Awards 2008 : Category Finalists
Arts, Culture and Communications • Business Entrepreneurs • Education • Health • Science & Technology • Social Welfare • Sport
Science & Technology
Dr Lindsay Linzer is an internationally awarded research seismologist who has worked for the past 13 years doing applied research for the mining industry with the main objective of improving safety underground.
Her PhD thesis received the prestigious Rocha Medal from the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) for the best doctoral thesis in the field of rock mechanics and rock engineering. It was only the second time that the Medal was awarded to a woman.
She has specialist skills in determining the nature of the seismic source through a mathematical procedure known as “moment tensor inversion” and her computer software is being used by seismologists all over the world in Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Australia, California and recently, Oman.
Dr Linzer developed a technique for determining the nature of the seismic source from measurements of seismic waves that applies particularly to the deep level mining environment. It allows better understanding of these sources enabling mining engineers to design safer mines as their insights into the driving factors causing rock-bursts underground improves and thereby saving lives.
In addition the computer software she developed is very easy to use, allowing widespread national and international use of the technique. It is an open-source code which can be used freely advertising South African excellence in this science continuously.
Dr Linzer was also recently awarded a research grant by the Schlumberger Foundation “Faculty for the Future Programme” for further study at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA. This faculty engages in strategic partnerships with the education sector, particularly in emerging economies, to encourage women in their pursuit of academic careers in science and technology.
She received the Salamon Award in 2007 from the South African Institute of Rock Engineering for a paper published on rockbursts and seismicity. Other awards she received for her work include the CSIR award for Technical Excellence, Miningtek Innovation award and Anglo American Group Vocational Scholarship.
Dr Linzer’s specialist knowledge has led to her being invited to give numerous lectures and keynote addresses worldwide and she is often asked to review papers in national and international journals.
As a research associate of the School for Geosciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, lecturing to geophysics honours students she is passionate about sharing her knowledge with all who are willing to learn. She also supervises Masters and PhD projects.
Many of her students are from war-torn countries in Africa, and often have large gaps in their education. She strives to understand the background of the various students, and identify the gaps in knowledge that the students themselves are often not aware of and make them aware of international expectations and standards.
A past president of the South African Geophysical Association (SAGA) she has contributed substantially over the years in a male-dominated-field. Recently Dr Linzer was appointed the Technical Chair and Editor for the 2007 SAGA Conference and Exhibition and organized the peer review process for submitted technical papers.
All profits from activities SAGA initiate are used to run courses for students and geophysicists, allowing them to be taught by world leaders in the various fields of geophysics.
Dr Linzer has recently teamed up with her long standing friend, Jeanne Trickett, and together they are running a consultancy, MeerCat Geophysics.
- A short profile on Dr Linzer will be broadcast on SABC 2 after the Afrikaans and Sotho News on 21 July 2008.
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Prof Claire Penn who was awarded the Order of Mapungubwe - Silver by Pres Thabo Mbeki at the end of last year is an internationally acknowledged scientist and academic who has proved that women can reach the pinnacle of academic excellence and match their male colleagues in conducting high-level scientific research.
She received the Order of Mapungubwe for her contribution to the field of speech and language pathology, especially in the areas of linguistics, sign language, child language, and aphasia as well as for her groundbreaking research in understanding the complexities of human communication.
Prof Penn chose this career because of her fascination with the power of words. She sees communication at the heart of the human endeavour, a capacity which is complex, vulnerable and both a science and an art. It can forge and sustain relationships but can equally represent the main reason for breakdown in understanding between individuals and communities.
She has been involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in the field of speech-language pathology for over 30 years in South Africa and the United States. It is a largely a female profession and she has done much to empower women to become independent thinkers and inspired many students to become internationally recognised leaders in the field.
Over the years Prof Penn has served on advisory committees for stroke rehabilitation in SA, policy and procedure for the victims of road traffic accidents, and formulation of language policy for education and sign language in the new SA constitution. She is the founder member of the Stroke Aid Society and has also taught courses for community based rehabilitation workers and community speech and hearing workers in the Alexandra Health Clinic and Tinswalo Hospital.
