#02 2018
News
SARAO celebrates the successful completion of the SKA Telescope Manager Critical Design Review
The General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union to be hosted on African soil for the first time in 2024
US Embassy members visit Losberg and Carnarvon
European Union delegation visits SARAO Cape Town office
First cohort of SARAO-sponsored Northern Cape matrics progressing well at university
2017 SARAO bursary beneficiaries progress to second year of tertiary studies
Students from African countries complete third HartRAO AVN training school
Outreach
MeerLICHT telescope inaugurated
SARAO hosts Minister Kubayi-Ngubane and members of Parliamentary Portfolio Committee at Losberg
SARAO hosts Community Information sessions in the Northern Cape
South Africa’s initialling of the SKA Convention and Protocol texts takes place in Rome, Italy
Astronomy in South Africa is profiled at the IAU GA 2018 in Vienna
SARAO staff member leads 2018 NRAO NINE Program
Chinese Vice Minister for Science and Technology visits SARAO offices
Ghana and South Africa celebrate first success of African network of telescopes
Servitude establishment program
Latest developments on the land acquisitions programme
SARAO Human Capital Development Programme – Creating excellence in radio astronomy
SARAO Tech News
Ghana marks first spot on the AVN
Standing on the shoulders of giants: a South African’s contribution to global radio astronomy
HERA: Building to view the past
Across the Globe
SKA prototype dish assembled for the first time
First SKA-Low Prototype Station completed on site
SKA precursor upgrade makes telescope 10 times more powerful
Paving the way towards the SKA: astronomers detect signal from the first stars
Spain joins the SKA Organisation
New platform to showcase SKA’s major engineering progress
SKA treaty open for initialling
SARAO Science Engagement
RD9 Solutions: Introduction to Robotics
DST Mini Science Forum ignites conversations about big science
SARAO participates in Science Centre World Summit 2017
SARAO participates in third Science Forum South Africa
SARAO/SKA SA hosts DST Mini Science Forum in Northern Cape
Scifest Africa 2018
SARAO and Oculus announce partnership
SARAO wins Best Workshop prize at Scifest Africa 2018
NASA Electrical Engineer visits schools in Sutherland
SARAO participates in Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference in Dunedin, New Zealand
Participants graduate from Phase 1 of MAPPP NINE
SKA AVN MAPPP NINE Development Lab
MAPPP NINE expands to SKA AVN
IAU CAP 2018
SARAO participates in EuroScience Open Forum 2018 in Toulouse, France
National Science Week 2018
SARAO hosts 2018 SAASTA National Schools Debates Competition in the Northern Cape and North West
SARAO Big Data Africa School 2018 kicks off
Carnarvon High School teams through to National Competition of World Robot Olympiad 2018
SARAO Big Data Africa School 2018 ends on high note for African students
SARAO People
SARAO staffers shine at INCOSE SA 2018 conference
Five SARAO electrician trade artisan students attend media training in Carnarvon
SARAO Junior engineer wins Best Poster Presentation at UCT Engineering Research Expo
Dr Bonita de Swardt presents at plenary session at Grand Challenges Partners meeting in Kenya
SARAO bursary holder wins first prize in AT-RASC student paper competition
Dr Aletha de Witt elected to the IAU commission on astrometry
Dr Rob Adam inducted as a Fellow of the South African Academy of Engineering
SARAO bursary funded students selected for 2018/19 CSIRO scholarship
Junior Science Process Developer wins Thomson Reuters Award
Brendan Swarts – Electrician Artisan student
Morgan Daba – Electrician Artisan student
Marthinus Steyn – Telescope Operator
Griet Tobias – Housekeeper
Jan Mouers – General Worker
Mathakane Molewa – HERA Construction Supervisor
Malissa Pietersen – Procurement Officer (Site)
Lourencia Lyon – HERA General Worker
Peter van Wyngaarden – HERA General Worker
Bradwin Vermeulen – HERA General Worker
Tyrone Adams – HERA General Worker
Levurd Vaarland – HERA General Worker
R. Sean Oliphant – Mathematics teacher at Carnarvon High School
SARAO Big Data Africa School 2018 kicks off
SARAO News #02 2018
The second Big Data Africa School kicked off in Cape Town on 10 September 2018 at Monkey Valley in Noordhoek.
