We are delighted to welcome Prof. Jaqueline Golden who will tell us about her award-winning Citizen Science project “Diamonds on the soles of their feet”. The talk will take place on 25 May 2022 at 13:00 in seminar room 1.35 the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of the Western Cape. It will also be streamed online on zoom. … Read More
Dr. Lameck Amugongo is a DARA Big Data alum who has been part of ur hackathons before. This week, he takes the resources compiled on this OAD page and runs with it at the Namibia University of Science and Technology with a new generation of student-hackers keen to develop their data science skills. A rich programme with researchers and scientists … Read More
On April 8, 2022, we are glad to welcome Mr. Jonathan Freese from the Western Cape Education Department. Mr. Freese is Deputy Chief Education Specialist: Technology Senior Phase and WCED Coding and Robotics Coordinator. His talk, entitled “Past, Present and Future Perspective of the African 21st Century Science and Technology” will describe some of the work he is doing, among … Read More
By Nicklaus Kruger, UWC Institutional Advancement South Africa is a country of many languages – but for many of us, “science” isn’t one of them. Astrophysicist and Associate Professor Carolina Ödman has made it her mission to translate and share the joys of science with everyone – and her efforts have earned her the coveted Communication & Outreach Award at the NSTF-32 National … Read More
CARTA, the visualisation software that is developed by IDIA and partners from the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the Department of Physics, University of Alberta. CARTA has been nominated by one of its users for the ADASS Prize “An oustanding contribution to astronomical software“. ADASS stands for Astronomical Data Analysis … Read More
In our continuing Science Engagement And Development Seminar series, we are excited to welcome Prof. Jean Greyling from Computing Sciences at Nelson Mandela University. He comes to tell us about his TANKS application and project. Touching the code – expanding learners’ career horizons. Abstract Software Development has been identified as one of the scarcest skills in South Africa (and most … Read More
A hackathon is a fun, fast-paced, strenuous, yet highly rewarding event where developers/coders, designers, strategists, and enthusiasts come together to work on project ideas and build solutions. Hackathons are known for late-night coding in groups, with shared pizzas and screens – but not in these times of pandemic. This time, we do it remotely. This hackathon is co-hosted by the University … Read More
An initiative by Dr. Ryan Daniels at the Forensic DNA laboratory in the Department of Biotechnology at the University of the Western Cape, this month-long workshop takes the participants from the basics of using Unix, the most common computer platform for science, to characterising ancestry with DNA data using cloud computing platforms and software containerisation. The diversity of topics of … Read More
I suddenly have to move my face-to-face physics/astronomy course online! What should I do? During this COVID-19 pandemic, many academic staff are being asked to quickly move their face-to-face classes online. This is challenging for many reasons: teaching online is quite different from teaching in person, many staff don’t have experience teaching online, transitioning quickly is difficult, and all of … Read More
Sol Plaatje University hosted the Ilifu Big Data Hackathon from 12 – 13 March 2020. The Ilifu Human Capital Development and Outreach Committee in partnership with SPU’s School of Natural and Applied Sciences aims to promote active usage of ilifu (a big data infrastructure for data-intensive research) through hands-on activities, training and skills development. The aim of the Hackathon is … Read More
