Witsies win six Science Oscars at prestigious national research awards
- Wits University
Wits researchers won six National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)-South32 research awards .
Dr Tegan Bristow, Professor Raymond Durrheim, Dr Bavesh Kana and team, Dr Musa Manzi and team, Professor Bruce Mellado, and Dr Boitumelo Innocent Ramatsetse were winners across six different categories at the 2020/2021 NSTF-South32 Awards.
The dual-city hybrid event, live-streamed from gala events in Johannesburg and Cape Town simultaneously, took place on Thursday, 30 September 2021.
Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Innovation and Training, the official patron of the awards, delivered the keynote address.
The prestigious awards, considered the ‘Oscars of Science’, recognise outstanding contributions to science, engineering, technology (SET), and innovation, in 13 categories.
Wits researchers won in the Special Annual Theme Award; Innovation: Corporate Organisation; Emerging Researcher; Researcher; Data for Research; and Lifetime Award categories.
Professor Lynn Morris, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation at Wits, says: “Winning awards in six categories highlights the extent and the richness of research excellence at Wits. Congratulations to all the winners and their teams for using their ingenuity to create a better society for all.”
Special Annual Theme Award
The NSTF this year made a Special Annual Theme Award for an outstanding contribution to science, engineering, technology and innovation towards the ‘Creative Economy for Sustainable Development’.
This is in recognition of the declaration by the United Nations of the year of the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development.
Dr Tegan Bristow, Senior Lecturer in the School of Fine Arts and Director of the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival, won the Special Annual Theme Award for her contribution to the direction of the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival and for leading development and research in the digital creative industry in Africa.
Dr Tiisetso E Lephoto, Lecturer and Researcher in the School of Molecular and Cell Biology at Wits, was also nominated in the Special Annual Theme Award category, as was Dr Alseno Kagiso Mosai, a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Chemistry (based on the NSTF-Water Research Commission and the Engineering Research Capacity Development nomination).
Bristow was also a finalist in the Management Award category.
Innovation Award: Corporate Organisation
Professor Bavesh Kana is Director and CEO of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research. He is the team leader of the Biomimicry Diagnostic Verification Controls Team. DSI-NRF refers to the Department of Science and Innovation and National Research Foundation.
Kana and his team won the Innovation Award: Corporate Organisation, for innovations and research and/or development by a team or an individual over the last five to 10 years. The award recognises the team's use of biomimicry to verify diagnostic tests for 雷速体育_雷速体育直播 and other infectious diseases.
Dr Tiisetso E Lephoto, Lecturer and Researcher in the School of Molecular and Cell Biology was also nominated in this category, and Dr Boitumelo Innocent Ramatsetse, Lecturer and Researcher in Engineering Graphics and Design, Educational Information and Engineering Technology was a finalist.
Data for Research Award
Dr Musa Manzi accepted the Data for Research Award on behalf of the School of Geosciences Data Collection and Storage Facility. Manzi co-leads the team with Professor Raymond Durrheim and Glen Nwaila. The award is for developing techniques to use legacy data to explore for mineral resources, support safe and efficient mining, and assess and mitigate geohazards.
Wits Biomedical Informatics and Translational Sciences (WitsBITS), a Division of Wits Health Consortium under the leadership of Ms Irma Adele Maré, REDCap Manager and Honorary Lecturer in Surgery at Wits, was also nominated in this category.
TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher
Dr Boitumelo Innocent Ramatsetse, Lecturer and Researcher in Engineering Graphics and Design, Educational Information and Engineering Technology in Mathematics Education in the School of Education, won the Emerging Researcher Award for designing and developing an innovative beneficiation solution called a Reconfigurable Vibrating Screen (RVS). The RSV separates mineral particles according