The Geekulcha student chapter on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus recently participated in the annual Geekulcha Hackathon at UNISA’s Pretoria Campus, and two teams – Code Blooded and What’s next – made it into the top 10.

The annual hackathon challenges developers, digital practitioners, data enthusiasts, economic policymakers, and others to create solutions that help Africa to define and live up to the next African Digital Narrative and make people’s lives easier through technology.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and Centre for Teaching and Learning recently hosted two workshops on artificial intelligence (AI) and podcasting in teaching and learning on the Vanderbijlpark Campus.

The workshops were led by international guests Donald and Callum Clark.

Prof Klaus Kellner from the North-West University (NWU) was recently appointed by the Director General of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) to serve on the Project Steering Committee (PSC) of the 7th Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funded project.

The GEF-funded project falls within the Land Degradation focal area and is titled “Mainstreaming sustainable land management (SLM) for large-scale impact in grazing lands of the Limpopo and Northern Cape provinces in South Africa”.

The Faculty of Health Sciences at the North-West University (NWU) is proud to share another achievement: Dr Ilzé Engelbrecht, a postdoctoral fellow at the Occupational Hygiene and Health Research Initiative (OHHRI), was awarded the Best Poster Award at a recent postdoctoral conference hosted by Stellenbosch University.

In celebration of Arbor Week*, the North-West University's (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus took a bold step toward transforming its surroundings and championing sustainability.

On 10 October 2023, under the leadership of Prof Sonia Swanepoel, the deputy vice-chancellor for community engagement and Mahikeng Campus operations, the university community came together to create lush and environmentally friendly spaces through a tree-planting initiative.

Protecting surface and groundwater from mining activities is crucial to safeguard ecosystems, public health and sustainable water resources. That is why the Centre for Water Science and Management (CWSM) at the North-West University (NWU) and its specialised team of researchers are doing invaluable work in protecting an indispensable resource.

The CWSM is focused on contract research, mostly in the mining industry, with their largest completed mining-related project being the modelling of the entire East Rand basin. This was done in conjunction with the German company DMT.

One has adorned billboards from Cape Town to the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU), the other is a bit more inconspicuous. But there is no denying the impact made by Elmeré van den Berg and Jarred Elliot in their respective sporting codes of netball and badminton during 2023.

Very few eyebrows lifted on Wednesday, 4 October when Vernon Paulo, the NWU’s ace hooker, was crowned as the Player of the Year by the NWU Rugby Institute.

Paulo was rewarded with the Johan Claassen Trophy for his outstanding play in the Varsity Cup, and was exceptional throughout the series. Not only did he score the most tries in the competition – definitely a rare occurrence for a tight forward – but his work ethic and leadership were also some of the main features in the course of the competition.

On 7 October 2023 the North-West University (NWU) hosted the final of the NWU Mahikeng Schools Soccer Championship at the Soccer Institute.

This initiative was born from the vision of educators and coaches from secondary schools in the Mahikeng district to have an annual soccer tournament to foster camaraderie, sportsmanship and healthy competition among learners. Their goal was to establish a prestigious yearly tournament for secondary schools aspiring to be crowned the annual champion.

“The productions and fun of the past week in Potchefstroom are proof that Aardklop is back with a vengeance.”

These words of Prof Daryl Balia, chairperson of the Aardklop board and the deputy vice-chancellor for information technology and Potchefstroom Campus operations at the North-West University (NWU), are echoed by Alexa Strachan, chief executive officer of Momentum Investments Aardklop 2023 National Arts Festival, who says that the festival undoubtedly enriched the lives of attendees.