Time for BIUST to shine

University is designing a cube satellite ( CubeSat) Masisi to commission the international acclaimed BOTSAT 1 BIUST plays critical role on issues of climate change

Botswana International University of Science and Technology ( BIUST) is ready to showcase its technical tools that will bring skills and technical innovation to attract investment avenues through its multimillion world- acclaimed project, BOTSAT- 1.

For years, BIUST has been doing many scientific researches and innovation projects that have enabled the institution to gradually gain international recognition around the world.

This project is in line with the Presidential Reset Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goal ( SDGs) No. 12 which speaks about responsible consumption and production, SDG No. 13 which speaks about climate action and SDG 17 partnerships for the goals.

It is hoped that the introduction of the 5G bandwidth by the French company, Orange in Botswana will add quality into the already good work done BIUST through its Lecturers and students.

The latest news is that the institution will host the commissioning of the first Botswana Satellite Ground Station ( BOTSAT- 1) project next week Friday by Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi in its Campus in Palapye. During his State of the Nation Address on Monday, President Masisi said the Botswana Satellite ( BOT SAT- 1) in Palapye has been developed in partnership with the Cape Town University of Science and Technology. A major component of this satellite is the ground communication station which has been completed and ready for commissioning. This ground station will immediately communicate with other orbiting satellites before the launch of the satellite in 2023.

The project will make Botswana one of the few African countries with an orbiting satellite, reflecting the hunger for a knowledge- based economy. Some of the key benefits from this project are water resource management, industrial development, environmental management, land management, food security and sustainable agriculture, among others.

The Botswana Satellite will bring Botswana into the global satellite ecosystem for research and development in a variety of disciplines.

“This is a huge milestone towards a knowledge- based economy,” President Masisi said, also recognising the role and potential of BIUST on issues of climate change.

The institution is undertaking projects including the development of a prototype for conversion of coal to liquid fuel and gasification of coal as a source of energy.

“A prototype has also been developed on production of sodium hypochlorite, commonly used as a broad- based disinfectant”. BIUST proved itself during the peak of COVID- 19 when they designed a dashboard for the Ministry of Health and Wellness which was used by the Presidential Task Force, as well as one for the Mozambican government to show comprehensive and improved results at reduced costs.

In an interview with Botswana Guardian, BIUST Communications Manager, Keoagile Rafifing confirmed that the commissioning of the project will take place on November 22.

He described BotSat- 1 as a multidisciplinary and cross- sectoral project which spans almost all academic fields hence being fundamental for the continuity of such collaboration, career progress, sharing knowledge and ideas from research to experimentation and market. “The BOTSAT- 1 ground communication station has been installed and the training for engineers is ongoing to run the equipment”.

Rafifing added that the project exists to design a cube satellite ( CubeSat) which will serve as Botswana’s first satellite ( BotswanaSat- 1). It is expected to train and equip students with quality higher education for relevant skills for sustainable indigenous satellite programme.

It will also establish a platform by which Botswana’s researchers, scientists, engineers, and students from different disciplines can be trained through the entire process of satellite development.

In addition, the CubeSat will generate useful satellite data to solve developmental challenges in Botswana especially in the agricultural and tourism industries which will influence smart farming, and real- time virtual tourism.

It will design a scalable platform guided by an innovative framework that will enable development of more advanced satellite projects, and to extend the BotswanaSat- 1 project’s impact through collaborations in the African Constellation Satellite Network ( AFCONSAT), which intends to bring together about 10 African countries to build their first satellites. A few years ago, BIUST scientists who were engaged behind the scenes in lab researches, revealed that they are ready to start assisting the Botswana Police Service ( BPS) with Forensic tests including, but not limited to blood spatter analysis, crime scene analysis, ballistic tests and DNA tests. That was at the time when BPS relied on neighbouring countries in particular, South

Africa. The University has always been of the view that to stay relevant and be self- sustaining they have to patent some of the students’ projects and come up with a way to release them for mass production. Another innovation is the collaboration between BIUST, MoHW and the Ministry of Education which enabled the launch of the country’s first Drone delivery service pilot called “Drones For Health” in Palapye on the 7th of 2021.

The aim of the project, dubbed “the game changer”, is to accelerate reduction of preventable maternal death by delivering maternal health supplies and commodities including essential obstetric care drugs, blood and blood products and laboratory specimen in a timely manner, particularly to hard- to- reach communities and health facilities, to save lives.

Reports show that the drones for health innovation will contribute immensely to improved and more equitable access to life- saving quality care for the most vulnerable, particularly women and girls across Botswana, and contribute to reducing the number of deaths of pregnant women.

The innovation supports the government’s commitment made at the 2019 Nairobi Summit to reduce maternal deaths to 70/ 100 000 live births by 2030 and UNFPA’s transformative result of ending preventable maternal deaths by 2030.

At 166 deaths per 100, 000 live births, Botswana’s maternal mortality ratio ( MMR) is more than double the average for upper- middle income countries. In 2017 Botswana set a national MMR target of 71 deaths per 100 000 live births by 2025 and 54 deaths per 100 000 live births by 2030 to achieve SDG 3.

If the current maternal deaths trend continues, Botswana is likely not to meet the SDG target. Statistics Botswana 2019 MMR Stats Brief cites postpartum hemorrhaging or excessive blood loss as the leading cause of death for pregnant women in Botswana.