At a banquet held at the Misty Hills Conference Centre on 19 October 2004, Technikon Witwatersrand was announced as the winner of the annual Siemens Cyber Junkyard competition, a Siemens initiative aimed at encouraging practical innovation in engineering and electronics at universities and technikons countrywide. Second place was awarded to the Tshwane University of Technology, closely followed in third place by University of Pretoria.
From Left to right: Elsbeth Dixon (Da Vinci Institute), Martin Taverner (CJY administrator, Siemens Automation & Drives), Tim Ellis (Wits Tech), Elias Mokomele (Wits Tech), Viktor Wilken (Wits Tech), Pat Ellis (Wits Tech, Lecturer), Charles Glieman (Hestico), Steve Venter (GM, Instrumentation & Control, Siemens Automation & Drives), Roy Marcus (Da Vinci Institute)
The award is sponsored by Siemens Southern Africa. The winning institution receives products to the value of R100 000, of Siemens Automation and Drives. The project for teams in this year's Cyber Junkyard challenge was to build a bottling machine with batching capabilities, but with the added challenge of pitting their process against the other institutions, which will be judged on overall equipment efficiency, measured throughput, quality and availability.
Dan Moodley, managing director of Siemens Automation and Drives, says the response from institutions was very enthusiastic from the launch of the programme, which was initiated in February 2003. "Born out of the need to forge closer ties between Siemens and tertiary technology-related institutions, the Cyber Junkyard initiative allows teams from a number of tertiary institutions to familiarise themselves with Siemens Automations and Drives equipment by completing a project made up of mechanical, electrical and software components according to certain specifications prescribed by Siemens."
The Da Vinci Technical Institute adjudicated the event, and the institute's representatives looked for the most innovative and practical solutions applicable to industry today. Dr Elisabeth Dickson from the Da Vinci Technical Institute commended the entrants on the high standard of projects presented as well as the enthusiasm and commitment with which they presented their projects.
This year's competition saw 10 competing institutes. In addition to last year's winner, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the entrants for the 2004 competition included the North-West University (Potchefstroom), the Peninsula Technikon, Tshwane University of Technology, Zululand University, Mangosuthu Technikon, University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand, Technikon Witwatersrand and Rand Afrikaans University (RAU).
Dr Roy Marcus who announced the wining teams, at the Cyber Junkyard awards evening, stated, "The smart partnership between Siemens and the educating bodies is a mutually beneficial relationship that lifts education to a new level. The opportunity that arises from the Cyber Junkyard event, upgrades the technical educational standard, while students learn the Siemens philosophy.
"With part of our objective to familiarise students and lecturers with Siemens equipment, we have found that these institutions are hungry for outside influence and training from large companies. We are already planning the project for next years challenge, and will be teaming with industry partners to ensure that the 2005 Cyber Junkyard competition will give students an even greater opportunity to showcase their talents," said Dan Moodley.
Sinamics G200 frequency converter for general applications Siemens South Africa
Motion Control & Drives
Siemens has expanded its Sinamics portfolio with the G200, a compact general-purpose frequency converter that supports Profinet, TIA Portal integration and built-in safety and cybersecurity functions for a wide range of industrial drive applications.
Read more...Siemens powers next-generation reusable spacecraft development Siemens South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
A European aerospace startup focused on reusable space systems, has adopted Siemens Xcelerator software to connect engineering disciplines, reduce rework and accelerate spacecraft development, cutting the path from concept to flight hardware to nine months for its orbital demonstration capsule.
Read more...From the editor's desk: Consistently not stupid Technews Publishing (SA Instrumentation & Control)
News
Over the years I’ve followed Charlie Munger. He’s considered to be one of the greatest investors and thinkers on decision making in the past century, and spent six decades as Warren Buffett’s business ...
Read more...South Africa’s space balls
Editor's Choice News
South African engineers are preparing to take low-frequency radio astronomy to the Moon with three locally developed B.A.L.L.S. spheres aboard China’s Chang’e-8 mission. This could pave the way for a 55-antenna lunar array and marks another step in the country’s growing space engineering capability.
Read more...RS South Africa announces 2026 Student Project Fund winners RS South Africa
News
RS South Africa has awarded 13 engineering students with R10?000 worth of products each through its 2026 Student Project Fund, supporting projects spanning renewable energy, robotics, warehouse automation and STEM education.
Read more...Sinamics G210X for advanced pump, fan and compressor applications Siemens South Africa
Motion Control & Drives
Siemens has introduced the Sinamics G210X, a frequency converter for pump, fan and compressor applications combining easy engineering, IP55 protection and integrated S2 system redundancy for reliable operation in demanding infrastructure environments.
Read more...Certified gas meter module
News
Sensirion’s next-generation SGM5304 gas meter module has completed certification to the harmonised EN 17526 standard, simplifying MID approval and speeding customers’ route to market.
Read more...Siemens software scales with Simple Energy EV development Siemens South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
Simple Energy, an Indian electric two-wheeler manufacturer, has expanded its use of Siemens Xcelerator software to manage complex vehicle variants and enterprise-level bills of materials, accelerating product development as its EV portfolio scales.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
printer friendly version