The five-volume Dictionary of Southern African Signs for Communicating with the Deaf is the product of a major research project on sign language under the auspices of the Human Sciences Research Council which Prof Penn directed.
She is currently coordinator of a multi-disciplinary research group, the Health Communication Project based at the University of the Witwatersrand, concerned with the unique challenges of communication in health care in the country.
It seeks to improve health communication practices cross-culturally through investigating current practice and developing and implementing communication skills training packages for health professionals at various sites throughout Africa.
Communication has been identified as the single biggest barrier to health care and in a society as diverse as South Africa the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services is a top priority, particularly in light of the illness burden imposed by HIV/AIDS.
The research aims to inform policy and provide practical guidelines for training within the health professions, which will be in line with current health care reform in South Africa and the constitutional rights of its citizens. Lessons and solutions from South Africa can inspire and inform global practice and women’s role in society can achieve this.
Prof Penn, a National Research Foundation A-rated scsientist, has been associated with the University of the Witwatersand for more than 35 years. Currently she holds an endowed chair at the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at the university. She has served as the editor of the South African Journal of Communication Disorders and is on the editorial boards of several international journals.
Prof Penn has been a guest speaker at a number of national and international venues and is the recipient of several research grants. She has produced three books and almost a hundred publications and has hosted three international conferences.
- A short profile on Prof Penn will be broadcast on SABC 2 after the Afrikaans and Sotho News on 26 July 2008.
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Miss Simone Abramson, a 17-year old inventor and gold medalist at this year’s Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition has provisionally patented the intellectual and commercial rights for her world-first invention using a new biometric method to identify a person.
This grade 11 pupil at Herzlia High School in Cape Town discovered that the fundus or back of the eye area has elements that are different in each individual person, a discovery which opens a world of opportunities for photo-identification of individuals.
Ms Abramson stumbled on the idea while searching for something to enter in the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists. Her grandfather, being a diabetic had pictures taken of his eyes and while looking at them began the process of investigating fundus photographs as a method of identifying a person. Fundus photographs are used as a diagnostic tool to investigate pathological conditions of the back of the eye.
After a long process of online research and conferring with eye specialists she found that there are four distances between features on the fundus that remained the same from an early age and were unique to each individual.
After collecting a database of more than a thousand digital images of different people’s fundus this straight-A student was able to convert the set of fundus measurements of each person using mathematical formulas into a unique identification number called a Fundus Identification Number. This number as well as other relevant information can be put into a data base for future reference, creating the world’s first fundus database.
She won the Eskom Expo For Young Scientists best female project prize for this discovery and is at present finding a way to take these measurements to a Fundus Identification Number. This netted her the gold medal at the Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition.
Her project aptly called “The Future of Indentification” is still in its prototype stage but has enormous potential. Most of the biometric methods used today such as fingerprinting have limitations. Ms Abramson’s fundus identification method will be more reliable and would be able to analyse data quicker once fully developed. This discovery will have enormous commercial viability.
It has sufficient scope to benefit all South African citizens, from crime fighting being able to identify existing criminals, preventing identity theft to safely storing people’s medical and other data as well as immigration control. This fundus identification number can be a new method to give people identification numbers as we know them.
Her science and technology achievements are numerous. Except for the two gold medals she has won she has recently been nominated as a HIP2B2 Brand Ambassador. It is a programme to change the mindsets of young learners from viewing the subjects of maths and science as ‘boring’ and ‘square’ to being useful, interesting and part of our everyday lives.
She is committed to making positive change in the mindset of young people and is has become an inspirational figure. She has shown them that you don’t have to be an ‘adult’ to make impressive strides in science and technology.
Once Ms Abramson has completed her grade 12 she intends studying Civil Engineering and wants to obtain a Phd from Oxford University. In the meantime she is focused on the positive role she wants to play in inspiring other young learners to follow in her footsteps. It is important for her to work with disadvantaged learners via her role as an ambassador for HIP2B2. She will also be on the look-out for opportunities that will challenge her and other learners and community members.
- A short profile on Ms Abrahamson will be broadcast on SABC 2 after the Afrikaans and Sotho News on 28 July 2008.
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