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The success of the Eco-Vehicle Programme and future steps

12 June 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Sonia Small

Eco Vehicle Race 2024 — This year's Eco-Vehicle Skills Programme saw remarkable participation. A total of 148 students completed the programme successfully.

For the past seven years, the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Kovsie ACT has proudly hosted the successful Eco-Vehicle Race. This event has grown into a major highlight, thanks to the significant support from MerSETA (Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services), which has enabled the development of a comprehensive skills programme focused on sustainable energy and eco-vehicle technology.

In 2020, MerSETA's funding allowed Kovsie ACT to create a detailed skills initiative culminating in the exciting 2021 eco-vehicle race. Over nine months, 150 students received extensive training in eco-vehicle technology. This programme provided students with both theoretical knowledge and practical experience, preparing them not only for the competition but also for real-world applications of sustainable energy solutions.

Dr WP Wahl, Director of Student Life, emphasises the value of this initiative, saying, “This effort provides students with a set of skills that will help position them in the labour market. They are equipped with basic knowledge and abilities in sustainable energy, enabling them not only to compete in the eco-vehicle race but also to comprehend the inner workings of the vehicle.”

CUT Team 4: Overall winner of Kovsie ACT’s Eco-Vehicle Race 2024

According to Teddy Sibiya from the Kovsie ACT office, this year's Eco-Vehicle Skills Programme saw remarkable participation and achievements. A total of 148 students - 118 from the UFS and 30 from the Central University of Technology (CUT) - completed the programme successfully. Additionally, 10 engineering mediators completed the Mediated Learning Experience course, providing mentorship essential to the students.

In the 2024 Kovsie ACT Eco-Vehicle Race, CUT Team 4 emerged as the overall winner. Kovsie Q secured second place and East College took third place. North College won the Spirit Cup and was announced as the pitstop winner alongside East College.

In the Obstacle Race, which tested teams' control over their cars through various challenges, CUT Team 4 claimed the winning title. They also came in first place in the Endurance Race, where the objective was to complete as many laps as possible using the least amount of energy in 45 minutes.

The race took place at the UFS’s Bloemfontein Campus on Akademie Avenue, next to the George du Toit Administration Building, with spectators watching from the Red Square parking area.

Eco-Vehicle Sustainable Skills Programme 2.0 introduced

Sibiya announced the next phase of the journey - the Eco-Vehicle Sustainable Skills Programme 2.0. “With continued support from MerSETA, we have expanded our partnerships to include Nelson Mandela University and will continue to involve students from the Central University of Technology.”

“In the next phase, the focus is on developing a new eco-vehicle prototype and creating an advanced skills programme around it,” adds Sibiya. “We aim to debut and race this new eco-vehicle by 2025, continuing our commitment to innovation and sustainable energy education.”

Dr Wahl elaborates, “Students will be taught the same skills, but the learning experience will be deepened. The skills programme consists of five cycles. In cycle one, the students build a race car on a small scale that includes a charging station and a small solar panel. In cycle two, students learn to programme the small-scale racing car from their cell phones or laptops. In cycles three and four, they build the larger race cars with battery packs and solar panels. All of these come together in cycle five during the Eco-Vehicle race when the energy conservation of the cars is tested.

Support from sponsors

Several sponsors were involved in this year’s Eco-Vehicle Race. OFS Fire supported the race with equipment and certified training for all the participating students. Several of the teams also secured sponsorships: East College from Deluxe Grills, South Campus from SA Truck Bodies, West College from Mpeki Tsh Trading and Project, and the CUT Teams from the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE). Haval also exhibited a car at the event.

News Archive

A real indaba it was

2010-09-07

Pictured from the left, are: Prof. Dennis Francis (Dean), Prof. Rita Niemann (Director: Postgraduate Studies and Research) and Prof. Rob Pattman (Keynote speaker: UKZN).

No expert panels! No rubrics! Only a fair measure of healthy anxiety that goes with public speaking!

These features describe the meeting that staff members from the Faculty of Education recently had at Indaba Lodge on the banks of the Modder River. The purpose of this get-together was to create a time and space where staff members could not only celebrate their own research efforts, but also acknowledge, support and validate one another’s work.

The day kicked off with the dean’s research vision for the faculty. Thereafter seven staff members doing their Ph.D.s were introduced. Their presentations were followed by inputs from the guest speaker, Prof. Rob Pattman from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). He congratulated the presenters on their cutting-edge research, their eloquence and the manner in which they managed to communicate complex matters in simple ways. Ideas he shared from his own research on social identities and critical agency (with a focus on gender and race) served to affirm the relevance of the topics presented by the Ph.D. candidates in transforming the education system as well as the South African society as a whole.

A festive lunch, in honour of retiring Prof. Johan van Staden, brought an affective dimension to the Indaba in the form of heart-felt goodbye messages from colleagues who had shared his academic life for more than 20 years.

After lunch five master’s students had the opportunity to share their research in the form of poster presentations. A lively interest among participants and critical, but constructive questions characterised this session. A potpourri session followed, comprising work in progress, completed surveys, research awards and innovative research methods.

The wrap-up by Prof. Dennis in no uncertain terms affirmed that researchers in the Faculty of Education not only crossed the Modder River, but also the proverbial Rubicon on 21 August. It was envisaged that henceforth:
- Supervision will take on a collaborative character.
- Soon a research forum for Ph.D. students and their supervisors will be established where these students and supervisors can start practising their agency.
- Instead of relying on outside experts who come and “tell” faculty staff members what to do, insiders should start building their own vibrant research-based practices by forming reading groups to discuss seminal works (e.g. Foucault and Freire) and research methodologies (e.g. Burke’s Pentad).

The Indaba was aptly concluded by one of the participants who, on behalf of all attendees, thanked and congratulated the dean on the initiative to give impetus to research. Analogous to the 2010 slogan, Feel it, it is here!, he said: “I feel so inspired and empowered, I can almost taste it!”

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