By Vukosi Mathale

On Thursday, 16 April 2023, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the Super Pressure Balloon, carrying the Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT), from Wanaka, New Zealand. The SuperBIT operates in the stratosphere at an altitude of 40 kilometres above sea level.

Prof Jan de Kock from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Engineering clinched the Best Paper Award at the recent Southern African Universities Power Engineering Conference (SAUPEC 2024).

The conference, jointly hosted by Stellenbosch University and the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE), serves as a premier regional platform bringing together industry experts, academics and students in the fields of engineering, computer science, and information technology.

North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Olubukola Oluranti Babalola has been awarded an honourary fellowship by the International Science Council in Paris, France.

This fellowship is the highest accolade the ISC can bestow on an individual, and acknowledges their exceptional efforts in advancing science as a global public good.

The ISC is a non-governmental organisation with a unique global membership that brings together more than 245 international scientific unions and associations, including academies, research councils, federations and societies.

As was expected, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously decided at a fourth consecutive meeting on 25 January (its first meeting of 2024) to again keep interest rates unchanged and therefore higher for longer.

Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the North-West University (NWU) Business School, says the tone of the MPC’s statement remained highly cautious, as it did not see the battle against inflation as yet having been permanently won.

On Monday, 18 December 2023 the North-West University (NWU) and the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) engaged in a discussion aimed at promoting collaboration and fostering a relationship that will benefit both parties.

The meeting took place at the office of the of the vice-chancellor in Building F1 on the Potchefstroom Campus, with both parties agreeing on a commitment to signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a pre-agreed basis in February 2024.

“Take a break, please!” shouts coach Riaan Venter to the players under his direct supervision on the court at the Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds. It is mid-January, a month and a bit removed from the triumph of the North-West University (NWU) Eagles at the University Sports South Africa (USSA) tennis tournament in Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown.

Kurt Naicker CA(SA), a senior lecturer at the North-West University’s (NWU)’s School of Accounting Sciences, recently published an article in the asa (Accountancy South Africa) magazine titled "Impact of the 4IR on academia", highlighting the challenges and opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

In a remarkable display of prowess in the realm of cybersecurity, the B1str0m4th team from the North-West University (NWU) emerged victorious at the seventh annual Cyber Security Challenge (CSC) competition.

Hosted by the South African National Research Network (SANReN), the event took place during the Centre for High-Performance Computing (CHPC) National Meeting in December 2023.

Southern African society continues to face a multitude of challenges. High levels of poverty and unemployment, inadequate infrastructure and electricity supply, crime and rising levels of corruption, and the various legacies of colonialism and apartheid all add to the toxic mix threatening lives and livelihoods.

To counter this, the southern African region depends on well-functioning and just legal systems to find socially just responses to these obstacles.