Boitshepo Gopane

Awarded provincial colors for Junior category (Level 2) competency

Leopard’s Lair is a unique entrepreneurship competition where the NWU’s Department of Technology Transfer and Innovation Support and the Faculty of Engineering connect and support students through entrepreneurship and innovation. Entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of investors, which is sixteen finalists students from the North-West University (NWU) and the Vaal University of Technology.

Creativity, perseverance and the spirit of enquiry are producing results at the NWU, which is celebrating the achievements of a larger, more diverse pool of researchers than ever before. The NWU honoured its cream-of-the-crop researchers and innovators during the vice-chancellor’s annual Research and Innovation Excellence Awards in Potchefstroom 24/10/2019. The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Most Promising Student Innovation Idea went to Boitshepo Gopane. Prof Dan Kgwadi, vice-chancellor, said it is clear from the NWU’s research performance highlights that it has built a strong foundation that empowers researchers and scholars to soar higher and further in pursuit of their goals. He saluted the night’s winners and applauded their commitment, perseverance and vision.

The Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) in collaboration with the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, has launched its first Entrepreneurship Intervarsity competition. The aim of the competition is to identify and support student entrepreneurs who have been able to establish their own businesses, along with those who have innovative ideas they would like to pursue while studying. The competition is presented by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and Universities South Africa (USAf) in all twenty six public universities. The Entrepreneurship Intervarsity competition has four categories which the participants can which are; Category one – Innovative Ideas, Category two – Tech Business, Category three – Social Impact and Category four – General. Boitshepo Gopane from the Northwest university is a finalist on the innovative idea category is a technology recycling company called "WeClean reyclers" that aims to raise awareness using an application to earn points which you can redeem on their vouchers platform.