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22 January 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Born2shoot
Dr Tommie van Zyl, Prof Philippe Burger and Prof Francis Petersen
At the launch of NovaLogix, a company co-owned by the UFS and ZZ2, were, from the left, Dr Tommie van Zyl, CEO of the ZZ2 Group, and Prof Philippe Burger, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, and Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal.

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently (17 January 2024) launched NovaLogix in collaboration with ZZ2, a well-known South African fresh produce company.

This new company, co-owned by the university and ZZ2, aims to develop and produce a probiotic used in the production of fresh produce to enhance plant health and growth. Projects include a focus on improved production techniques, product registration, commercialisation, and improved recipes.

Members of the university’s management structures were present at the formal launch of NovaLogix – which took place on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus – including the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Francis Petersen; the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation, Prof Vasu Reddy; and the Senior Director of the Directorate Research Development, Dr Glen Taylor. The deans of the two faculties that will be mainly involved in this partnership were also present, namely Prof Paul Oberholster, the Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and Prof Philippe Burger, the Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Among the attendees representing ZZ2 were Dr Tommie van Zyl, the Chief Executive Officer of the ZZ2 Group, Piet Prinsloo, Executive Manager at ZZ2, as well as Wiam Haddad, the new CEO of NovaLogix.

Co-creation and more sustainable outcomes

In his welcoming remarks, Prof Petersen stated that this event marks the culmination of a five-year journey that began in 2019 when he, Prof Burger, and Prof Danie Vermeulen, former Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, first visited ZZ2 to initiate closer collaboration and cooperation.

He is of the opinion that the relationship with ZZ2 is ideally suited to assist the university in realising the core values of Vision 130, the university’s strategic intent to reposition the institution as one of the leading universities in South Africa by 2034.

The knowledge, experience, and expertise that ZZ2 brings to the partnership, complement the exciting and impactful research done by the university’s academics across a range of disciplines. - Prof Francis Petersen

Prof Petersen said that the UFS values partnerships with the private sector, and he considers ZZ2 to be a knowledge partner with co-creation as a key component in this collaboration.

“Working together on a challenge makes the solution more sustainable. I believe that innovation and this co-creation approach will generate outcomes that transform the agricultural sector and impart knowledge to the next generation,” he stated.

“The knowledge, experience, and expertise that ZZ2 brings to the partnership complement the exciting and impactful research conducted by the university’s academics across a range of disciplines. I am looking forward to a partnership that will grow from strength to strength,” concluded Prof Petersen.

Breakthrough developments in the pipeline

According to Dr Van Zyl, ZZ2 would like to continue building a future with the university based on a symbiotic relationship. “We want to ensure that our strengths as an organisation are put to good use,” he said, expressing a strong conviction that there will be breakthrough developments with this initiative.

This work will align with ZZ2’s ‘Work with nature’ journey that began more than two decades ago, steering away from conventional, industrial agriculture towards a system that aims to farm in harmony with nature. “It is important that we nurture nature while using her resources,” he said.

He is excited to work with the university, exploring improved techniques and technologies to find more effective ways towards a sustainable future. “Knowledge partners are important in this journey,” he stated.

Building on existing collaborations

In September 2022, the university entered into a collaboration agreement with ZZ2. The partnership between the two entities included the establishment of FreeFarm Innovation, a company that in turn has a holding in NovaLogix and is designed to leverage the strengths, capabilities, skills, and resources of both parties. Part of the operations of FreeFarm Innovation included opportunities for research, commercialisation, and the enhancement of agricultural products. This has come into effect in projects on, for example, business operations, agricultural sustainability, and innovative approaches to growing fruit and vegetables, to name but a few.

News Archive

Alexander Ramm Cello Recital with Pieter Jacobs (piano)
2016-04-15

Description: Ramm Tags: Ramm

Alexander Ramm

“Ramm plays with enormous musical authority. Unlike many young instrumentalists, he is not intimidated by the reflective or the elegiac; nor is he nervous about the length of pauses, or the creation of inter-phrase silence. He has a phenomenal technique and he demonstrated it to full effect in this captivating performance.” (Cape Times)

Alexander Ramm belongs to the new generation of cellists recognised for his appealing artistic creativity and unprecedented technical skills. Alexander started his musical education at the age of seven at the Glier music school (Kaliningrad) with Svetlana Ivanova. Her extremely serious attitude to music studies and pedagogical talent revealed the rare musical capabilities of this young cellist.

After moving to Moscow at the age of ten, he was accepted to the class of Maria Zhuravleva at the Chopin Moscow College of Music Performance. From 2007, he continued his professional education at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of the renowned musician and the People’s Artist of the USSR, Natalia Shakhovskaya, an outstanding performer and pedagogue who taught most prominent Russian cellists. Since 2012, he has become a postgraduate student at the Hanns-Eisler Hochschule fur Musik under the guidance of the famous cellist, Frans Helmerson.

From the age of nine, when he made his debut as a soloist with the Kaliningrad Chamber Orchestra, Alexander brilliantly performs with solo programmes and as a soloist with leading orchestras in Russia and worldwide.

He is prizewinner at several international competitions:
1st prize: 4th Moscow Competition for young cellists (2003)
1st prize: 1st Cambridge International Boston Competition (Massachusetts, 2005)
Grand-Prix: Moscow Festival of Romantic Music (Moscow, 2006)
4th prize: 5th UNISA International String Competition (South Africa, 2010)
1st prize: 3rd Beijing International Music Competition (Beijing 2010)
1st prize: 1st All-Russia Music Competition (Russia, 2010)
Prizewinner: Janigro Cello Competition (Croatia, 2012)
Prizewinners: Swedish Duo Competition with duo partner Anna Odintsova (2012)
3rd prize: Paulo Cello Competition (2013) – becoming the first Russian prizewinner in the history of this prestigious contest
2nd prize: XV International Tchaikovsky Competition (2015)

Alexander participated in masterclass festivals at Courchevel Academy and Holland Music Sessions, where he took lessons from the famous musicians such as F. Muller, R. Latzko, M. Kliegel and U. Wiesel. In 2011, he took part in the well-known Verbier festival, where he studied with H. Hoffmann, F. Helmerson, M. Suzuki, L. Power and F. Radosh. At the end of the festival, he was awarded the Neva Foundation top-level prize for gifted students.

Alexander cooperates with such outstanding conductors as V. Gergiev, V. Spivakov, A. Levin, K. Orbelyan, V. Polyansky, S. Kochanovsky, M. Fedotov, A. Slutsky, A. Sladkovsky.

He will be accompanied by Pieter Jacobs, a graduate of the University of Pretoria, who then furthered his studies at Yale in the United States, where he pursued his performing career with considerable success as a soloist and chamber musician in Boston, Cambridge and New Haven before returning to South Africa to perform and teach at the University of Pretoria. Pieter is regarded as one of SA’s foremost pianists and chamber musicians.

Programme:

Grieg: Cello Sonata, Op. 36 in A minor (1883)
Barber: Cello Sonata, Op. 6 in C minor (1932)
Prokofiev: Cello Sonata, Op. 119 (1949)
Piazzolla: Le Grand Tango for cello and piano

Date: 22 April 2016
Time: 19:30
Venue: Odeion
Costs: R130 (adults), R90 (pensioners), R70 (UFS staff members), R50 (students and learners), R50 (group booking of 10+). Tickets available at Computicket.

More information: Ninette Pretorius +27(0)51 401 2504.

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