presented by ASSAf at universities across the country.

Pioneer in research of molecular dynamics

Prof Levitt is a biophysicist and a professor of Biology at Stanford University. He was one of the earliest researchers to conduct research on molecular dynamics stimulations of DNA and proteins. “My post-prize ambitions are twofold and probably inconsistent: (1) Work single-mindedly as I did in the mid-1970s on hard problems, and (2) Help today’s young scientists gain the recognition and independence which my generation enjoyed,” said Prof Levitt.

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