RS South Africa, a trading brand of RS Group plc (LSE: RS1), a global provider of product and service solutions for industrial customers, is excited to announce the winners of the inaugural Student Project Fund, an initiative aimed at empowering the next generation of engineers by supporting hands-on prototyping and experimentation.

The Student Project Fund is a product donation programme that supports students who want to advance their projects from just concepts to something physical and have the experience of building and testing their innovation, explains Wesley Hood, Education and Social Impact Specialist.

The six selected winners will each receive R10 000 worth of RS products to assist in bringing their ambitious projects to life. These projects span a diverse range of fields, from environmental conservation to advanced healthcare solutions.

“We are excited to help you advance these projects as you bring new ideas that will help solve problems in various industries regardless of how small or big the positive change might look,” comments Hood.

Dylan Opperman from Nelson Mandela University is developing an Autonomous Solar Panel Cleaning Robot. This project addresses the critical issue of dust accumulation on solar panels, which can significantly impact their efficiency and performance.

Mishay Naidoo and team (Stephanie Paine, Ryan Jones and Tristyn Ferreiro) from the University of Cape Town are working on a project to enhance conservation efforts for the Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, a species currently facing endangerment in the Kalahari.

Michael Awe, also from the University of Cape Town, aims to revolutionise preventative healthcare through early disease detection. His project involves developing a low-cost, high-accuracy sensor array to identify disease-specific VOC profiles, enabling early diagnosis of conditions like Parkinson's.

Annabelle Bester & Team TuksBaja from the University of Pretoria are designing and building a small, single-seater off-road vehicle. Their project adheres to the rules set by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and demonstrates their commitment to automotive engineering.

Shamira Pillay from the University of Witwatersrand is fabricating and optimising anaerobic bio batteries using banana waste. This research aims to achieve optimal power density, longevity, stability, thermal resistance, and biodegradability for industrial energy storage applications.

Lebogang Moloto from the University of Johannesburg is developing a real-time sensor-based monitoring system to detect and remediate heavy metal contamination in water, addressing a critical environmental and public health issue.

With the Student Project Fund, RS South Africa demonstrates its commitment to supporting students in engineering and technology-related courses. By providing essential resources for prototyping and experimentation, RS aims to enhance the educational journey and equip students with the skills necessary for their future careers. "We strongly believe these innovations could transform our world for a better future,” concludes Hood.

RS South Africa is a proudly Level 2 B-BBEE accredited company.