The will to win, the desire to succeed and the urge to reach your full potential. These are three keys to unlock the door to personal excellence – and three Loerie awards.

Staff and students at the North-West University's (NWU’s) Engineering Faculty are in the process of giving the traditional way of manufacturing products a huge blow. They are now using their wide variety of world class three-dimensional printers.

Normal heart rates range from 60 to 100 beats per minute. Anything above that means blood is racing at an alarming speed through your veins. One person whose blood is pumping with passion in the fight against a deadly health condition, hypertension, is Prof Alta Schutte.

In the light of political and economic developments in South Africa in recent years, the further slippage from 62 to 67 out of 140 countries in the country's overall global competitiveness ranking is not unexpected. 

“The trophy came home!”

After four long years of blood, sweat and tears, Dr Corrie Cloete not only walked away with a PhD from the North-West University (NWU), but also a South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) Top Achievers Award.

With his glass of white wine and ice in his hand, his eyes sparkling with life, he sometimes interrupts himself to share one of his hundreds of stories (with all the facts, dates and names) at the North-West University (NWU).

With the help of Timothy Qumbu, the “princesses” of the Springbok women’s rugby team may soon become the “queens” of the game.

His list of accolades continues to grow. Prof Klaus Kellner has been appointed as a member to serve on the National Coordination Body for the United Nations’ Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in South Africa.

The appointment of Tito Mboweni as new Finance Minister is a confidence-building and reassuring step for the economy.