Prof Andrew Leitch Dean of Science Prof Tobias receives Honorary Doctoral degree Editorial April 2012 Issue #3 Head of Chemistry receives prestigious invitation Graduation Edition April is our graduation time and this month’s newsletter focuses mainly on the achievements of our students. We have a record number of students receiving awards ranging from diplomas and de- grees to postgraduate qualifications in Sci- ence. Congratulations to all our graduates! We are proud of what you have achieved and know that your qualification will stand you in good stead as you enter the career of your choice. We are deeply honoured to be able to confer an honorary doctorate on Prof Phil- lip Tobias. Unfortunately, due to ill health he was not able to attend the ceremony. In his honour, and with his blessing, we plan to screen the series of “Tobias’s Bod- ies”, which was first viewed on national TV about ten years ago. The six episodes will be screened at lunchtimes over a period of six consecutive weeks during the third term. More details nearer the time! The Faculty continues to enjoy an increas- ing number of visits from postgrad stu- dents, researchers and professors who come from across the world. Each visitor adds value and stimulates academic de- bate which is so good for our staff and stu- dents. Such visits often lead to the estab- lishment of ties that last for years. We receive– almost on a weekly basis, vis- its from school learners in various grades. Read about one such visit that recently took place. It is important that the univer- sity be accessible to learners as well, so that their dream to attend university one day can be stimulated. PHILLIP VALENTINE TOBIAS was born in Dur- ban on the 14th of October 1925. He matricu- lated from Durban High School, after which he enrolled at the University of the Witwa- tersrand for a BSc in Histology and Physiol- ogy, graduating in 1946. He then completed his honours in 1947 with a first class pass in Histology, his MB BCh in 1950 and his PhD in 1953 In 1955, he was a Post-doctoral Fellow in Physi- cal Anthropology in the Duckworth Laboratory, Cambridge. He continued with post-doctoral studies in 1956 in the Departments of Anatomy, Human Genetics and Anthropology at Chicago University and in the Department of Anthropol- ogy at Michigan University. Back in South Africa, he obtained his DSc at his alma mater, Wits, in 1967. He also taught at the University of the Wit- watersrand for many years. Phillip Tobias is one of the most prolific scholars of South African science on an astonishingly di- verse plethoraof topics. He has produced over 1 130 publications of various kindson predominant- ly physical anthropology and human biology of hominids and the various peoples of Sub-Saha- ran Africa. He has studied the Kalahari San and the Tonga of Zambia and Zimbabwe in particular. He has covered palaeo-anthropology, -neurology and -demography and in so doing has been one of the major contributors to our understanding of human evolution. His illustrious career is typified by the initiation of the research and excavation of the Sterkfontein caves where over a third of all known early homi- nid fossils have been found. The site is now a World Heritage Site. His published works include biographies of an- thropologists as well as aspects of the phi- losophy and history of science. The list of his achievements and awards is exhaustive and includes being nominated for a Nobel Prize on three occasions. It is perhaps the greatest tribute to Philip that his name should be associated at various levels with “Mrs Ples” (Australopithecus africanus), “Littlefoot” (the most complete Australopithecus specimen ever found), the “Taung child” (Aus- tralopithecus africanus) and “Dear Boy” (Aus- tralopithicusboisei) – the most famous of homi- nids that pique curiosity about our origins on the African continent. In recognition of his work in establishing South Africa as the “Cradle of Humankind”, his devo- tion to humanity and for raising the profile of southern Africa and its people in Science and Society, it is an honour for NMMU to confer the degree of Doctor of Science (honoriscausa) on PHILLIP VALLENTINE TOBIAS. Prof Thomas Gerber (left), Head of the Chemistry Department, has been invited to serve on the editorial boards of the journals:The Scientific World and The Global Journal of Inorganic Chemistry as well as lead guest editor of the International Journal of Inorganic Chemistry.
Transcript
Prof Andrew LeitchDean of Science
Prof Tobias receives Honorary Doctoral degree
Editorial
April 2012 Issue #3
Head of Chemistry receives prestigious invitation
Graduation Edition
April is our graduation time and this month’s newsletter focuses mainly on the achievements of our students. We have a record number of students receiving awards ranging from diplomas and de-grees to postgraduate qualifications in Sci-ence. Congratulations to all our graduates! We are proud of what you have achieved and know that your qualification will stand you in good stead as you enter the career of your choice.
We are deeply honoured to be able to confer an honorary doctorate on Prof Phil-lip Tobias. Unfortunately, due to ill health he was not able to attend the ceremony. In his honour, and with his blessing, we plan to screen the series of “Tobias’s Bod-ies”, which was first viewed on national TV about ten years ago. The six episodes will be screened at lunchtimes over a period of six consecutive weeks during the third term. More details nearer the time!
