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18 November 2024
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Story Jacques Maritz
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Photo Supplied
Muhammad Cassim, a second-year student in the Department of Engineering Sciences in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.
Muhammad Cassim, a second-year student in the Department of Engineering Sciences in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State, will participate in the winter university project in Pskov, Russia, from 25 November to 9 December 2024.
The winter school aims to strengthen relationships among young engineers and deepen international interaction via skills improvement, joint projects, and social cohesion. The programme boasts a densely packed education block, project block, and cultural block.
Cassim is part of the UFS Grid Related Research Group and actively participates in research centred on complexity science. He intends to complete his BSc Physics degree with Engineering subjects and progress towards postgraduate studies in the UFS Department of Physics.
He is currently working on verifying experimental developments in the field of synchronisation in complex networks. While he has already completed this high-performance computing training in his first year under the leadership of Albert van Eck (Director, UFS E-research), he is looking forward to the masterclasses in holographic modelling, deep learning, direct laser deposition, and database. Closely resembling his current research, he will have the opportunity to gain more experience in the use of set theory and graph theory in solving digital information processing problems.
For more information about international scholarships for study abroad opportunities, contact Mbali Moiketsi in the Office for International Affairs.
Cassim’s student profile is the culmination of the department’s strategy to produce young applied scientists who are subjected to the culture of research during their undergraduate study and could articulate with ease to other departments for postgraduate studies. The department aims to align with the UFS’ Vision 130 by producing competitive students who can operate in the postgraduate paradigm with the digital themes of veterinary science and ecological engineering science.
University recognised as leading Higher Education Institution for students with disabilities
2013-12-05
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The University of the Free State has been lauded for creating an inclusive environment for persons with disabilities, winning the 2013 National Disability Higher Education Institution Award. The award was presented at the National Disabilities Awards held in Port Elizabeth as part of the celebrations for International Day of People with Disabilities.
The Deputy Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Hendrietta Ipeleng Bogopane-Zulu, commended the university during the event for standing out among South African institutes of higher education. She told the audience the award gives recognition to institutions that demonstrate, through their strategy and policy, the provision of an inclusive environment for persons with disabilities. This is done through the use of technology and accessibility at their premises.
It's not the first time the university received praise from the deputy minister. In 2012 she visited the Bloemfontein Campus as part of a nation-wide roadshow to assess disability compliance and support services at all universities and FET colleges. Impressed with the work of the Unit for Students with Disabilities (USD), she recommended that staff from various higher education institutions visit the campus to gain insight into what they are doing.
Receiving the award on behalf of the university, Hetsie Veitch, Director of the USD, says the award recognises the commitment of the university’s senior leadership, who support the USD in creating a learning environment that is welcoming and accessible to all students.
Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs, says the university is appreciative of what the USD does and says the award is a great achievement for a unit that only started functioning on its own three years ago. “The role of our support unit for Students with Disabilities has since 2010 grown to hold not only a prominent place in our institutional reflection on and implementation of approaches of universal access, but also to stand as leading department in building and bearing witness to the commitment of the UFS to values of universal access.”