Stellenbosch University (SU) has entered a high-profile collaboration with Imperial, one of the top logistics service providers in Africa. “The initiative creates wonderful opportunities for staff and student research to have large-scale and real-world impact,” says Prof. Sara Grobbelaar, an associate professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering. Imperial has committed to a significant investment…

[Article by Wiida Fourie-Basson] Engineers and scientists from Stellenbosch University have developed a visualisation tool that can automatically localise and quantify specific cellular processes such as mitochondrial fission and fusion – and that in three-dimensional space and time. Mitochondria are organelles that generate most of the chemical energy needed to power the cell’s biochemical reactions.…

[Article by Chris Jurgens] Due to the pandemic, the 2020 Greenovate Awards competition had to be postponed to the start of this year and, for the first time, the competition was also presented in an online/virtual format. This presented several challenges to ensure smooth student-mentor communication and judging processes, but in the end, the competition…

[Article by Nane Zietsman] Throughout the years, Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Engineering has committed to align with the overarching strategic institutional objectives of the University, specifically the diversification of their student body. Currently, the Faculty is doing well in terms of the recruitment of so-called Coloured, Black African, Indian and Asian (CBIA) students. The Department…

Author: Corporate Communication and Marketing/Korporatiewe Kommunikasie en Bemarking [Rozanne Engel] After being awarded the Stellenbosch University (SU) Teaching Fellowship for the period 2021 to 2023, Prof Debby Blaine says that she hopes her research project will create a space for young people to speak, so that their voices are heard and something better is created for…

[Article by Dr Alec Basson: Corporate Communication & Marketing] Wheat straw and mango peels that are normally disposed of in landfills or used as manure and animal feed could potentially be used in the development of renewable, biodegradable and non-toxic active (the ability to respond to temperature and time changes in food storage) food packaging…

(Article by Nane Zietsman) Being in the prime of your life amidst a pandemic is far from the fantasy versions of the matric experience one has dreaming of for more than a decade. Faced with a hard lockdown, the closing of schools and adjusting to online learning, the class of 2020 wrote their final exams…

(Article written by Dr Alec Basson) We still rely heavily on coal to generate electricity, but with an ageing fleet of coal-fired power plants we should perhaps start to tap into our abundant offshore wind energy resources to help address future electricity shortages. “If we were to install wind turbines at different depths off the…

[Article by Daniel Bugon] The Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering’s research efforts to evaluate the impacts of digital twins and machine learning on the efficiency and safety of the SA Agulhas II and her operations are starting to bear fruit. This is according to Prof Annie Bekker, who leads a research programme − the…

[Article by Nane Zietsman] The Fourth Industrial Revolution has been a widespread topic amongst all stakeholders of the global polity, from the private and public sectors to civil society and academia. As with any rising phenomena, new data are presented on a daily basis with many gaps still left to be filled. Dale Sparrow, Stellenbosch…