News


Student of the Year Competition results

23 January 2008 News

The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) hosted its annual National Student Project Competition 2007 at Wits University late last year. The entrants were all final year students and were judged according to international standards on a range of technical, academic and communication skills criteria.

The SAIEE has been involved in transformation and skills upgrading for many years and has focused on supporting the development of engineering expertise among a broad and representative sector of the country's population.

The competition serves to stimulate and recognise practical engineering projects that display innovative concepts and the highest quality of presentation.

SAIEE president Ian McKechnie explains that there are three main areas which the competition addresses: innovation and social impact; technical and academic quality; and presentation and communication.

"Communications skills are high on the priority list," he says. "It is essential for engineers to be able to motivate and communicate about projects to colleagues and other stakeholders, including people who will fund them - who may not be engineers themselves. The standards applied in the judging emphasise solid technical execution, high quality academic documentation, presentation and the communication skills that are critical in engineering.

"All the presentations were of a high standard. They were well presented and explained and all shared a core focus on using innovative engineering to address particular challenges. We are very pleased that the competition is producing such high quality entries," concludes McKechnie.

In the university section, first prize went to Stellenbosch University student, Malan Joubert, for his work on 'Swarm Robotic Colonies'. Second prize was awarded to Wits University's Sarah Middleton and David Walters for their research into 'Energy Scavenging Wireless Transmitters'.

First prize in the universities of technology section went to the Vaal University of Technology's Volker Freise for his presentation on the 'Monitoring and Management of Remote Subterranean Valve Chambers'. The Cape Peninsula University of Technology won second prize in this category for Ryan Jardine's work on 'Nodal forces in electrical machines'.

The Institute's Merit award went to Grant Seady of the University of Johannesburg for his innovative 'Talkabet Spelling Aid'.

For more information visit www.saiee.org.za



Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Price hike to challenge energy reforms
News
Eskom’s proposed 44% price hike could undermine renewable energy gains despite tech innovation.

Read more...
IO Ninja debugging tool
RF Design News
Tibbo has released a major update to IO Ninja, its versatile communications debugging tool for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Read more...
Young SA robotics team takes world title
News
In a demonstration of innovation and teamwork, Texpand, a South African youth robotics team based in Cape Town, recently made history by winning the 2024 FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championships.

Read more...
From the editor's desk: A brave new world
Technews Publishing News
The technology Tesla currently uses in its cars from the batteries, power electronics, controllers, through to the mechanics, gearboxes, and the AI inference computer and software have are incorporated in the development of Optimus, allowing the development of the robot to gain impressive features in a relatively short time span.

Read more...
Seven Labs partnership enhances local electronics distribution
Seven Labs Technology News
Aimed at revolutionising the electronics distribution landscape in South Africa, Seven Labs has announced a partnership with LCSC, one of China’s most reputable electronics distributors.

Read more...
From the editor's desk: How electronics is shaping modern warfare
Technews Publishing News
From radar systems and encrypted communications to drones and cyber warfare, electronic devices have transformed the battlefield into a highly digitised and networked environment.

Read more...
Global semiconductor sales increase 18,7% YoY
News
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced that global semiconductor industry sales hit $51,3 billion during the month of July 2024, an increase of 18,7%.

Read more...
Renesas completes acquisition of Altium
News
Altium is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas, with Altium CEO Aram Mirkazemi assuming the role of senior vice president and head of Renesas’ Software & Digitalization.

Read more...
Altron Arrow joins forces with Identiv
Altron Arrow News
The strategic collaboration with Altron Arrow expands Identiv’s reach in the southern African market.

Read more...
The rise of AI expertise as a new employment trend in South Africa
Editor's Choice News
As artificial intelligence (AI) technology continues to evolve globally, its integration into the South African business landscape is becoming increasingly prominent, and this shift has triggered a surge in demand for AI specialists.

Read more...