The North-West University (NWU) attended the recent launch of a new initiative to promote digital health innovation in Africa. This initiative aligns with the strategies of the WHO and national governments across the world in promoting universal access to quality, affordable healthcare to all people.

The North-West University (NWU) is the best choice among local universities for studies in the field of engineering. The latest subjects ranking by Times Higher Education (THE) places the NWU at the top of the ladder in this field, and highlights the NWU’s other quality subject offerings.

According to THE’s World University Rankings by Subject for 2023, the NWU is first among local institutions in engineering, moving up from third position last year. It places the NWU in the 401 to 500 category globally.

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.

The South African Institute of Industrial Engineers (SAIIE) held its first annual student competition this year, and two students from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Engineering walked away with the spoils.

The competition was open to all tertiary students in industrial engineering who are members of the SAIIE. Nine entries were submitted, and the top three teams presented their solution to a panel of SAIIE members.

Renewable energy constitutes an increasingly important part of our country’s energy package while we move away from fossil fuels. This, together with an attitude of becoming more environmentally friendly, means that renewable energy like solar and wind power will definitely continue to play a bigger role in power generation.  

That is why the North-West University’s Faculty of Engineering presented a five-day short learning course from 3 to 7 October, which was facilitated by the NWU’s Unit for Continuing Education.

Naledi 2.0, the North-West University’s (NWU’s) solar car won the Structural Design Award presented by Euro Steel during this year’s 2022 Sasol Solar Challenge. 

The challenge took place from 9 to 16 September, covering an estimated distance of 2 500 km from Johannesburg to the finish line in Cape Town. 

As with all endeavours earmarked to better society and to save that which is precious, it starts with innovation in renewable energy, and the Sasol Solar Challenge promotes this. The key word is “challenge”, and the Engineering team at the North-West University (NWU) has proven itself time and again to be up to the task. 

Prof Febe De Wet, an associate professor in the School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering at the North-West University (NWU), has more than three decades of experience in her field, and her passion is the driving force in making a meaningful contribution to her industry.

She is working on several projects that deal with speech technology and language resources for native South African languages Her current project involves localising Mozilla Firefox's Common Voice platform for the 11 official languages recognised in the South African Constitution.

Our world is speeding up, and never in human existence have we been able to search as fast, travel as far or delve as deep. The last century alone has seen a meteoric increase in the accumulation of data and we are able to store unfathomable quantities of information to help us solve problems known and unknown. At some point the ability to optimally utilise these vast amounts of data will be beyond our reach, but not beyond that of the tools we have made.

Over the past few years, there were not nearly enough school-leaving applicants who met the minimum requirements for tertiary fields of study such as Engineering, Natural Sciences, Economic Sciences and Health Sciences. This is according to Elza Hattingh from the Faculty of Engineering at the North-West University (NWU). She heads the faculty’s Xcel programme – an initiative that offers a second chance to students who want to improve their previous Grade 12 Senior Certificate exam results in Mathematics and Physical Sciences.