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Galaxies and glamour at CSET events
Galaxies and glamour were the order of the day as the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) celebrated the "International Year of Astronomy 2009" and "Women in Science, Engineering and Technology" in style.
Monday saw the foyer of the Dr Miriam Makeba Concert Hall decorated with gorgeous posters of images that form part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 project "From Earth to the Universe" (FETTU). The astronomers at the event took the spellbound audience, including learners from various schools around Pretoria, on an intriguing journey through the Universe.
Tuesday was all about serious scientists "strutting" their stuff in stilettos to the sounds of violin and piano and surrounded by various inspirational, colourful posters and pop-up banners celebrating Unisa women scientists.
Two keynote speakers, the one an accomplished businesswoman and the other a budding young inventor who has been receiving huge accolades for her work, kept the audience enthralled with their presentations.
Young women a democratic dividend for society
Ms Phuti Malabie, Managing Director of Shanduka Energy (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary company to Shanduka Group led by Cyril Ramaphosa, made a strong argument that young women should be regarded as a "democratic dividend for society". She said the country’s population consists of 41% young people and 52% women, yet young women remain in the minority in the scientific community. She called on the country to harvest young women and to develop a pool of skilled, trained scientists.
Ms Malabie also proved that everyone is a scientist, because we all carry the behaviour and instincts of scientific behaviour in us, simply by thinking, wondering and questioning the world around us.
Ms Malabie holds a BA Economics from Rutgers University and an MBA from De Montfort University in Leicester, UK. In 2007, she was nominated Global Young Leader by the World Economic Forum. In 2008, she was listed by the Wall Street Journal as one of the "Top 50 women in the world to watch". She is a member of the board of Vodacom Group and the Black Management Forum, as well as a number of Shanduka Group investee companies.
Schoolgirl at forefront of scientific invention
Ms Simone Abramson is an 18-year old inventor who has provisionally patented the intellectual and commercial rights for her world-first invention using a new biometric method to identify a person. This Grade 12 pupil at Herzlia High School in Cape Town presented her research project on her discovery that the fundus or back of the eye area has elements that are different in each individual person --- a discovery that opens a world of opportunities for photo-identification of individuals. This biometric identification method has sufficient scope to benefit all South African citizens, from crime fighting to being able to identifying criminals, from preventing identity theft to safely storing people’s medical and other data, as well as immigration control.
Ms Abramson won the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists Best Female Project prize for this discovery that also netted her the gold medal at the Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition. She has been chosen as a HIP2B2 brand ambassador, was a finalist in the Shoprite Checkers/SABC2 Woman of the Year Award in the Science and Technology category, and won the Glamour Women of the Year award in the Technology category.
She is committed to making positive change in the mind-set of young people and has become an inspirational figure. She has shown young people that one doesn’t have to be an "adult" or "scientist" to make impressive strides in science, engineering and technology.
CSET driving change for women in science, engineering and technology
Prof Mamokgethi Setati, Executive Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, paid tribute to the young female scientists in the College. She promised that Unisa would grow them and look after their interests, because the university wanted them to "run this place – we know you can!"
Opening Tuesday’s event, Prof Barney Pityana noted that CSET is making huge strides towards eradicating the continued gender disparities in science, engineering and technology. He said that Unisa looked forward to CSET becoming an example to higher education institutions, not only in South Africa, but in the word, both in terms of its excellence and its commitment to transformation and equity.
The very successful celebration was ended with a fun activity in which all the schoolchildren participated. | 
