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UFS to offer agricultural engineering, as well as Africa’s first postgraduate ecological engineering sciences degrees

01 September 2025 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Supplied

For the first time, the University of the Free State (UFS) will be offering a full four-year engineering degree. From 2026, the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences will present the Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, alongside new PhD and MSc degrees in Ecological and Nature-based Engineering Sciences – the first postgraduate qualifications of their kind on the African continent. Together, these programmes strengthen the university’s role in addressing some of the world’s most pressing and complex sustainability challenges.

Louis Lagrange, BEng Project Manager, describes the new undergraduate degree as a milestone for the university: “It will be the first full engineering degree presented by the UFS, and it directly targets the pressing water–food–energy nexus. It combines hard-core engineering and precision farming digital skills with the living world of biosystems to develop regenerative and environmentally sustainable food production systems.”

The BEng degree is endorsed by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) and approved by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). It is designed to prepare students for the full agricultural engineering design process – from identifying and evaluating challenges, to designing, implementing, and testing sustainable solutions. Students will also be able to specialise through electives in animal production, horticulture, or open land crop production.

Lagrange explains that the programme offers students hands-on engagement from the start. “They will gain experience in agricultural mechanisations such as drones and GIS, water and irrigation systems, soil and environmental stewardship, renewable energy including solar and biofuels, precision agriculture, data-driven smart farming, and food processing.”

BEng graduates will be well positioned for diverse careers, ranging from agricultural/biosystems engineer, irrigation and water resource engineer, smart farming specialist, and food processing engineer to roles in mechanisation, soil conservation, animal husbandry, and energy conversion. Employers include agribusinesses, consulting engineers, environmental firms, government agencies, and research organisations.

According to Dr Jacques Maritz, Head of Engineering Sciences, “Our BSc, MSc, and PhD graduates will be uniquely positioned as ecological engineering scientists who can also branch out to advanced sustainability analysts, computational sustainability professionals, or nature-based complexity scientists who will have the future-proof skill of solving complex sustainability challenges in interdisciplinary teams by using some of the most advanced technology. On the horizon – an NQF 8 postgraduate diploma (PGDip) in Ecological and Nature-based Engineering Sciences to academically link undergraduate students to postgraduate studies.”

Postgraduate degrees: advancing ecological engineering

Alongside this undergraduate development and the existing BSc specialising in Physics with Engineering Subjects, the UFS is also introducing new postgraduate degrees in Ecological and Nature-based Engineering Sciences. “These are the first qualifications of their kind on the African continent and are endorsed by the International Ecological Engineering Society (IEES) and the Ecological Engineering Institute of Africa (EEIA),” explains Dr Maritz.

Dr Maritz explains: “Ecological engineering applies ecological and complexity science principles to design and restore sustainable ecosystems that integrate human society with the natural environment. These programmes will also strengthen work-integrated learning at the UFS, preparing graduates to address climate resilience, scientifically led biodiversity restoration, pollution remediation through data-driven interventions, and sustainable complex systems development.”

The postgraduate programmes are linked to the UFS’ growing research agenda, which includes plans for a biomass production facility at the UFS Industrial Park to advance scientific circular economy solutions, sustainable energy, and bio-inspired technologies. They also engage with cutting-edge fields such as extreme ecological engineering – creating new ecological functionality in severely degraded environments – and industrial ecological engineering, which reimagines the built environment through green construction materials, circular economy practices, and innovations such as 3D-printed green concrete.

Both Lagrange and Dr Maritz emphasise that these qualifications reflect the UFS’ Vision 130 commitment to being research-led, student-centred, and regionally engaged. They agree that the new programmes are ideally suited for students who want to combine engineering, science, and nature with emerging technologies, while pursuing careers that make a real impact on sustainability in South Africa and beyond.

News Archive

“To forgive is not an obligation. It’s a choice.” – Prof Minow during Reconciliation Lecture

2014-03-05

“To forgive is not an obligation. It’s a choice.” – Prof Minow during the Third Annual Reconciliation Lecture entitled Forgiveness, Law and Justice.
Photo: Johan Roux

No one could have anticipated the atmosphere in which Prof Martha Minow would visit the Bloemfontein Campus. And no one could have predicted how apt the timing of her message would be. As this formidable Dean of Harvard University’s Law School stepped behind the podium, a latent tension edged through the crowded audience.

“The issue of getting along after conflict is urgent.”

With these few words, Prof Minow exposed the essence of not only her lecture, but also the central concern of the entire university community.

As an expert on issues surrounding racial justice, Prof Minow has worked across the globe in post-conflict societies. How can we prevent atrocities from happening? she asked. Her answer was an honest, “I don’t know.” What she is certain of, on the other hand, is that the usual practice of either silence or retribution does not work. “I think that silence produces rage – understandably – and retribution produces the cycle of violence. Rather than ignoring what happens, rather than retribution, it would be good to reach for something more.” This is where reconciliation comes in.

Prof Minow put forward the idea that forgiveness should accompany reconciliation efforts. She defined forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to forego rightful grounds of resentment towards those who have committed a wrong. “To forgive then, in this definition, is not an obligation. It’s a choice. And it’s held by the one who was harmed,” she explained.

Letting go of resentment cannot be forced – not even by the law. What the law can do, though, is either to encourage or discourage forgiveness. Prof Minow showed how the law can construct adversarial processes that render forgiveness less likely, when indeed its intention was the opposite. “Or, law can give people chances to meet together in spaces where they may apologise and they may forgive,” she continued. This point introduced some surprising revelations about our Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Indeed, studies do report ambivalence, disappointment and mixed views about the TRC. Whatever our views are on its success, Prof Minow reported that people across the world wonder how South African did it. “It may not work entirely inside the country; outside the country it’s had a huge effect. It’s a touchstone for transitional justice.”

The TRC “seems to have coincided with, and maybe contributed to, the relatively peaceful political transition to democracy that is, frankly, an absolute miracle.” What came as a surprise to many is this: the fact that the TRC has affected transitional justice efforts in forty jurisdictions, including Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Cambodia and Liberia. It has even inspired the creation of a TRC in Greensborough, North Carolina, in the United States.

There are no blueprints for solving conflict, though. “But the possibility of something other than criminal trials, something other than war, something other than silence – that’s why the TRC, I think, has been such an exemplar to the world,” she commended.

Court decision cannot rebuild a society, though. Only individuals can forgive. Only individuals can start with purposeful, daily decisions to forgive and forge a common future. Forgiveness is rather like kindness, she suggested. It’s a resource without limits. It’s not scarce like water or money. It’s within our reach. But if it’s forced, it’s not forgiveness.

“It is good,” Prof Minow warned, “to be cautious about the use of law to deliberately shape or manipulate the feelings of any individual. But it is no less important to admit that law does affect human beings, not just in its results, but in its process.” And then we must take responsibility for how we use that law.

“A government can judge, but only people can forgive.” As Prof Minow’s words lingered, the air suddenly seemed a bit more buoyant.

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