On 15 November, 2017 the final year EE students showcased their final year Skripsie projects. The innovation that was illustrated by these young Engineers was absolutely breathtaking. Here are some pictures of the day. We would also like to congratulate our representative, Ryan Eloff that represented us on 6 December at the annual Jac van der Merwe Competition for Innovation, sponsored by MultiChoice. His final year project was entitled, Teaching a robot to interpret natural language navigation instructions.
As from 2018, the Department of E & E Eng is offering a new Structured M.Eng programme in Smart Grid Technology. This is a new course offering in response to worldwide evolutional processes in the electrical energy domain. These are seen to be technologically very exciting, but will also have considerable impact on conventional networks, in the near to medium future.
CapeTalk and Shoprite have partnered in a special campaign aimed at saving water at schools across Cape Town. The campaign involves the installation of a special water monitoring device called the Dropula, at schools. This device is designed by Prof Thinus Booysen, a lecturer at Stellenbosch University. The Dropula monitors water usage and flow. It is a smart meter that attaches to the municipal meters that supply the school. The information is disseminated and sent to the teachers, head masters and the children for them to see their consumption level. The school will also have access to a dashboard which alerts them to a sudden changes or problem with water usage or flow. Once there’s an alert a maintenance team is dispatched to the site (school, business etc) to pinpoint the fault. The device has been installed in 6 schools to date. You can read more about the water saving initiative for the schools at www.schoolswater.co.za. Have a look at the interview on Cape Talk. You can also read more about Prof. Booysen’s company behind the Dropula at www.bridgiot.co.za.
The 2016 edition of the biennial conference of the South African IEEE, Joint Chapter on Antennas and Propagation (AP), Microwave Theory and Techniques (MTT) and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), will be held in Stellenbosch, on 28 and 29 July 2016 at the Stias Conference Centre. This conference brings together engineers and researchers from industry and academia who work in fields related to AP, MTT, and EMC in South Africa. All conference contributions will be by invited presenters, including a few international, plenary speakers. Topics covered will include, but are not limited to research and development work in the areas of antennas, radar and remote sensing, the SKA radio-astronomy project, active and passive microwave devices, electromagnetic wave propagation and spectrum management, computational electromagnetic modeling, and electromagnetic compatibility. The conference is organized by the South African IEEE Joint AP/MTT/EMC Chapter and the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University. See the conference website for further details: http://www.ee.sun.ac.za/saieee2016/.
The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, MP, has gazetted the National Scarce Skills List: Top 100 Occupations in Demand and called for comments from all interested parties. Electrical engineers are listed first on the list, followed by civil engineers and mechanical engineers. Post by Electrical & Electronic Engineering – Stellenbosch University.
The Electrical Systems Laboratory (ESL) in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Stellenbosch University (SU) and the Surrey Space Centre have been working together on the QB50 project for some time. The ESL develops and builds satellite control system units for the QB50 project. A recent financial injection will enable the ESL to share its knowledge by building 15 control units for participants in the project, which in turn will assist in financing SA’s own satellite, ZAAeroSat. The QB50 project is an international network of 50 CubeSats (50 nano‐satellites, each measuring about 10cmx10cmx20cm) that will be launched in January 2016 to gather multipoint, in situ measurements of the lower thermosphere, between 200 km and 350 km above the earth. This project is part of the European Space Agency (ESA)’s atmospheric modelling research to improve predictions of what happens to space objects as they enter the earth’s atmosphere. As the ESL enjoys wide recognition internationally in the field of innovative small satellite orientation control systems, the ESL team was requested to deliver 15 control units (QB50 ADCS [Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem] bundles) to other satellites [Figure 3] on the QB50 project. The ESL accordingly provides assistance where other participants have insufficient experience of satellite control systems, as keeping a satellite constantly within 10 degrees of the orbital inclination is a major challenge. The 15 control units (QB50 ADCS bundles), fully developed at the ESL, will be delivered to the Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI) in