Engineering students’ rural healthcare solution recognised at SAIIE competition

A healthcare transport solution designed to deliver medical services to remote communities has earned two students from the North-West University (NWU) national recognition in a leading engineering competition.

The winners of the 2025 South African Institute for Industrial Engineering (SAIIE) Student Competition were announced on 5…

Professor honoured as International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering

North-West University (NWU) extraordinary professor Linda Godfrey has been elected as an International Fellow of the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) in the United Kingdom.

This is the second key role she has had within the ambit of the RAEng. For the past four years, Prof Godfrey has served on the Board of the Academy’s…

South Africa’s local power play

South Africa’s municipalities are rediscovering an old habit: generating their own electricity. In a country long dominated by Eskom, the lumbering state utility, the city of eThekwini has announced an ambitious strategy to reduce its reliance on the national grid by 40% by 2030. With Eskom’s ageing infrastructure,…

NWU School of Mines and Mining Engineering set for future success

The North West province of South Africa sits on a bedrock of riches. From platinum to chrome, vanadium to gold, the region is among the most mineral-endowed in the world. Yet its communities remain scarred by poverty and unemployment, relics of a resource economy too often divorced from local benefit. For a province…

Alumnus Andries van Heerden leads Afrimat in mining and industrial expansion

North-West University (NWU) alumnus Andries van Heerden is the chief executive officer of Afrimat Limited, a JSE-listed company that supplies iron ore, anthracite, phosphate, construction materials and industrial minerals across Southern Africa.

“I started as a first-year mechanical engineering student in Potchefstroom in 1984,” he…

Our vision for mining innovation gains ground in Latin America

On 10 June 2025, Prof Mzubanzi Bismark Tyobeka, principal and vice-chancellor of the North-West University (NWU), led a senior academic delegation on a strategic two-week mission to Brazil and Peru. The objective: to deepen global partnerships in higher education and research.

Representing the NWU’s Faculty of Engineering, Prof Kapil…

North- West University professor joins Palladium Global Science Award jury

North-West University (NWU) is playing an important role in the newly launched Palladium Global Science Award, a major international initiative recognizing research in advanced palladium-based materials. With a substantial prize fund of $350,000, the award supports innovation in one of the most critical fields of materials science.

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NWU engineering students get creative

The annual Beer and Cheese Day, hosted by the School of Chemical and Minerals Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of the North-West University (NWU), is more than just a social gathering – it is a way to ignite the students’ creativity and entrepreneurial spirits.

During this project, fourth-year biotechnology students brew and…

How a primary school hallway led to a PhD in engineering

Refilwe Ngwaku hails from the humble dusty streets of Soweto, where she believes that there are few role models. From a young age, her dream was to be different, to become the change she wanted to see. Her goal was to show that success can come from any background.

Refilwe can still picture the school corridor where, as a primary school…

STEM MentHER: Inspiring the next generation of women in engineering

“It is the power of a girl with a book that is the best weapon for progress ... Because with educated women comes prosperity.”- Deborah Rodriguez.

The North-West University (NWU) has officially joined the growing national STEM MentHER initiative, a mentorship-driven programme aimed at empowering young women to pursue careers in science…