Leanne Pienaar, currently doing her Master’s degree with prof. Thomas Jones as supervisor, last year won the regional student competition of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers with her fourth-year project, aptly called SEESAW. She also received one of two discretionary prizes awarded by judges in the national competition. SEESAW stand for Synchonised Electronic Entertainment System using Android and Wi-Fi, which Leanne developed with Willem Smit as project leader. SEESAW demonstrates the ability to control a physical system wirelessly, with a mobile phone. The physical system is a motor-controlled mechanical labyrinth that can tilt around its x- and y-axes. When the Android phone is tilted, the angle is measured and instantaneously sent wirelessly to a Wi-Fi router programmed with an embedded Linux platform. The router then sends an instruction to the labyrinth motors to tilt the labyrinth to the same angle. The aim of the game is to guide a ball through the labyrinth without falling into any trap-holes, simply by tilting the Android phone and, indirectly, the physical labyrinth. However, the project is more than just a game – it can be used to develop innovative future applications such as the control of household lighting and appliances from a mobile phone. Leanne credits her the excellent IT teacher she had at Parel Vallei High School in Somerset West for her choice of career. See a video of Leanne’s project here.
At the beginning of this year, Prof Thomas Jones took over the role of departmental chairman at Electrical and Electronic Engineering. We recently cornered him to congratulate him, and find out more about the man, and his plans for the E&E Department… Ed: First, tell us a bit more about yourself – where did you grow up? TJ: Have you ever heard of the little town Cradock, in the Eastern Cape? Born and bred in the heartland of the Karoo! Ed: And your studies? TJ: Maties attracted me from a young age, and this is where I came to complete my B and M. I got my PhD from MIT, in the USA, though. And it was a good thing, too, as I met my future wife (and now the mother of my two beautiful children) in Boston. Ed: What makes you tick? TJ: Aerospace autonomous navigation and control systems… I am fortunate enough to work with Armscor, the South African Navy, Airbus, the National Aerospace Centre and the CSIR, amongst others, on these types of systems. I am also a director of S-Plane Automation (www.s-plane.co.za). Ed: And when you want to relax completely? TJ: Angling, of all things… it’s peaceful, and gives me some quality time to reflect on things I don’t normally have time to think about. In that sense, it can be quite creative. Ed: I think most people are quite interested in hearing what your plans are for the department… can you share some of your ideas with us? TJ: The E&E Department – students and staff alike – are like an extended family. That is, amongst others, what makes this such a great place to work and study. To my mind, no other campus in SA can compare. What I would like to do over the next few years? Phew… where do I start! First, I want to support the exceptional research activities that are already in place, such as the SKA work, Airbus, Eskom and many others, and to put even more research projects in place. Another focus area is to grow and develop the E&E Department even further. Our university has been rated tops in Africa, and we already have a large number of staff with doctorates and internationally accredited research ratings… but let’s see how we can develop our best people even further! I also want to look at how we can grow our international partnerships, especially within Africa, as well as with Europe, USA, China and others. A focus that students and lecturers alike will probably welcome is our plans to modernise and renew our facilities. Technology develops quickly, and we cannot afford to be left behind. We must always have exceptional and modern classrooms, laboratories, and so on. We’ve already built some new facilities, and new ones are currently under construction. We are expanding rather fast! Ed: Any last thoughts? TJ: An E&E degree from Stellenbosch is highly sought-after, as it offers such exceptional job prospects. I think internationally we are known for our high standards and hard work. We want to continue delivering the best graduates to our local and international industry, by keeping their training relevant and modern. To achieve this, as well as all our plans for the next few years, I think we will have to adopt an extremely energetic approach! It seems energy has just taken on a new meaning and function at E&E!