Belgium, together with certain software provided with the assistance of the Surrey Space Centre in England, for further distribution to other selected project participants. The first three control units have already been delivered to the satellite company ISIS in the Netherlands, who in May 2014 will be launching two pilot QB50 satellites as a test run prior to the QB50 mission. The funding to the ESL makes it possible for the team to supply a satellite for QB50. Weighing only 2 kg, this CubeSat ZA‐AeroSat is Africa’s only satellite in the QB50 project and is currently being manufactured at the ESL. According to Professor Herman Steyn who heads the project, ZA‐AeroSat will also afford them the opportunity to demonstrate aerodynamic stabilisation of a satellite in practice for the very first time. “The antennas at the back of the satellite will be used in the same way as the plumes of a shuttlecock, partially and passively to stabilise the satellite,” explains Prof Steyn. This is made possible through greater atmospheric density at the low orbital heights of the QB50 project. The ESL has developed the ZA‐AeroSat’s on‐board computer (CubeComputer) and the orientation control system (CubeSense and CubeControl) locally and has tested it for use in space (see Figure 3). These ESL CubeSat components are currently being sold online at the CubeSatShop (www.cubesatshop.com) and by Innovus’s online satellite component shop at (http://www.innovus.co.za/pages/english/technology/satellite‐component‐sales.php). As an additional experiment, a new ESL star camera sensor (CubeStar) will be flown in order to have it qualify for use in space. The ESL team is very excited about the QB50 project, as this involves groundbreaking work for South Africa’s space exploration efforts. Historically, only major contenders at best were able to take on such projects.
“Hierdie prys kry jy net een keer in jou lewe!” sê prof Maarten Kamper van die Department Elektriese en Elektroniese Ingenieurswese. Hy en sy PhD-student, Johannes Potgieter, het onlangs die eerste prys ontvang op ’n internasionale konferensie vir hul artikel oor ’n nuwe soort windgenerator. Die Elektriese Masjienekomitee (EMC) onder die Vereninging vir Industriële Toepassings (IAS) van die Instituut vir Elektriese en Elektroniese Ingenieurs (IEEE) het die toekenning gemaak by die IEEE se internasionale Energie-Omsetting Konferensie en Uitstalling (ECCE) wat onlangs in Denver, Colorado gehou is. Hierdie flagskip-konferensie van die IEEE het vanjaar 1 300 afgevaardigdes gelok. Die artikel-toekenning, eerste prys, is toegeken vir die tegniese bevoegdheid van hul artikel, Optimum design and technology evaluation of slip permanent magnet generators for wind energy applications, wat tydens die ECCE konferensie in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2012 aangebied is. (By ECCE konferensies word artikels na afloop van die konferensie evalueer en word pryse by die volgende jaar se konferensie toegeken.) Hul wen-artikel het gehandel oor die optimale ontwerp en evaluasie van ’n komponent van ’n nuwe tipe glip-sinchroon permanente magneet windgenerator waaroor in 2010 vir die eerste keer publiseer is. “Hierdie nuwe tipe windgenerator verskil van die konvensioneles in dié opsig dat dit geen ratkas of drywingselektronika-omsetter nodig het nie. Daar is groot voordele verbonde aan die afwesigheid van ’n ratkas en ’n drywingselektronika-omsetter aangesien dit die betroubaarheid asook die koste van die lewensiklus van die windgenerator verbeter. Ons werk al sedert 2009 aan die konsep,” sê Johannes Potgieter. Hierdie unieke stelsel is al op die SA navorsingsbasis op Ararktika getoets waar dit goed gewerk het. Tans word twee 15 kW-prototipes op ’n windturbinetoetsterrein op Mariendahl, een van Universiteit Stellenbosch se proefplase, getoets. Die krag wat die generators opwek, word deur die proefplaas gebruik. Die tegnologie is gepatenteer en ’n afwentelmaatskappy, SWET (Stellenbosch Wind Energy Technology), is gestig om die tegnologie te kommersialiseer. Die hoofaandeelhouers is INNOVUS en die Tegnologie-Innovasie-Agentskap (TIA). Op die foto links is een van die twee windgenerators wat tans op Mariendahl getoets word. Op die foto regs staan prof Maarten Kamper en Johannes Potgieter by die nuwe tipe windgenerator, elkeen trots met ’n wensertifikaat in die hand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A once in a lifetime prize. This is how prof Maarten Kamper of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering described the first prize he and his PhD student Johannes Potgieter received for their article on a novel type of wind generator at an international conference recently. The Electrical Machines Committee (EMS) under the Industry Applications Society (IAS) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) made this award at the IEEE’s international Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) held in Denver, Colorado. This year some 1 300 delegates attended the IEEE’s flagship conference. The article award, first prize, was