Hannelie Nel

Integration of a robotics programme into a South African secondary school curriculum: A case study

Stimulating interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among learners in developing countries remains a challenge, as schools often do not have the specialised skills or funds required to develop exciting STEM-related programmes like robotics. The RobotScienceproject at University of Johannesburg (UJ) TechnoLab aims to support South African schools with a cost effective, open source robotics platform that can be programmed from a computer, smartphone or tablet. All secondary schools in South Africa, including private schools, can offer robotics as a regular subject using the website and online videos TechnoLab produced to support its programmes in underprivileged communities. St Davids Marist Brothers, a privately-funded South African secondary school, implemented robotics as an in-curriculum non-elective subject for Grade 8 and Grade 9 learners using the RobotScience projects website and videos. This paper presents early results of the implementation of robotics into a private secondary school, including a discussion on the novel approaches taken by teachers in the first season of the implementation.

AfrikaBot: Design of a Robotics Challenge to Promote STEM in Africa

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics education for high school learners in developing countries is a challenge for two significant reasons: equipment for education is expensive and complex, and economically-marginalized youth must be integrated in pre-engineering programs to prepare them for technical programmes at university. The goal of establishing AfrikaBot is to prepare high school learners to study engineering at the University of Johannesburg; thus to train teenagers from disadvantaged communities with no prior experience in STEM to participate in a challenge to build and program a robot. Also, AfrikaBot aims to equip teenagers from low-income households with technology and entrepreneurial skills in a repressed economy. AfrikaBot achieves the above with a build-it-yourself robot that can be used after the competition to invent systems with real world applications. Anticipated long-term outcomes of the AfrikaBot program will influence the structure of future robotics challenges, and promote a higher number of technical candidates from marginalized communities. By transferring enabling technology skills in a fun and engaging way, participants will rapidly build the confidence to pursue careers in STEM fields. Participants can also acquire entrepreneurial skills that may lead to the establishment of new businesses and the creation of local jobs in both the formal and informal sectors in Africa. This paper presents the organizational and physical design of AfrikaBot, a robotics challenge that will be held in the latter half of 2016.

A review of risk management techniques and challenges in harbour and port expansions

The paper reviewed risk management techniques and its challenges during implementation in infrastructure projects with a focus on harbour and seaport construction projects. Literature indicates that beyond year 2020, eighty percent of world trade which is conducted through seaports will require additional facilities. This need could potentially be met through rehabilitation of existing ports and development of new terminals. Globally, there is a high rate of project delays and failure due to unsuccessful risk management and implementation. The research was conducted through a systematic literature review of journal articles on risk management techniques and their implementation limitations. The research found that the most employed risk management techniques were enterprise and construction risk management systems, major infrastructure assessment frameworks, dynamic risk management, analytical hierarchy based techniques and the innovative risk management implementation approach. Impediments in implementation of risk management plans were found to be political influence, technical complications, environmental constraints and lack of adequately skilled personnel. This study could benefit risk managers in developing effective risk management frameworks.

STEM project based learning: Towards improving secondary school performance in mathematics and science

South Africa is currently facing an education problem with one of the highest numbers of youth unemployment worldwide; as well as a shortage of specialized capabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). In an effort to improve STEM education, universities are adopting schools in their communities with the aim to assist in the development of mathematics and science skills. This paper presents a study where a university-hosted STEM education initiative is incorporated within a secondary school science curriculum. The initiative exposes learners to STEM education and aids in the improvement of maths and science skills amongst secondary school learners. The effect of this implementation indicates a general improvement in academic performance amongst learners as the understanding of theoretical concepts are improved and practical application of theory experienced.

A model for postgraduate supervision of large student numbers in Engineering Management at the University of Johannesburg

The paper presents a three-stage supervision model that was implemented by two senior academics in the Postgraduate School of Engineering Management at the University of Johannesburg as a pedagogical approach for the supervision of large numbers of postgraduate students. The model was considered as an alternative to the traditional dyadic supervision model and incorporates communities of practice, group learning and team supervision as supervisory methodologies, whilst integrating select supervisory principles. The model was designed and implemented in 2016 and observations from both supervisors and students are presented to reflect the value derived towards efficient and quality academic supervision.

Identification of delay factors that affect high dwell times of freight trains

The operation of the freight railway industry is a complex system which is accompanied by various challenges. The main objective of the freight rail industry is to provide customers with quality and reliable service, but different forms of delay prevent the achievement of this objective. A case study was conducted in Transnet, the largest freight rail network in South Africa, to identify factors that affect the on-time performance of trains during the execution process. This paper presents a discussion of the nature of train delays and the comparative findings. The results indicate that most delays are a result of crew shortage, locomotive imbalance and defective perway. If the delay factors were resolved, dwell times in the freight rail industry could potentially be minimized, resulting in significant improvement of service reliability.

Attraction, education and retention of technical women in South Africa

Women engineers form a small but integral part of the South African and global engineering fraternity. The resultant gender disparity in all technical professions presents a significant challenge to women in the sector, as well as to governments, corporates and higher education institutions. If the future of engineering aims to be more gender equitable, the attraction, education and retention of technical women must be understood and addressed effectively. Research was conducted over a two-year period with nine technical women in South Africa to gain a deeper understanding of these factors. The respondents agree that a future exists for women engineers, but that current policies, education structures and financial systems must be restructured to make engineering a more attractive career for women. The paper presents the research findings and strategies for the future education and retention of technical women in the engineering and built environment sectors.

Social innovation, research and community engagement: Managing interdisciplinary projects for societal change

A transformative research paradigm is rooted in knowledge mobilization processes involving close collaboration between researchers and the community. A formalized approach to managing multi-stakeholder participation and community engagement in a science and technology research environment is presented. Design science research methodology is applied with a systems thinking approach to implement an integrated research, development and project management network at a tertiary education institution. The network is presented as a Research and Projects Office that enables a projects-based approach to facilitate interdisciplinary and community-driven research for social change through technology development.

Systems Engineering Education in an Accredited Undergraduate Engineering Program

Developing countries are mostly reliant on external technologies and this augments the need for systems engineering capability in these economies. It is therefore imperative that systems engineering as theory and practice is included in undergraduate engineering curricula to strengthen the internal technological capability of a country’s developing engineers. In South Africa, the quality of undergraduate engineering programs is governed by the Engineering Council of South Africa (affiliated under the Washington Accord); and the exit level outcomes of the programs are predetermined explicitly per module. Systems engineering was introduced to an undergraduate electrical engineering program offered in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Johannesburg; and a framework developed to ensure that the program still meets the requisite ECSA exit level outcomes and therefore international standards. This paper presents the design and implementation of the framework, as well as the challenges that students are exposed to when faced with real-world systems engineering practice. Students were grouped into independent product development teams using a software support tool which promotes diversity and skill-level targets for each team. The independent team structure required the use and application of the systems engineering process and supported the development of management and communication skills. Furthermore, the framework allowed assessment of the performance of each product development team towards achieving the overall project objectives. One of the accreditation requirements of undergraduate engineering programs is peer assessment and this was achieved by the process. The paper closes by presenting the results of the stated framework implementation in an undergraduate electrical engineering program offered in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Johannesburg.Copyright