EDUCATION
  SANRAL, CSIR TEAM UP
THE design of road materials and pavements has become an exact science. Materials can be engineered to withstand heavier traffic and harsher environmental conditions. They should also be durable and ageing or degradation should be prevented as far as possible. To this end, SANRAL, the CSIR and the University of Pretoria have initiated a set of road materials testing laboratories. Three labs are being constructed or upgraded with funding from SANRAL: an academic laboratory to train students at the University of Pretoria, a reference testing laboratory that will be managed by the CSIR on the University of Pretoria’s experimental farm and an upgraded research laboratory on the CSIR campus itself. In addition, SANRAL has funded several research projects at the CSIR to improve the design of roads. These interventions have the potential to save the country hundreds of millions of rands.
PEDESTRIAN BEHAVIOUR EXAMINED  
THE SANRAL Chair in Transportation, Planning and Engineering at UCT covers a wide range of related approaches. The course with the greatest impact is the fourth-year civil engineering course on transportation engineering. About 100 students are trained in the fundamentals of geometric road design, pavement design and traffic engineering design. The Chair is also looking at specific groups of people (women, urban poor, public transport users) using specific systems (public transport, walking) to specific destinations (factories, jobs, schools) and at specific times of the day. Using a computational system called agent-based modelling, which simulates the behaviour and interactions of individuals or groups with the system as a whole, the Chair is examining how users of the multi-modal public transport system react to network configurations, as well as hybrid models of modes of transit. An investigation into pedestrian infrastructure and behaviour in Africa is also under way, as is the development of a smartphone app that pedestrians can use to rate their walking environment. Stellenbosch electrical and electronic engineering Master’s student Hardy van der Merwe has built a piece of software specifically to analyse pedestrian movements using footage from surveillance cameras along South Africa’s highways.
Hardy van der Merwe
 DIVERSITY IN ENGINEERING BLOOMS
THE SANRAL Chair in Pavement Engineering at Stellenbosch University has gone from strength to strength in the last 17 years. This growth has brought with it unprecedented diversity, both from within South Africa and from beyond its borders. Between 40% and 60% of students come from historically disadvantaged communities. Among its defining features is the Chair’s cooperation with international universities in Rwanda, Brazil, China, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and the US. With regard to outputs, seven doctoral and 51 Master’s degrees have been awarded. More than 1 000 student courses have been completed in the same period. Undergraduate activities have also flourished, with inputs from the SANRAL Chair, into transportation science, advanced design, research projects and materials science in second- to fourth-year courses.
DIVERSITY IN ENGINEERING BLOOMS 
THE Physical Sciences ICT Laboratory at the University of the Free State uses information and communication technology (ICT) to support effective science teaching and learning. This enables more learners and students to enter science-related studies and careers such as engineering and teaching science.
 REGIONAL CENTRE IN THE OFFING
THE SANRAL Chair in Mathematics, Science and Technical Education at the University of the Free State is a multi-pronged intervention that includes research on science and maths education, postgraduate training at Master’s and PhD levels, recruiting and supporting talented high school learners, building and supporting professional communities of teachers, and the dissemination of research findings.
In its three years of existence, this Chair has supported and produced 15 PhDs and six Master’s graduates in science, mathematics, technology and educational leadership studies. The possibility of establishing and launching a regional centre of excellence in science, mathematics and technology education to service the entire SADC is no longer just a pipe-dream, thanks to seed funding from the SANRAL Chair endowment.
DEMYSTIFYING MATHS  
THE Science-for-the-Future (S4F) unit in the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State, in collaboration with several funders, is demystifying mathematics in the early school years. It uses a handson approach and activities to improve understanding and change attitudes towards maths in the foundation and intermediate phases of school.
Teachers are trained at the UFS. They also conduct parents’ training sessions at local schools. This involves parents in their children’s maths education. During 2017, almost 20 000 project participants from 176 schools in predominately rural communities across the Free State, Gauteng, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape were actively involved in Family Math projects.