awarded for the technical competence displayed in the article, Optimum design and technology evaluation of slip permanent magnet generators for wind energy applications, that was presented at the ECCE conference in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2012. (At ECCE conferences articles are evaluated after the conference, with prizes being awarded at the following year’s conference.) The winning article dealt with the optimum design and evaluation of a component of a new type of slip-synchronous permanent magnet wind generator. Their first publication on this subject appeared in 2010. “This new type of wind generator differs from the conventional kind in this respect that it does not need a gearbox or a power electronic converter. There are great advantages attached to the absence of a gearbox and power electronic converter as this improves the reliability and the life cycle cost of the wind generator. We have been working on this concept since 2009,” says Johannes Potgieter. This unique system has already been tested on the SA research base in Antarctica where it performed well. At present two 15 kW prototypes are being tested at a wind turbine testing facility at Mariendahl, one of Stellenbosch University’s experimental farms. The power generated by these generators is utilised by the farm. The technology has been patented and a spin-out company, SWET (Stellenbosch Wind Energy Technology), has been established to commercialise the technology. The main shareholders of SWET are InnovUS and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). Photograph: The wind turbine testing facility at Mariendahl. Photograph: Prof Maarten Kamper and Johannes Potgieter with the novel wind generator, each proudly displaying their certificate of recognition for their winning article.
Have you ever wondered: How does the Square Kilometre Array allow us to ‘see’ radio waves? André Young and David Davidson, two of the SKA specialists, explain the engineering components for the Square Kilometre Array in a paper intended for school children – see this paper which explains how the SKA project ‘sees’, for an explanation that even your mother will understand. For more info visit www.facebook.com/SKASOUTHAFRICA And for some of our recent research on this topic, visit www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=152028048331439&set=a.128928643974713.1073741828.128851897315721&type=1&theater and www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=152620188272225&set=a.128928643974713.1073741828.128851897315721&type=1
Our Electrical & Electronic Department’s Electronic Systems Laboratory (ESL) made international news on two fronts in the past few months. Our ESL student team won first prize in the student division of the Mission Idea Contest, held at the US/Japan Nanosatellite Symposium in Japan late last year. Their award was for their article entitled “The Outernet: A novel satellite communication relay constellation”. They competed against 71 other teams, from top universities across the world. Not only did they receive a certificate and 50 000 Yen in prize money, but they also gave the world a taste of what we are capable of at Stellenbosch University. Other exciting news for our department is that the ESL’s suggestion for a 2U-Cubesat, which will be known as ZA-AeroSat, has been accepted by the Von Karman Institute in Brussels. This will make our Cubesat one of 50 to be launched in 2015, as part of the QB50 constellation aimed at gathering data about the higher levels of the ionosphere. The Cubesat will operate at a height of 200km to 350km above the surface of the earth. Funding for this project has been approved by the Department of Science and Technology, and the project will be undertaken in collaboration with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). Read more about our winning Mission Idea Contest student division entry here: www.spacemic.net/mic2finalists_1-6.html Read more about our Cubesat research here: www.innovus.co.za/pages/posts/professor-herman-steyn-control-systems-for-small-satellites-299.php
Every year, the Engineering Faculty at Stellenbosch University opens its doors to the public. Learners from schools across the Western Cape, often with their parents or teachers, flock to see more about the different fields in engineering. Visitors have the opportunity to get an overview of the various departments, view laboratories, interact with lecturers and senior students, see some of the exciting projects undertaken, find out more about bursaries and meet prospective employers in the field. At the Electrical & Electronic Department visitors enjoyed demonstrations of robotics, as well as the ever-popular and electrifying high-voltage experiments! For an overview of this year’s open day at our department, we have included this video, which is also available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxL9ZKONbKY The following video shows how engineering students let their hair down (up?) during the open day demonstrations at the high-voltage laboratory:
