TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Saboteurs threaten South Africa’s power supply

      20 May 2022

      Prosus to sell Russia’s Avito

      20 May 2022

      Curro pilots artificial intelligence for learning in its schools

      20 May 2022

      Dark weekend lies ahead thanks to you know who

      20 May 2022

      CSIR develops app to help kids learn to read

      20 May 2022
    • World

      Chip giant ASML places big bets on a tiny future

      20 May 2022

      Musk moves to soothe investor fears over Tesla

      20 May 2022

      Apple is almost ready to show off its mixed-reality headset

      20 May 2022

      TikTok plans big push into gaming

      19 May 2022

      Musk says he will vote Republican, calls ESG a ‘scam’

      19 May 2022
    • In-depth

      Elon Musk is becoming like Henry Ford – and that’s not a good thing

      17 May 2022

      Stablecoins wend wobbly way into the unknown

      17 May 2022

      The standard model of particle physics may be broken

      11 May 2022

      Meet Jared Birchall, Elon Musk’s personal ‘fixer’

      6 May 2022

      Twitter takeover was brash and fast, with Musk calling the shots

      26 April 2022
    • Podcasts

      Dean Broadley on why product design at Yoco is an evolving art

      18 May 2022

      Everything PC S01E02 – ‘AMD: Ryzen from the dead – part 2’

      17 May 2022

      Everything PC S01E01 – ‘AMD: Ryzen from the dead – part 1’

      10 May 2022

      Llew Claasen on how exchange controls are harming SA tech start-ups

      2 May 2022

      The inside scoop on OVEX’s big expansion plans

      20 April 2022
    • Opinion

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022

      Cash is still king … but not for much longer

      31 March 2022

      Icasa on the role of TV white spaces and dynamic spectrum access

      31 March 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»In-depth»SKA sets universities abuzz

    SKA sets universities abuzz

    In-depth By Editor22 June 2012
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Artist's impression of SKA dishes (image: SKA Organisation/Swinburne Astronomy Productions)

    SA universities have welcomed the establishment of the world’s most powerful radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

    Following the SKA Organisation’s announcement late last month that SA, Australia and New Zealand would share the R26bn project, local academics have spoken enthusiastically about the research, job and study opportunities that will be created.

    “The SKA is an international collaboration. It’s a fantastic opportunity for SA graduates to get exposure in the international arena,” said Petrus Meintjes, professor of physics at the University of the Free State.

    Prof Ramesh Baruthram, deputy vice-chancellor (academic) and head of the astronomy desk in the University of the Western Cape’s science and technology department, said: “The SKA heralds a new era for African science and technology.” Astronomers at the university are deeply involved in the SKA project, backed by its astronomy group that was started in 2008.

    Combined with the existing MeerKAT project, the SKA main site will be at 1km on a plateau in the Karoo. Construction is due for completion in 2025.

    Flooded by applicants
    Tim Gibbon of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University said the university’s physics department had 10 years’ experience in optical-fibre telecommunications research.

    “Broadband optical fibre forms the backbone of the SKA in terms of transporting and aggregating huge volumes of information collected by the telescope array,” he said.

    “Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University aims to assist and advise in the construction of the SKA optical-fibre network and produce highly skilled graduates to maintain and operate the SKA network into the future.”

    Since 2005 the National Research Foundation, through its SKA Africa project, has provided nearly 400 scholarships in astrophysics and engineering for SKA-related projects and the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme has paid for nearly 150 scholarships for SA and other African students.

    The foundation and the SKA also provide bursaries for students at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University to undertake SKA-related research at the institution. “We were absolutely flooded by applicants. This reflects the tremendous interest from students to be involved in the SKA project,” said Gibbon.

    The University of the Witwaters­rand, which has participated in the SKA project for the past two years, has appointed Sergio Colafrancesco to promote research and develop high-level skills for the project.

    Research infrastructure
    Colafrancesco holds one of the SA SKA research chairs jointly awarded by the National Research Foundation and the department of science and technology. “Wits is supporting the SKA chair group at various levels, from local logistics and research infrastructure to the support of the overall strategic vision of the SKA research chair,” Colafrancesco said.

    The SKA chair group at Wits University is trying to link its astrophysics and cosmology studies with the research activity, he said.

    “With this we hope to present career paths from the undergrad level to the postgrad and research assistantship levels, taking the more modern and cutting-edge activities in this research field and the impact of the SKA for the next decades into consideration.

    “We at Wits believe that we should create an education path going from the necessary teaching-based approach to the required research-based approach that is needed to manage and exploit the huge information content stored in the future database achievable with the SKA.”

    Researchers in the astrophysics and cosmology research unit at the University of KwaZulu-Natal have worked closely with the SA SKA project since its inception nearly a decade ago and now “host a node of the [SKA project’s] astronomy undergraduate bursary programme that will train the next generation of astronomers in SA”, said spokesperson Indumathie Moodley.

    Invaluable guide
    She said Kenda Knowles, a master’s student at the university, had been recruited by the project to work on data from the Karoo Array Telescope, KAT-7, a radio array comprising seven dishes. Knowles is interested in studying the growth of galaxy clusters, the most massive objects in the universe, held together by gravity.

    Rhodes University, whose radio astronomy unit was established more than half a century ago, has been instrumental in developing the KAT-7 and the MeerKAT array. The lead scientist in South Africa’s SKA project, Justin Jonas, is involved in the construction of these telescopes.

    “Jonas was an invaluable guide in designing and building the MeerKAT telescope and infrastructure,” said Bernie Fanaroff, director of the SKA South Africa Project. “Rhodes will be at the forefront of designing the massive SKA radio telescope.”

    A number of Rhodes students, including Adrian Tiplady, who was later appointed as site manager for the SKA project, worked on building the MeerKAT telescopes. Rhodes will award a number of bursaries to students to work on the design and development of the SKA.

    “These students will be part of the newly established centre for radio astronomy techniques and technologies at Rhodes. The centre has already started working with leading international radio astronomy groups and will play a large role in the design and development of the SKA, bringing together a number of scientific fields, including mathematics, physics and computing,” said Rhodes spokesperson Zamuxolo Matiwana.

    In recognition of the university’s contribution to the design and construction of the telescope and its role in the SKA bid, Rhodes was awarded a chair in radio astronomy techniques and technologies.

    Claude Carignan, the SA SKA research chair in multi-wavelength astronomy in the department of astronomy at the University of Cape Town, said: “Think of the message [the project] sends to the young generation. It will surely motivate them to think about careers in sciences, which is so essential for the development of the country.”

    Carignan, who is Canadian, took up the chair last year. He highlighted the role played by the government in ensuring astronomy’s survival.

    “I expected that a majority of engineers would be foreigners like myself but, to my surprise, 80% of them were young South Africans,” he said.

    “The government and institutions have done a fantastic job of communication, starting with ­science & technology minister Naledi Pandor,” Carignan said.

    Gibbon said he sensed “an intense buzz of interest around the SKA project. Most people that I talk to are aware of the project and are eager to know more. This is particularly true of the general public, for which SKA has ignited the spark of scientific curiosity.

    “There are insufficient astronomers in SA, but the development we’ve seen in the last few years will accelerate with the decision. Now we have to 2025 — 12 years — to increase our capacity.”  — (c) 2012 Mail & Guardian

    • Visit the Mail & Guardian Online, the smart news source
    Adrian Tiplady Claude Carignan Justin Jonas Kat-7 MeerKAT Naledi Pandor Ramesh Baruthram SKA Square Kilometre Array Tim Gibbon
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleNow Cell C cuts BlackBerry prices
    Next Article Telkom cuts uncapped business ADSL prices

    Related Posts

    Elon Musk is becoming like Henry Ford – and that’s not a good thing

    17 May 2022

    Stablecoins wend wobbly way into the unknown

    17 May 2022

    The standard model of particle physics may be broken

    11 May 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Fast-rising fintech Bankingly closes $11m investment round

    20 May 2022

    Creating an effective employer value proposition for the new era of work

    20 May 2022

    Why fibre is the new utility – and what it means for South Africa

    19 May 2022
    Opinion

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

    19 April 2022

    How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

    8 April 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.