The participation of the University of Fort Hare in the 4IRSA collaboration is central to the way we reimagine higher education and its purpose. Our staff and our students have a critical role to play in shaping as well as in responding to the significant and sweeping changes to the current order and the way we work.
Our research-based engagement with our partners on the possibilities and implications of the fourth industrial revolution therefore is at the core of realizing our vision to be a vibrant, equitable and sustainable African university, committed to teaching and research excellence at the service of its students, scholars and the wider community.
Prof S. Buhlungu
Vice Chancellor
#UFH4IR
The 4IRSA Partnership is an alliance between the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS), Telkom and the Universities of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and Fort Hare. The purpose of the alliance to stimulate and facilitate an inclusive national dialogue to shape a coherent national response to the 4th Industrial Revolution in South Africa1. It aims to complement and support other national activities relating to the 4th IR, most notably the Presidential Commission on the 4th IR. 4IRSA is a platform to bring together key stakeholders, decision makers, and pioneers to define the principles, visions and outcomes of industry 4.0 and its future effects on South Africa and to engage in constructive discussions, explore best practices, and propose solutions to address the challenges.
The 4IRSA UFH Team
Our research-based engagement with our partners on the possibilities and implications of the fourth industrial revolution therefore is at the core of realizing our vision to be a vibrant, equitable and sustainable African university, committed to teaching and research excellence at the service of its students, scholars and the wider community
In 2009, the FOSST Discovery Centre received funding from Hewlett Packard (HP) to establish LIP (Learner Intervention Project). The project is still running and has been funded by various organizations. The main anchor of the project is to enhance teaching and learning using technology. Lesson delivery is in two- and three- dimensions (2D & 3D) through use of modern software to enable learners to understand scientific concepts rather than to memorize them. The project has grown to an extent that it received funds to purchase mobile labs to “take Science to the community”.
pkwinana@ufh.ac.zaThe FOSST Discovery Centre Robotics project was initiated in 2015 with the aim to enable and encourage youth to pursue engineering fields like mechatronics, electrical engineering etc. The project is doing very well and the highlight of 2018 was that our team cam third in the national competition! Both high school learners and university students participate in this project. The UFH has intentions to open establish electrical and electronic engineering and this project will play a huge role to encourage learners from the Eastern Cape.
pkwinana@ufh.ac.zaThis is one of the modes of enhancing understanding scientific concepts in both high school and higher institutions. Visitors enjoy interacting with various applications of science in real terms. Families, learners, university of students, community, etc. visit our centre for the purpose of interacting with various scientific equipment. The project is coordinated by the interns and volunteers who are postgraduates in science, agriculture and education at the FOSST Discovery Centre. This way of engaging people has encouraged youth to follow careers in science, engineering and technology. There are more than thirty science and technology exhibits in our centre. This is also another way of introducing modern technology relevant for the 21st Century era (4IR).
pkwinana@ufh.ac.zaThe remote and virtual laboratory technology is relatively new in South Africa and the University of Fort Hare has introduced it since 2018. It is one of the first institutions to run it as both a research equipment and an aid for SET experimentation. UFH collaborates with UNED in Spain. Labsland Company, one of the leading companies in this field, coordinates the technology deployment at UFH. The UFH has now a website to view activities of remote labs worldwide! This is one of the new technologies in the fourth industrial revolution UFH has introduced.
pkwinana@ufh.ac.zaThe aim of this area is to design and install energy conservation measures to make domestic dwellings and electricity grids smart through machine learning and hence more efficient. These concepts include but are not limited to integration of renewable energy systems into the utility grid, low-cost power electronics for smart home applications, web-based and mobile apps to control smart systems remotely and real time performance monitoring and forecasting of smart energy systems.
emeyer@ufh.ac.zaThis thematic area primarily deals with device characterization, optimization and degradation analysis at atomic level using various techniques such as correlative microscopy and scanning probe microscopy.
The Fort Hare Institute of Technology conducts spectral response measurements of novel materials since this is where optimization is ideally done as well as degradation analysis of photovoltaic cells through 3-D electron imaging
emeyer@ufh.ac.zaThis thematic area conducts research on the design, installation and performance monitoring of biomass gasifiers, computer modelling and process optimization, material characterization and enhancement through torrefaction.
Furthermore, the Fort Hare Institute of Technology, at its SolarWatt Park conducts research on the feasibility and reliability of various digesters. The purpose being to demonstrate biogas an inexpensive sustainable technology and improve the various processes taking place over the digestive period.
emeyer@ufh.ac.za