The Faculty continues to enjoy an increas-ing number of visits from postgrad stu-dents, researchers and professors who come from across the world. Each visitor adds value and stimulates academic de-bate which is so good for our staff and stu-dents. Such visits often lead to the estab-lishment of ties that last for years.
We receive– almost on a weekly basis, vis-its from school learners in various grades. Read about one such visit that recently took place. It is important that the univer-sity be accessible to learners as well, so that their dream to attend university one day can be stimulated.
PHILLIP VALENTINE TOBIAS was born in Dur-ban on the 14th of October 1925. He matricu-lated from Durban High School, after which he enrolled at the University of the Witwa-tersrand for a BSc in Histology and Physiol-ogy, graduating in 1946. He then completed his honours in 1947 with a first class pass in Histology, his MB BCh in 1950 and his PhD in 1953
In 1955, he was a Post-doctoral Fellow in Physi-cal Anthropology in the Duckworth Laboratory, Cambridge. He continued with post-doctoral studies in 1956 in the Departments of Anatomy, Human Genetics and Anthropology at Chicago University and in the Department of Anthropol-ogy at Michigan University. Back in South Africa, he obtained his DSc at his alma mater, Wits, in 1967. He also taught at the University of the Wit-watersrand for many years.
Phillip Tobias is one of the most prolific scholars of South African science on an astonishingly di-verse plethoraof topics. He has produced over 1 130 publications of various kindson predominant-ly physical anthropology and human biology of hominids and the various peoples of Sub-Saha-ran Africa. He has studied the Kalahari San and the Tonga of Zambia and Zimbabwe in particular. He has covered palaeo-anthropology, -neurology and -demography and in so doing has been one of the major contributors to our understanding of human evolution.
His illustrious career is typified by the initiation of the research and excavation of the Sterkfontein caves where over a third of all known early homi-nid fossils have been found. The site is now a World Heritage Site.
His published works include biographies of an-
thropologists as well as aspects of the phi-losophy and history of science. The list of his achievements and awards is exhaustive and includes being nominated for a Nobel Prize on three occasions.
It is perhaps the greatest tribute to Philip that his name should be associated at various levels with “Mrs Ples” (Australopithecus africanus), “Littlefoot” (the most complete Australopithecus specimen ever found), the “Taung child” (Aus-tralopithecus africanus) and “Dear Boy” (Aus-tralopithicusboisei) – the most famous of homi-nids that pique curiosity about our origins on the African continent.
In recognition of his work in establishing South Africa as the “Cradle of Humankind”, his devo-tion to humanity and for raising the profile of southern Africa and its people in Science and Society, it is an honour for NMMU to confer the degree of Doctor of Science (honoriscausa) on
PHILLIP VALLENTINE TOBIAS.
Prof Thomas Gerber (left), Head of the Chemistry Department, has been invited to serve on the editorial boards of the journals:The Scientific World and The Global Journal of Inorganic Chemistry as well as lead guest editor of the International Journal of Inorganic Chemistry.
Faculty of Science Graduation
Computing Sciences, Doctoral Degrees. (From left) Melisa Koorsse, Leda van der Post, Bradley van Tonder, Prof Jean Greyling, Brenda Scholtz, Akash Singh
Graduation 2012 has finally “happened”! Watching graduates walk across the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s stage proves that as a faculty and a university - something is being done the right way.
We are so excited about the large number of undergraduates as well as the large number of postgraduates graduating across our faculty this
year (including George campus).The faculty had a grand total of 552 students graduating in April 2012 – 488 Undergraduates, 47 Masters students and last but not least 17 Doctoral students. Well done to our students! We are very proud of you and hope that you will con-tinue to further your studies with us at NMMU.
We look forward to seeing what our graduates of 2012 will do next.
Chantelle May Clohessy Cum Laude
(Mathematical Statistics)
Title of dissertation: EVALUATION OF NOISE LEV-ELS OF MICRO-WIND TUR-BINES USING A RANDOMISED
EXPERIMENT
Supervisor: Dr G Sharp Co-supervisor: Dr FJ Vorster
Kennedy Mwaura Muguro(Physics)
Title of thesis: EFFECTS OF POLARIZATION IN A DISTRIBUTED RAMAN FIBRE
AMPLIFIER
Promoter: Prof AWR Leitch
Bradley Paul van Tonder(Computer Science)
Title of thesis: ENHANCED SENSOR-BASED INTERACTION TECHNIQUES
FOR MOBILE MAP-BASED APPLICATIONS
Promoter: Prof JL Wesson
Statistics Senior post graduates. (From left) Unathi Ngundze, Chantelle Clo-hessy, Morne Sjolander, Calvan van der Byl, Kirshnee Moodley, Siphumile Mangisa
Danie Beer: A story of Success
Best Honours Student Award
Mr Gavin Rishworth (in the center) was awarded the Zoological Society of Southern Africa’s award for the best honours student at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. During this month’s graduation ceremony Gavin re-ceived his honours degree Cum Laude – well done Gavin! Keep up the good work!
