Proposed financial decision-making model to guard against accounting shames
With the recent accounting disgraces suffered by KPMG and Steinhoff still fresh in South Africans’ minds, Dr Matthys (Thys) Swanepoel from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Accounting Sciences, proposes a new integrated financial decision-making model using the principle of lean accounting. Dr Swanepoel developed the new model as…
Entrepreneurship 101: Grow as you go!
Ask any seasoned entrepreneur and they will tell you: there is no magic recipe for success. Yes, the potential rewards of business ownership are many, but so are the challenges. With this in mind the North-West University’s (NWU’s) bhive Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) – a dynamic entrepreneurial hub within the Faculty of Economic and…
NWU Alumni: Calling all Johannesburg-based alumni
If you graduated from the North-West University (NWU) and live in and around Johannesburg, Gauteng, make sure to diarise 23 May 2018. The university, through its Stakeholder Relations Directorate, will be hosting a social gathering for alumni at the Capital Hotel in Sandhurst, Sandton. The aim of the event is to inform Johannesburg-based…
Short learning programme empowers unemployed youth
The North-West University’s Unit for Continuing Education (UCE), and the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences recently joined forces with the Culture, Art, Tourism, Hospitality, and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA) to facilitate a skills training programme within the hospitality sector. The short learning…
Faculty of Engineering designing a better future
There is a shortage of special skills in the country and engineering is no exception. The Faculty of Engineering at the North-West University (NWU) is not only addressing this need, but is also ensuring that the seeds are planted for future growth in this all-important field. “Our faculty is involved in the community in many ways,” explains…
NWU academic talks small but tangible
North-West University (NWU) academic and now full professor in microbial biotechnology, Prof Olubukola Oluranti Babalola, delivered her inaugural lecture titled “Small but tangible, let the feasting begin” on 18 May 2018. In attendance at the public lecture was Prof Sonia Swanepoel, who attended on behalf of the NWU vice-chancellor, Prof…
UARM delivers five master’s graduandi during Autumn Graduation Ceremony
The Autumn Graduation Ceremony of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark saw the Centre for Applied Risk Management (UARM) celebrate the graduation of five MARM graduates. These graduates represent the third cohort of MARM alumni since the inception of the two-year part-time programme in 2014. “We are extremely proud of…
NWU discusses the virtue of rice
With a number of farmers in the North-West province currently struggling to produce maize due to climate change and global warming, it is clear that South Africa needs crop diversification in order to promote food security. The North-West University (NWU), together with the North West Department of Agriculture (NWDA), is in the process of…
Faculty of Engineering: Towards an integrated energy approach
Energy needs across the globe are rising while fossil fuels are being depleted. Since fossil fuels result in various detrimental emissions, new and renewable energy sources can alleviate the drain on our natural resources and help in the mitigation of the harmful emissions. Viewed in isolation, neither of these energy sources may solve the…
Aksiegebaseerde navorsing lei tot positiewe omgewingsverandering
Klimaatsverandering is nie iets wat ver weg, in ander streke en met ander mense gebeur nie – dit is ’n verskynsel wat ’n impak op almal, oral het. Dit is ’n les waaraan graad 7-leerders blootgestel word deur middel van ’n navorsingsprojek waarby navorsers van die Noordwes-Universiteit (NWU) se kampus in Vanderbijlpark betrokke is. Hierdie…
Action-based research brings positive environmental change
Climate change is not something that happens at a distance, to other regions and other people, but is a phenomenon that has an impact on everyone, everywhere. This is a lesson that grade 7 learners are being exposed to through a research project involving researchers from the North-West University’s (NWU's) campus in Vanderbijlpark. This…
Model proposes innovative approach to performance management in the public sector
John Bester knows the value of innovative performance management: a concept that he has applied in a study towards his PhD degree in public management and governance from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark. In his theses, “Innovative performance management in the public sector in Botswana: towards a new model”, John…
Study explores resilient children from divorced homes
They say that children are the ones who suffer most when a couple goes through a divorce. This however, does not need to be the norm. During the recent Autumn Graduation Ceremony of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark, the focus fell on the doctoral thesis of Carla Bezuidenhout – a PhD graduate who scrutinised ways in…
The NWU shines with 13 ‘Science Oscar’ finalists
Thirteen of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) esteemed researchers and academics are finalists for the prestigious annual awards of the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF). The NSTF-South32 Awards, also known as the ‘Science Oscars’, are sought after each year by the who’s who of science, engineering, technology and innovation in…
Faculty of Engineering brings industrial innovation to Delmas
Innovation is heading to Delmas and the Faculty of Engineering at the North-West University (NWU) is at the helm. The German-based conglomerate Siemens, in conjunction with Eskom, approached Hasan Darwish, an industrial engineer at the Faculty of Engineering, early in 2018 to assist with a project that will introduce industrial engineering to…
Passion for environment culminates into insightful doctoral study
Irene Muller obtained her PhD degree in development and management at the recent Autumn Graduation Ceremonies of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark. Irene’s passion for the environment culminated into an insightful study. In her thesis titled “A citizen science water quality monitoring project’s contribution to…
Faculty of Engineering investigates the mystery of artificial intelligence
The Multilingual Speech Technologies (MuST) research group is a research niche area associated with the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Engineering. It focusses on machine learning and statistical pattern recognition, as well as their application in speech technologies. Over the years, the group has been involved in various speech…
"Green coal": fuel of the future
Coal in its traditional form might soon be a relic of the past, but ground-breaking research by the North-West University (NWU) is showing how a face-lift to this fossil fuel has numerous safe, green possibilities. A revolutionary process to manufacture “green” coal that will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80% is being…
Stable interest rates necessary for South Africa's economic recovery
According to renowned economist Prof Raymond Parsons from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Business School, stable interest rates are necessary for as long as possible to avoid choking off South Africa’s incipient economic recovery. “As widely expected, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) unanimously opted to…