FORD SA donates a Ford Ranger to the VUT Southern Gauteng Science and Technology Park
FORD SA donates a Ford Ranger to the VUT Southern Gauteng Science and Technology Park
By Nontobeko Zondi 25 June 2021
Figure1: The Ranger-Wildtrek donated by FORD SA to VUT SGSTP
The Vaal University of Technology Southern Gauteng Science and Technology Park (VUT SGSTP) is on the mission to promote technical training, research and technology development by building the training laboratories and technology assembling area. These facilities that are at developmental stage will be used for practical training, Research and technology development. These facilities will not only house the latest technologies within the 4th industrial revolution like 3D printing but also include other technologies that are still dominating the economy.
The petrochemical, combustion and engine training especial Fuel injector engine and Diesel Engine are critical training components needed at Science Park. These engines are for training students, staff and communities. The training beneficiaries will learn to dismantle and assemble engines and other technologies that use petrochemical and renewable energy. The petrochemical, combustion and engine training will benefit people that are currently fixing cars, especially youth in the community and VUT students.
Science Park programme management office (PMO) team applied for the car engines in many car producers and only Ford promised to donate a car engine. The engine cars will be used for combustion training, petrochemical training, electric training, mechanical training, technical drawing, technical design, and assembling training.
On Friday, 28 May 2021, Ford South Africa donated not only the car engine but the Ford Ranger, a wild trek to VUT Science Park. This double cab car is in a good function condition, unfortunately, it cannot be used in the public road as it was donated for training purposes.
Dr Mncube a programme manager at VUT science park expressed his appreciation towards this donation: “firstly, we would like to thank Ford SA for the contribution in building the VUT SGSTP as we aim to put science and technology in the Science Park. We are very excited about the donation because people can now visit Science Park and learn about cars not only theoretical but practical. We are going to build Solar cars, drones, 3D Printers and other technologies at the science park in making sure that we promote science, research and technology development. We are looking forward to working with ford SA in future”.
According to their website- https://www.ford.co.za/about-ford/corporate-mobile/, Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan with 10,717 dealerships and sold 953,165 trucks to dealerships in the U.S. Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa has been an active participant in the South African motor industry since 1923 when they began assembling Model T cars in a disused woolshed in Port Elizabeth. They remain one of Southern Africa’s leading automotive companies. One element of Ford operations throughout the world that continues to stand above all is the brand promise. It is a modern interpretation of Henry Ford’s vision to “open the highways to all mankind”. Linking to: https://www.wallstreetzen.com/stocks/us/nyse/f/statistics
