“The Faculty of Engineering is honoured to be associated with you,” August Engelbrecht said to an audience of 300 people during a very special event on 17 March 2018. “Today we acknowledge school principals, their management teams, parents and learners for their outstanding academic results in the 2017 Matric examinations.” During the function, certificates of recognition were handed over to 49 schools on the Western Cape Education Department’s merit list. “Significant numbers of learners from these schools come to study at Stellenbosch University (SU), and particularly at the Faculty of Engineering,” added Mr Engelbrecht who is responsible for student recruitment and retention at the Faculty of Engineering. Schools were represented by principals or their deputies, as well as the schools’ top Matrics and their parents. In his address, the Dean of the Faculty, Prof Wikus van Niekerk, said: “Engineers make dreams come true! We believe we make a huge impact in society, by improving quality of life for instance by providing electricity and clean water.” He encouraged learners to consider Stellenbosch Engineering as their first choice of study in 2019. “Why study at SU Engineering?” he asked them. He then provided a few solid reasons: 1. The Faculty’s has an excellent reputation. It is the only SA engineering faculty that received ECSA accreditation the past ten years with no deficiencies; 2. The Faculty has a high success rate: 72% of first-years do graduate with a BEng degree; 3. There is a common first-year programme which provides some exposure to all disciplines. This allows students one year to decide which discipline they are really interested in. If their performance is satisfactory, they can switch to another programme in their second year if they wish to do so; 4. The Faculty has an excellent research programme which is strongly supported by industry; 5. Residence life in Matieland is phenomenal, and solid mentorship programmes exist in residences and the Faculty. 6. The Faculty of Engineering offers great support to its students. Apart from two personnel members dedicated to looking after the interests of students, there are also two part-time educational psychologists who assist engineering students with academic and personal challenges. The Faculty has a well-established tutor programme where senior students assist groups of first-years who grapple with technical modules. The audience also heard that 72 of the current 780 first-year Matie engineering students obtained an average of 90% or more in Matric. “Some of the trust that SU has placed in the Faculty of Engineering is the fact that close on one billion Rand is being spent on the refurbishment of the Engineering building complex. If you come to this Faculty, you will become part of a dynamic, growing faculty,” the Dean added to strengthen his argument why learners should choose Stellenbosch Engineering for their studies. The Faculty then played its trump card and introduced and honoured Janke van Dyk. Janke, who hails from Bellville High School, was the country’s top Matric in 2017 with an astounding average of 98,3%. And what is Janke doing this year? This bright young lady is studying Chemical Engineering at Stellenbosch University!
On 15 February, 2018, staff and postgraduate students from Process Monitoring and Systems (part of the Extractive Metallurgy Research Group in the Department of Process Engineering) kicked off the year with a social event: a Create Your Own Bonsai course at Bishopsford Bonsai Nursery in Constantia. Bonsai are small trees kept in ceramic pots, which attempt to convey the impression of great age and size in a miniaturised plant, through various techniques. The morning began with an overview of the artistic and horticultural basics of bonsai, including different tree designs and methods for reshaping trunks and branches, and a short discussion of plants’ need for sunlight, water and fertiliser. After a short tea break, the group had a tour of the collection of bonsai at the nursery, discussing different plant species and suitability for bonsai in the Western Cape, and admiring the hundreds of trees in the collection. After the tour, each member of the group selected a wild fig (Ficus natalensis) from the starter plants available in the nursery, and a bonsai pot from the selection of ceramic pots. Then began the process of creating their own bonsai: selecting the best viewing angle, choosing which branches to keep or to remove for visual effect, shaping branches and trunks with wire and pruning, trimming the roots and planting the tree in the chosen pot. Although several growing seasons will be needed before the small trees in pots really begin to look like bonsai, the changes from starter tree to bonsai-in-training were dramatic! Each attendee left the course with a bonsai-in-training and the care instructions to ensure that their new tree in a pot thrives and develops over the next few years.
Riccardo Swanepoel, currently a master’s student in the Department of Process Engineering, was recently honoured as one of the top final-year undergraduate students for 2016 at the Rector’s Awards, hosted on 5 October 2017. The top student from each Department in the Faculty of Engineering received an award at this event. Riccardo recently made history in the Department and Faculty. In 2016, he achieved an academic average of 94.1%; only 0.9% lower than the highest academic average ever achieved in the BEng Chemical Engineering programme. In fact, during his undergraduate career he passed 42 of his 44 modules with distinction. Riccardo is also the only person in the university’s history to receive 100% for his final-year design project, and he received 93% for his final-year project, which is the highest result in the Faculty’s history. This project was of such excellent quality that it was included in a special edition of the International Journal of Chemical Engineering Data. For these achievements, he received the Chancellor’s Medal in 2016, which is the highest honour that the SU can bestow upon a student. To learn a bit more about the modest man behind the brilliant brain, we asked him a few personal questions. Describe yourself using three words. Hard-working. Social. OCD. Why did you decide on chemical engineering? Whilst at school, I heard it was a challenging, yet rewarding, multi-disciplinary course that teaches material that can be applied in many contexts other than engineering. It also seemed quite impressive after the 2011 Engineering Winter Week. What are three things you wish you knew when you started your undergraduate degree? 1. You should sleep whenever and wherever you get the chance; 2. Firga is hygienically questionable and should be used only as a last resort; and 3. A night cap, taken with moderation, is your friend that keeps you sane. You are one of the students with the second highest academic average in the Department’s history. What advice would you give other undergraduate students? Work. Work. Work. Whilst the understanding of course material and concepts are important, there is no substitute for simply sitting down and putting in the hours to cultivate a deeper understanding. If you weren’t in chemical engineering, what career would you have chosen? I would most likely have studied Actuarial Sciences.
