The 2022 summit of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations (WAITRO) is underway at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West.

The event is jointly hosted by the North-West University (NWU) and Stellenbosch University, and brings together key research and innovation stakeholders from across the world. The WAITRO 2022 summit is inspired by Sustainable Development Goal 17 of the United Nations, titled Partnership for the Goals.

The NWU is WAITRO’s regional focal point in Africa.

Walking across the stage to receive his PhD in operational research was surreal for Piet Ntema.

The North-West University (NWU) statistics lecturer received his degree at a recent graduation ceremony on the Vanderbijlpark Campus.

Piet and his five siblings were raised in poverty by a widowed mother who was a domestic worker. However, they persevered and today all but one of them are graduates, with his older brother Lejone Ntema being a university professor. “The hardships I experienced while growing up gave me the resilience to earn a PhD eventually,” says Piet.

It takes a team of specialists to ensure that the bright ideas, groundbreaking innovations and impressive intellectual property of the North-West University (NWU) stay ahead of the pack in an increasingly competitive environment.

Recognising the expertise at the NWU, a delegation from Malawi visited the university’s Technology Transfer and Innovation Support (TTIS) Office from 2 to 4 November with the aim of establishing a similar office in their country – the first for Malawi.

The North-West University (NWU) recently hosted the second International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL) on the Potchefstroom Campus.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic prevented the holding of the conference in 2021, many sighed with relief when things returned to normal and restrictions were eased.

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.

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.

The advent of social media has had a huge effect on teaching and learning, but relatively little is known about the pros and cons of using social media in the classroom.

This is according to Dr Thamie Ndlovu, an educational technologist at the North-West University (NWU), whose PhD study investigated the use of social media as a tool for teaching and learning in higher education.

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.

“The slow economic growth rate in South Africa does not bring hope to the 31% of people currently unemployed, especially those with very low levels of education and skills,” she says.

One of the most challenging anxieties of the 21st century is safeguarding food security for the world’s exponential growing population, as stipulated by goal 2 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to projections, the global food demand is expected to rise between 60 to 98% by 2050, with a population of more than 9 billion.

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 lie in organic chemical pollutants and their harmful effects on humans and wildlife.