Potchefstroom Campus News

Special moment for dean as daughter graduates in programme she championed

Twelve years ago, Prof. Liezl van Dyk, executive dean of the Faculty of Engineering, came to the North-West University (NWU) on a mission: to play a central role in developing industrial engineering as an impactful discipline at the university. Her daughter, Karla, was 10 years old at the time. Now, on 31 March this year, Prof. van Dyk experienced the fruits of her labour first-hand when Karla graduated as an industrial engineer.

“It is a full-circle moment that highlights the impact of academic leadership and the inspiration it offers to future generations of women in engineering… Read more

NWU hosts the first ever Agri-Career Fair for Soil Science

By Oldrin Masowa

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Agricultural Sciences hosted its first ever Agri-Career fair on 19 October on the Potchefstroom Campus.

During the event, final-year students presented the findings of their soil science research and had the opportunity to network with the…

NWU School of Music honours students at Bursary Winners’ concert

By Oldrin Masowa

Where words fail to deliver the message, music becomes the answer. The North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Music hosted its annual Bursary Winners’ concert to recognise and honour its students for their achievements on 25 October.

Bursaries were awarded to both undergraduate and…

NWU academic receives prestigious international fellowship

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s selection committee has recently awarded Dr Brews Soyapi, a senior lecturer at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Law, a Georg Forster Research Fellowship for postdoctoral research.

 

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants research fellowships to scientists and…

Jo-Ané and Alan are the athletics pride of the NWU

She is the current, defending and undisputed javelin champion of the North-West University (NWU), and Jo-Ané van Dyk was recently crowned the Potchefstroom Campus Sportswoman of the Year again. This excellent javelin thrower showed her steel on the international stage once more in 2022 when she represented South Africa at the African Games, the…

NWU's Intelligent Systems Research Group is developing intelligence to solve transportation problems

Computers are becoming essential in modern society with a tremendous influence on how humans create and solve problems. The North-West University's (NWU’s) Intelligent Systems research group is on a mission to develop next-generation solutions that will help solve transportation problems using technology.

Within the School of Electrical…

Hospital knocks on NWU’s door for better care for breast cancer patients

Researchers of the North-West University (NWU) regularly work in communities to improve lives and find solutions to pressing issues. In the fight against breast cancer, a hospital in Potchefstroom has called on the expertise of the Medicine Usage in South Africa (MUSA) research entity in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Prof Johanita…

Municipalities must acknowledge the importance of waste pickers

More than 100 000 people in South Africa have turned to the waste-picking sector as a source of employment. This is according to Nonhlanhla Ngcobo, a PhD student and a researcher at the South African Chair in Cities, Law and Environmental Sustainability in the Faculty of Law at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Potchefstroom Campus.

“…

On the quest to save our freshwater sources

South Africa’s freshwater sources are under pressure from various kinds of contaminants, and North-West University (NWU) researchers are searching for ways to keep track of some of the more elusive pollutants.

Prof Rialet Pieters, a researcher in the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, is an ecotoxicologist whose interests…

NWU makes a clean sweep at international parasitology congress

Parasites may be viewed by many as pesky organisms,but understanding them and their impact on ecological systems is crucial in nature studies. The researchers and students at the North-West University (NWU) excel as experts in this field.

The NWU made history during the recent International Congress of Parasites of Wildlife by not only…

NWU experts share their journeys with breast cancer

It is the diagnosis dreaded by most: cancer. Two professors at the North-West University (NWU) who were both affected in different ways by this life-threatening disease, say the emotional toll it takes can be just as detrimental as the physical havoc it causes. They offer expert advice on how to deal with it when cancer becomes a personal…