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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

Distinguished Kovsie medical student bestowed with Abe Bailey Bursary
2013-10-14

14 October 2013

Residence head, SRC member, Golden Key International Honour Society member and now: Abe Bailey scholar as well. These are some of the achievements and leadership titles that Michael van Niekerk, a fourth-year MBChB student at our university, has under his belt.

One of 18 South Africans countrywide, Van Niekerk is to visit institutions in England and Scotland as a recipient of the prestigious Abe Bailey Travel Bursary for 2013. The scholarship acknowledges excellence in academics, leadership and community service and is awarded annually to third-year students and/or junior lecturers not older than 25 years of age.

The recipients of the 2013 Abe Bailey scholarship leave for Cape Town on 20 November 2013 to attend a two-day orientation process. Following this, they will then travel to London and Edinburgh, where they will visit universities, as well as places of interest such as London’s House of Lords.

Van Niekerk, who recently visited the USA as part of the Golden Key International Honour Society’s International Scholar Laureate programme, says it is an incredible honour to be this year’s Abe Bailey recipient for the UFS. "I am very blessed to not only excel in the medical field, but also in leadership and other aspects and I believe that this is absolutely grace from Above. I believe that this is an opportunity and a step to a better future. I don’t believe in being average and believe that this is an opportunity to prove myself and achieve more."

This Kovsie student says he has great plans for the future. "If it is God’s will, I would very much like to specialise in neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery or trauma surgery. I would like to be part of the Rhodes Scholarship and would strive to reach it."

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