Danie Beer currently holds the position of general manager at Bushfellows Private Game Reserve in Mpumalanga. Still being a student finishing his diploma in Game Ranch man-agement at NMMU, he has climbed the ladder of success and worked hard to get to where he is today.
Prior to his diploma in Game Ranch management Danie com-pleted the BSc degree, majoring in Zoology and Botany. He maintains that this definitely gave him an added advantage and provided him with the additional knowledge and confidence to embark on his chosen career.
In 2009 he started hunting socially and fell in love with it. He then decided to study once again but this time on North Campus do-ing Game Ranch Management, which he is still in the process of finishing. During his studies he made some valuable contacts through his professor, Pieter Van Niekerk. In 2011 he moved to Mpumalanga where he is currently working together with 6 other managers.
At Bushfellows Danie has his work cut out for him, at times put-ting in shifts of up to 18 hours. At the reserve the working envi-
ronment is as much outdoors and hands-on as it is dealing with client and management issues. For anyone looking to a career in Game Ranching one should have as much practical as theoreti-cal knowledge. Passion for the job and a willingness to work hard will invariably lead to success.
“There is always space for growth and advancement in this line of work”, says Danie. Working in this field offers a wide and diverse range of career paths including management, game ranging, guest liaison, lodge work, hunting - just to name a few.
At the moment Bushfellows Private Game Reserve has 33 em-ployees and is engaged in a number of projects. One of the most ambitious projects is to become a ‘mega reserve’. The envisaged outcome is to grow from 1 200 to a whopping 14 000 hectares by 2013.
After meeting with Danie Beer - I myself, felt inspired to work hard and follow my dreams to succeed. Well done Danie, we are excited and would like to hear more about your future ventures at Bushfellows.
Picture on your left: Dr Kwezi Mzilikazi (left, who also serves as Hon. Secretary of the Society) , Gavin Rishworth and Prof Graham Kerley (HoD)
News from GeorgeLocally relevant, internationally sought-after
3-4 April 2012Prof Sujit Banerji
Newsletter Marketing & Design team
Michele Minne & Kelly Sin Hidge
26 -30 March 2012Prof Bernd Siebenhuener
Visitors to the Faculty of Science
17-20 April 2012Prof Joseph Mugisha
The BTech Forestry / Wood Technology class of 2012 (above), accompanied by Prof Jos Louw (Director: School of Natural Resource Man-agement, Faculty of Science) and programme lecturers capture a moment in time in front of Pampoenkraal. This historic homestead is now being utilised as a conference venue and guest house at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Uni-versity’s George campus at Saasveld.
NMMU’s BTech Forestry students are international players in more ways than one – seven of the stu-
dents in the programme are from neighbouring countries including Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, while graduates from the programme are sought after internationally.
Many Saasveld Forestry graduates now find themselves in lucrative careers, working interna-tionally in forest industries of Australia, New Zea-land, Canada and South America.
Sixty-nine BTech Forestry students are registered in the programme for 2012.
The sun setting on Sugar Beach Re-sort, Mauritius. This beautiful scene was captured by the Dean during a recent visit to Mauritius. The purpose of Prof Leitch’s visit during 21 – 25 March was to market the NMMU programs, with a special focus on growing the number of Mauritian students coming to NMMU for Science postgraduate programs.
The Ministry of Higher Education, Re-search and Technology gave a warm welcome. The Dean was also well received by the University of Mauri-tius, with whom we as a Faculty in-tend to explore a partnership that will include joint research projects, Fac-ulty exchanges and the external ex-amination of dissertations and theses.
Prof Bernd Siebenhuener, from the Dept of Eco-logical Economics at the Carl von Ossietzky Uni-versity of Oldenburg in Germany, visited the Fac-ulty during 26 – 30 March 2012.
The visit was linked to a four-year collaborative program between Oldenburg University and our Depts of Computing Sciences, Botany and Phys-ics, in the field of “Developing Sustainability: En-ergy, Environment and Societal Change”.
Prof Sujit Banerji (right), Professor of Operations Management and Executive Director, Postgradu-ate Programs at WMG, University of Warwick (UK), visited the Faculty on the 3rd and 4th of April 2012.
After a Workshop focussing on identifying joint projects between WMG and the Faculty, Prof Ba-nerji was shown the Algae research project run by Prof Ben Zeelie (InnoVenton). His visit to the NMMU follows the signing of an MOU between the institutions last year.
Prof Joseph Mugisha, Professor of Biomath-ematics and Dean of
the College of Science at Makerere University
(Uganda), visited the Faculty during 17 – 20
April, to attend our graduation ceremony (as a Promoter of one
of our students) and to discuss further research
collaborations.
School visitA group of Grade 12 students from Otto du Plessis High School came to visit the depart-ment of Chemistry on the 11th of April 2012.