‘n Groep van die Department Elektriese en Elektroniese Ingenieurswese het onlangs referate aangebied by die ‘South African University Power Engineering Conference (SAUPEC)’. Hierdie konferensie het van 31 Januarie tot 1 Februarie 2013 plaasgevind, in die nuwe Ingenieurswese Fakulteitsgebou van die Noord-Wes Universiteit op Potchefstroom. Vir meer inligting oor die konferensie, besoek www.saupec.org.za. Voor, van links na regs: Dr Peter-Jan Randewijk en mnr Cephas Mutize Middel, van links na regs: Prof Maarten Kamper, mnr Johannes Potgieter en Dr Ron-Jie Wang Agter, van links na regs: Mnr Wikus Villet en mnr Petrus Pieterse
A few lucky students at the Stellenbosch University’s Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department have the opportunity to get up close and personal with one of the shyest big cats in our country, the Cape Mountain Leopard. Working with the Cape Leopard Trust, these students help to develop the technology to capture, collar and track these rare and beautiful cats. For more information, see http://capeleopard.org.za
One of our 2012 final-year students, Rebecca Robertz, recently helped out when we needed some real-life models for photos for our brand-new website. One stop was at the Van de Graaff generator. This nifty machine, invented in 1929, is used in the industry for scientific purposes such as accelerating electrons to sterilise food and process materials, accelerating protons for nuclear physics experiments, driving X-ray tubes, etc. However, the photographers (and Rebecca) had much more fun experimenting with the ability of the generator to make one’s hair stand on end – literally! Read more about the Van de Graaff generator here. (Link: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/vandeg.html)
There are some 400 postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and postgraduate students from South Africa and other African countries whose studies have already been funded by the SKA SA Project Office since 2005. Many students have since been employed by the SKA SA team or related companies. Prof Howard Reader’s Electromagnetic Compatibility and Metrology research team in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering have had to help the civil, mechanical and electrical teams of the SKA Project Office with on-the-ground decisions about the building of KAT-7 and MeerKAT for the last number of years. Prof David Davidson, holder of the SKA research chair in Electromagnetic Systems and Electromagnetic Interference Mitigation in the SU Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, is involved in the precise placement of the dishes in the array, and matters relating to the so-called “hardware” of astronomy – the telescope and the antenna dishes. More information: http://www.ska.ac.za/download/clipping_mat_jul2012.pdf
Even the most sophisticated robots tend to exhibit the same behaviour towards different people. But imagine programming robots in such a way that they can exhibit bonding behaviour towards regular users. Impossible? No – this is exactly what Prof Johan du Preez and former student Dr Ludwig Schwardt have managed when they developed ‘Communi-kat’. Using patented pattern recognition, this prototype toy recognises its owner’s voice and responds accordingly. It also has a built-in forget function, which means that if the toy is tossed aside for a few weeks, it will ‘forget’ its owner to some extent, or perhaps even start ‘bonding’ with a new user. And it’s so clever that it can tell when you’re trying to impersonate someone else, and can pick out its owner’s voice in a two-person conversation. At this stage Communi-Kat is still in its infancy. The prototype is just a basic furry toy, with a speaker and microphone system pushed under its striped hoodie, which is then hooked up to a computer. More information: Hi-tech leopard knocks spots off other toys Matieland..
Dr Jakob (Japie) van Zyl, a former student at Stellenbosch University’s Engineering Faculty and at Nasa, is one of the team members behind the Curiosity rover mission to Mars. Now Associate Director: Project Formulation and Strategy at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasedena, Dr Van Zyl completed his studies in electrical and electronic engineering at SU in the late seventies and received bursaries to continue his studies in engineering and physics at the University of California. Prof Steyn, Chairman of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, believes this mission will encourage young South Africans to consider a career in engineering. “Like the moon landing, it will inspire a new generation to become involved in breakthrough technology,” he said. To read more about Dr Van Zyl, visit blogs.sun.ac.za/news/2012/08/06/from-matieland-to-mars/ or www.jpl.nasa.gov/about/bio_zyl.cfm. For more on Curiosity, see www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html.
So, you want to study electrical and electronic engineering… and Stellenbosch University seems to be the perfect choice from an academic point of view. But studying with us offers you a whole lot more than just an impeccable international qualification… watch our speedshow for a sense of what you can expect to enjoy…
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