Weideman keen to extend golden run at USSA karate champs
Gqeberha karateka Luchay Weideman hopes to kick on from where she left off 12 months ago when she puts her body on the line at the University Sports South Africa tournament later this month.
Sisters Adré Weideman, left, and Luchay are members of the Madibaz semi-contact team who will compete at the USSA karate tournament in Durban on June 28 and 29.
The Mandela University student claimed four of her team’s 18 gold medals at the 2024 edition and is confident she can deliver a similarly impressive performance.
“My goal is to maintain that standard, both personally and for the team,” the 22-year-old said last week.
“Achieving that level of success does bring added pressure but I see it as a privilege to be in that position.”
Read more: Nelson Mandela University News
Three consecutive qualifications with distinction for Chemistry doctoral student
Clementine Moreku, who is currently studying for her PhD in Chemistry, recently graduated with her third consecutive qualification Cum Laude at Nelson Mandela University.
Her study leader for her master’s degree was Professor Paul Watts, and her research contributes to decreasing drug costs and shortages on the African continent, as currently Africa depends on imported Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients.
Continuous flow technology also has a positive impact on the environment by using small volumes of solvent, thereby limiting waste. In Clementine’s case, she synthesised lenalidomide, an anti-cancer drug used to treat multiple myeloma cancer.
Lenalidomide is extremely expensive and therefore they are investigating the possibility to synthesise it in higher yields and shorter reaction times.
Clementine, 29, who grew up in Moremela village in Mpumalanga, has a daughter Micaela, now seven years old.
Her dream job is to be a researcher at the CSIR; in fact, her PhD studies are being funded by CSIR IBS.
Read more: Nelson Mandela University News
Number One in Information Security and Security Management
Professor Rossouw von Solms has been ranked by ScholarGPS as the Number One researcher internationally for 2024 in two specialist areas, namely, Information Security and Security Management.
ScholarGPS, annually analyses research activities and outputs of over 30 million academics from more than 24 000 academic institutions in more than 200 countries.
Various data science techniques are applied to its database of over 200 million publications and 3 billion citations to rank these researchers and academic institutions.
This annual ranking is based on the most productive (number of publications), 2) the impact of the publications (number of citations) and 3) the utmost quality (h-index).
Based on this analysis, the 150 publications authored or co-authored by Prof Von Solms in Information Security and Security Management over his career, has attracted 6 345 citations to date with a current h-index of 38, that has ranked him in the #1 position in these areas.
His accomplishment has also assisted Nelson Mandela University to be ranked as the fourth most prolific institution internationally in these specialist areas.
Biokineticist embraces dark side during mammoth endurance feat
Biokineticist Brandon Gill was forced to overcome some of the darkest moments of his life when he ran 27 consecutive hours for charity on his 27th birthday this past weekend.
Madibaz biokineticist Brandon Gill is joined by children from the Hope4Kids charity in the final stages of his 27-hour endurance run at the Madibaz Stadium last Friday and Saturday.
In a remarkable feat of endurance and compassion, the Mandela University science graduate put his feet where his mouth was to raise funds for the Hope4Kids organisation.
His effort was underscored by a BackaBuddy campaign, under the banner of Run4Soulz.
The raw statistics are impressive. Gill ran a total of 152km in raising R29 700 for his chosen cause.
Read more: Nelson Mandela University News
Doctoral research inspired by Walt Disney
“I have always been captivated by the remarkable realism and relatability of cartoons. While Mickey Mouse and animation are synonymous with Disney, the full story of Walt Disney's career is less widely understood,” says Dr Romisha Singh.
Romisha, 35, recently graduated at Mandela University’s Autumn Graduation with her doctoral degree in industrial psychology, researching the career development of Walt Disney from a psychobiographical perspective. Her supervisor was Professor Roelf van Niekerk.
As someone who is passionate about understanding how careers develop, and intrigued by animation, particularly Disney content, it just made sense for Romisha to study the founder of Disney Studios, the pioneer of animation and the creator of Disneyland – Walter Elias Disney.
Read more: Nelson Mandela University News