Nearly 30 students from South Africa and the eight other SKA African Partner countries will be participating in the School until 17 September 2018, which is hosted by the SARAO Human Capital Development Programme in partnership with Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy and the Newton Fund.
The Big Data Africa School aims to introduce fundamental data science tools and techniques to talented young science graduates across a range of disciplines, who have an interest to develop their skills and knowledge in working efficiently on extremely large datasets in any research environment.
SARAO received over 100 applications for this year’s school from students studying at universities in South Africa and the eight Square Kilometre Array Africa partner countries. This year, 27 students are hosted who are completing a Masters or Honours degree in a range of science and engineering disciplines.
Speakers at the opening event included Dr Bernie Fanaroff, former SKA Project Director; Ben Boddy, the incumbent UK Consul General for the British Government based in Cape Town; and Dr Anna Scaife, the Head of the Jodrell Bank Interferometry Centre of Excellence.
Dr Fanaroff welcomed the students and spoke about the importance of their attendance at the School and how to make the most of their time there.
“There is no reason why we as Africa cannot be part of the fourth industrial revolution. We have to do that, otherwise we will be left behind. Also, if we want to become wealthy countries and make a better life for our people, we’ve got to have these skills, and data scientists have these skills. I am very envious of you because you are getting in on the ground floor of a what is going to be a very big and important building with huge opportunities,” said Dr Fanaroff, referring to the growth opportunities within the Square Kilometre Array. “With good skills and data science, you will never be short of opportunity,” he continued.
Boddy spoke about the UK-SA partnerships and his country’s renewed undertaking to establish partnerships with Africa.
“A while ago we launched an industrial strategy and one of the biggest challenges we identified was big data and artificial intelligence. Now we are investing in the future, in partnerships around the world, particularly in Africa, in young people and data scientists, not only because we are going to need data scientists, but because we can see that it is going to be an industry that young people can lead. I am sure some of the people in the room tonight, will be presenting speeches in twenty years’ time to the next cohort,” said Boddy.
Dr Scaife presented on the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy Big Data project, while on Thursday, 13 September 2018, industry partners from IBM and Praekelt.org spoke to the students about their organisations and its role in the fourth industrial revolution.
Graham Maart from IBM spoke about Global technology trends, taking ownership of your career as a data scientist and IBM tools and recourses; while Dr Monika Obrocka from Praekelt.org engaged the students on Life as a data scientist.
The week long programme includes presentations, lectures and workshops by an array of speakers, culminating in the students working on a practical computational project during the school with their results to be presented to a panel at closing of the school. This year’s projects span a range of exciting and industry-relevant topics in the areas of astronomy/radio astronomy, cybersecurity, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Health.
For more information contact Dr Bonita de Swardt, Programme Manager: Strategic Partnerships for Human Capacity Development on bonita@ska.ac.za
Big Data Attendees at the one-day work session which was held on 11 July 2017 at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation in Ghana to kick off the High Performance Computing training programme in Ghana.
Members of the nine SKA African partner countries concluded the Fourth Ministerial Meeting on the SKA in Accra, Ghana by signing a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on radio astronomy.
Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor watches on as the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cuts the ribbon at the launch of the Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory.
Media coverage
The launch of the Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory was covered 119 times in the media between 23 and 25 August 2017:
In Ghana: 24 times
In South Africa: 36 times
In other African countries: 8 times
Internationally: 51 times
The value of these placements is R6 983 234.17.
Last Updated on November 19, 2018
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