On 20 September 2017, Dr Laurentz Olivier presented a guest lecture on behalf of the South African Council for Automation and Control (SACAC) to students from the Departments of Process, Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Stellenbosch University. The lecture was titled “The interconnection between advanced control theory and practice”. Dr Olivier discussed a range of topics, including the basic concepts behind model-based control, before showing the results of several implementations of advanced control on the Sasol Synfuels site in Secunda. He ended the lecture by discussion future challenges, such as the extension of individual model-predictive controllers across multiple plants and units, requiring a cascade-like control structure, and the parallels between this control approach and current developments in the “Internet of Things” field. Finally, Dr Olivier gave a brief overview of SACAC’s activities, including Control Conference Africa, to be held in Johannesburg in December 2017, and encouraged the students to become involved in SACAC events. The lecture was a great success, and we wish to express our sincere appreciation to Dr Oliver for his time, as well as everyone who attended this event.
The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy’s (SAIMM) Western Cape Branch held a national conference on 3 – 4 August 2017 at Philippi Village, Cape Town. Over 100 delegates attended the conference over the two days it was held. Philippi Village, which is an entrepreneurial business centre constructed in what was a cement factory, was an appropriate place for the conference, which was aimed at providing a platform for young researchers to showcase their talent under the conference theme ‘Resourcing the Future’. Four plenary speakers gave addresses covering the importance of mineralogy in mining, energy utilisation, discovery of new platinum deposits in Limpopo, and sustainability in mining and the future generations. The organising committee comprised of postgraduate students, of whom Janco Strydom from the Department of Process Engineering was the Treasurer. Postgraduate students from the Department of Process Engineering presented eight of the 41 presentations at the conference. All the speakers gave outstanding presentations. Christiaan Coetzee, a master’s student at the Department, won the prize for ‘best poster overall’ for his poster titled “Characterizing the role of organic additives in copper electrowinning”. The award was handed over by Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research and Internationalisation at the University of Cape Town. At the conference dinner Marzahn Theart, an alumni from the Department of Process Engineering who now works for Arcelormittal, received the prize for the best mineral processing final year student in 2016.
Increased food security through improved postharvest systems using renewable and sustainable energy for rural communities: 4th – 8th September 2017, Stellenbosch, South Africa Discipline: Postharvest Technology, Sustainable Energy and Food Processing UK coordinator: Dr Yaodong Wang, Newcastle University South African partner country coordinator: Dr Annie Chimphango, Stellenbosch University Kenyan partner coordinator: Prof Christopher Kanali, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology The programme, ‘British Council Researcher Links’, will provide opportunities for early career researchers from the UK, South Africa and Kenya to interact, learn from each, share research expertise, network and explore opportunities for building long-lasting research collaborations for improving processes and efficiencies in postharvest systems that specifically target vulnerable communities. The workshop will explore ways of improving postharvest systems for rural communities to improve food security in Kenya and South Africa. The workshop will provide a unique opportunity for sharing research expertise and networking. During the workshops early career researchers will have the opportunity to present their research in the form of brainstorming and discussion of specific case studies with established researchers from the UK, Kenya and South Africa. There will be a focus on building up links for future collaborations and participants selected on the basis of their research potential and ability to build longer term links. The British Council and the Newton Fund will cover the costs related to the participation in the workshop, including: travel (both international and local), accommodation and meals. Costs for the visa will also be covered; however participants will be responsible for making all the necessary arrangements. The British Council accepts no responsibility for any problems which may occur when the participants are in-country. For more information regarding the eligibility criteria and aplication documents go to the workshop webpage.
Process Engineering researchers and students recently attended the 29th European Symposium on Applied Thermodynamics in Bucharest, Romania. Dr Jamie Cripwell (pictured above, right) and Ms Sonja Smith (pictured above, middle) received the Soft Matter poster prize for their poster, “Comparing the holistic predictive strength of different SAFT Variants”. Jamie is a postdoctoral fellow in the Separations Technology Research Group and Sonja recently graduated with a master’s degree (cum laude) from the department under the supervision of Prof Cara Schwarz and Prof Andre Burger (pictured above, left). Professor Hansie Knoetze and Prof Cara Schwarz also attended the conference.
The Department of Process Engineering recently visited schools in the Western Cape to promote the field of engineering at Stellenbosch University. Dr Margreth Tadie was invited to present a keynote at Edgemead High School at their Science and IT day, and it was a great success. Mr August Engelbrecht from the Faculty of Engineering, and Prof Lingam Pillay from the Department of Process Engineering, also visited Star Schools in Cape Town to talk to their grade 11 and 12 learners about study options and career opportunities in the field of engineering. If you want our lecturers to visit your school, contact our Department Chair, Prof Steven Bradshaw, at chemengchair@sun.ac.za.
The XXVIII International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) was held in Québec City, Canada from 11 – 15 September 2016. Two papers from the Department of Process Engineering were presented at the congress by Prof Steven Bradshaw, Professor Christie Dorfling, Dr Edson Charikinya, and Dr Margreth Tadie presented a poster.
A team of the Separations Technology Research Group from the Process Engineering Department recently attended the 24th IUPAC International Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics in Guilin, China. The conference provided a gathering place for like-minded researchers to share their respective applications of thermodynamics.
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