| There is
an old African adage that states that investing in the
education of a woman means investing in a nation. The
truism resonates strongly with the six recipients of the
2011 South African Women in Science Awards (WISA) awards.
The annual WISA awards are hosted by the South African
Department of Science and Technology in recognition of
established and emerging talent among the country’s
women scientists and researchers.
Tata Africa is a key partner in supporting this part
of a suite of interventions aimed at transforming South
Africa’s research and science landscape. The company
has been offering three scholarships each year for the
past three years.
This year, Tata Africa has doubled their contribution,
offering three Masters, and three doctoral scholarships
— an astute reflection of the company’s commitment
to girls and women being able to access and participate
in education and training in the field of science and
technology.
Any postgraduate or doctoral student under the age of
35 years, studying full-time at a South African University,
can apply for the scholarships. The scholarships are awarded
according to the following criteria:
- the quality and feasibility of the nominees' proposed
plan of study or research
- academic and professional achievements
- commitment to the advancement of girls and women
in South Africa
- a demonstrable need for the specialised knowledge
and skills that that nominee plans to acquire
 This
year’s six young women winners are all trailblazers
in their respective fields. They have tackled formidable
scientific research which has high potential for a sustained
positive impact across sectors, on society.
Neann Mathai, one of the six awardees, says: “Being
awarded this scholarship is an incredible honour, and
it’s wonderful to have one’s work acknowledged.
Most importantly the Tata Scholarship comes with a call
and a responsibility to produce good research and to continue
to promote and encourage other women in the sciences,
and I will certainly do anything in my power to live up
to this.”
Tata
Africa Masters Scholarship recipients
- Daniek
Joubert
A first year student studying for her master’s
degree in applied mathematics at Stellenbosch
University, Daniek Joubert’s area of research
is computer vision. Her project, focused on the
fusion of depth information as seen by a robot,
may eventually be used to aid navigation for a
fully autonomous road vehicle. Future plans entail
a doctoral degree in applied mathematics while
continuing research in computer vision.
- Neann
Mathai
Neann Mathai is currently studying for an MSc
in computer science at the University of Cape
Town. Her research focuses on developing computational
methods to understand and improve carbohydrate
vaccines against the broad range of pneumococcal
diseases that affect infants and young children
in the developing world.
-
Tshegofatso
Thejane
Currently registered for a master’s degree
with the University of Johannesburg in collaboration
with the Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR), Tshegofatso Thejane’s research
is focused on computing and validating an electric
model of the human auditory periphery for otoacoustic
emissions.
Tata Africa Doctoral Scholarship recipients
-
Gugulethu Mabuza
Gugulethu Mabuza recently received her MTech and
MSc degrees in electrical engineering telecommunications
cum laude from the Tshwane University of Technology
and ESIEE Paris in France. She is now registered
for DTech and PhD degrees in the field of biometrics.
Ms
Mabuza’s research is on the reconnaissance
and extraction of distinct human iris features
for utilisation towards iris classification. The
success of her research will contribute towards
the unique identification and recognition of an
individual based on the biometric features of
their iris.
-
Dithoto Modungwa
Dithoto Modungwa is a DPhil candidate at the University
of Johannesburg in the Department of Electrical
and Electronics Engineering. Her doctoral project
focuses on the optimisation of parallel manipulators
using artificial intelligence techniques.
Ms
Modungwa is also pioneering research on parallel
manipulator robots with special emphasis on the
development of parallel kinematic mechanisms and
their applications as reconfigurable machine tools.
The design and development of mechatronic systems,
central to her field of research, adds significantly
to South Africa’s competitive advantage
in manufacturing industries.
-
Tozama Ogunleye
Tozama Ogunleye (née Qwebani) holds a master’s
degree in organic chemistry from the University
of Cape Town. She is currently at the CSIR and
registered as a doctoral student at the University
of the Witwatersrand.
Her
project focuses on the chemo-enzymatic synthesis
of novel antimycobacterials and antibacterials
to counter the emerging antibiotic drug resistance,
with particular emphasis on tuberculosis infections.
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