Electrical & Electronic Engineering - Stellenbosch University

A final-year mechatronic engineering project at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Engineering explored how raw radar reflections can be reconstructed into a two-dimensional image.

Satheesh Bissessur, under the supervision of Mr Lanche Grootboom, developed a MATLAB algorithm that processes measurements recorded while targets rotate through 360 degrees in front of a radar system. The project combined background subtraction, windowing, range alignment, back projection, and minimum-entropy focusing.

The final algorithm located both single and multiple targets and achieved a measured resolution of 1.65 cm in the distance and cross-range directions. It also showed how reducing the number of viewing angles affects image focus and spatial detail.

The project provides a foundation for future work on more complex target shapes, improved positional accuracy, and other radar-imaging applications.

Read the full article: https://www.su.ac.za/en/faculties/engineering/departments/electrical-electronic-engineering/news/radar-reflections-images-reconstructing-rotating-scenes-isar

When radio signals don't behave as planned at the Square Kilometre Array site in South Africa, the cost isn't just technical, it's time and money spent on redesign.

A final-year engineering project at Stellenbosch University by Me Nikita van Rooi, supervised by Prof Riaan Wolhuter, compared two radio propagation models across 411 site links to understand exactly when and why each model fails.

The result: ITU-R P.526 outperformed Longley-Rice, with 78% accurate predictions versus 68%. Machine learning identified the specific terrain features — clearance ratio, obstacle height, mean elevation — that drive failures in each model.

A practical framework that engineers can use to flag high-risk links before they become costly problems.

Read the full article: https://www.su.ac.za/en/faculties/engineering/departments/electrical-electronic-engineering/news/comparison-radio-propagation-models-receive-level-anomalies-ska

How can a target impact be confirmed when visual spotting becomes difficult over long distance?

A final-year mechatronic engineering project at Stellenbosch University explored that question by developing a wireless Target Hit Indicator for steel gong targets.

Built by Dean van Zyl, the prototype combines accelerometer-based impact detection with LoRa radio communication. When the target is struck, the transmitter detects the impact and sends a feedback packet to a handheld receiver with an OLED display.

Field testing showed reliable communication at 1 km, 206.8 ms feedback latency, 100% impact detection accuracy in the test setup, and an estimated battery life of more than 100 hours.

The project brings together sensor selection, PCB design, firmware development, radio testing, and practical prototype validation.

Read the full post: https://www.su.ac.za/en/faculties/engineering/departments/electrical-electronic-engineering/news/turning-target-impacts-instant-wireless-feedback

A final-year engineering project at Stellenbosch University explored how a locally hosted Home Energy Management System can help households make better use of solar, battery storage, and outage planning.

Built by Aldrich Opperman, under the supervision of Dr Arnold Rix, the system runs on a Raspberry Pi with a touchscreen dashboard that brings together inverter data, weather forecasts, load-shedding schedules, and smart-switch control.

The project moves past simple monitoring. It predicts household demand, estimates solar generation, and adjusts battery charging and selected loads ahead of outages.

It’s a practical piece of engineering shaped by South Africa’s energy context, and by the day-to-day decisions households face when grid supply is uncertain.

Read the full post: https://www.su.ac.za/en/faculties/engineering/departments/electrical-electronic-engineering/news/smarter-way-manage-home-energy-during-load-shedding

📢 Join Stellenbosch University's research team

The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Stellenbosch University is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship focused on Radio Astronomy Instrumentation within the EMACS group.

This opportunity is ideal for researchers passionate about RF systems, antennas, radio astronomy and advanced instrumentation research.

📅 Closing date: Open until position is filled

Find out more and apply: https://padlet.com/su_research/postdoctoral-fellowship-opportunities-globq2v84ww0cm8/wish/Xb8YaLpg255vayn1

📧 Send applications to: [email protected]

How do you stay in touch when mobile networks are overloaded or unavailable?

A final-year engineering project at Stellenbosch University explored that question by developing a two-part off-grid communication system that pairs a smartphone app with a compact LoRa device.

Built by Gerhard Arnold Hattingh under the supervision of Professor Rensu Theart, the system supports text messaging, location sharing, friend-finding, and low-resolution image transfer without relying on cellular service or Wi-Fi.

Field tests showed reliable two-way communication over roughly 2 km in open terrain, with setup from app launch to first message taking about 39 seconds.

It’s a thoughtful piece of engineering that brings together hardware, software, security, and user-focused design into a single practical system.

Read the full post: https://www.su.ac.za/en/faculties/engineering/departments/electrical-electronic-engineering/news/when-mobile-networks-fail-phone-can-still-reach-your-group

Thinking about studying Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Stellenbosch University?

Join us at the Faculty of Engineering’s on-campus Open Day on Saturday, 18 April 2026, from 08:00 to 15:00.

It’s a good chance to get a feel for the department, speak to staff and students, and see where this degree can take you. From lab tours and demos to practical information about the programme, admission, and student life, the day is designed to help you make a more informed choice about your next step.

Our undergraduate offering opens into fields such as robotics, telecommunications, energy, informatics, and data engineering.

We look forward to welcoming prospective students and showing you what Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Stellenbosch is about.

A final-year electrical and electronic engineering project in the Faculty of Engineering at Stellenbosch University examined how reinforcement learning can improve cooling efficiency at mobile network sites.

Rynhardt du Plessis, under the supervision of Professor Riaan Wolhuter and Dr Jaco du Toit, developed a simulation-based thermal control system for telecom containers. The project combined a fitted heat-transfer model with a Deep Q-Network agent that learned when to switch between off, fan, air conditioner, and combined cooling modes.

At the measured site, cooling accounted for about 41% of total energy use when one air conditioner was running. In the project’s test environments, the learned controller reduced energy use and sharply cut temperature alarms compared with the current automatic strategy, while also generalising from a humid setting to a much hotter, drier one without retraining.

Read the full article: https://www.su.ac.za/en/faculties/engineering/departments/electrical-electronic-engineering/news/smarter-cooling-mobile-network-sites-reinforcement-learning-energy-efficient-thermal