Professor Robert Van Zyl, Deputy Director of F’SATI, will be jetting off to Japan after being nominated by the South African Government to represent it at the United Nations/Japan Nano-Satellite Symposium in Nagoya, Japan, next week.
Prof Van Zyl said his nomination signifies “a remarkable shift in recognizing the role that CPUT is playing in developing skills. We can contribute a lot to the discussion in South Africa. For us it acknowledges the prominence we have in the national skills training landscape. It also gives us the opportunity to explore collaboration with researchers in Japan”.
Ms Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology, said: “I trust that his participation in the symposium will enhance our National Space Programme and Research & Development in Space Applications and Space Technology as South Africa continues to build capacity in space programmes in micro and nano-Satellite”
Prof Van Zyl delivered a speech at the Space Science Colloquim held at the University of Pretoria yesterday as a pre-emptive to his trip to Japan. The Colloquim was hosted by the Japan Embassy, The DST, the Nairobi Research Station and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Its objective was to find common points of interest between South Africa and Japan in astronomy, earth observation and micro-satellite research.
Professor Van Zyl spoke about Satellite development in S.A. over the past two decades. He also covered work done in the SunSat and SumbadilaSat microsatellites developed by the University of Stellenbosch and current developments in the CubeSat/Nanosatellite projects.
CPUT students are finalists in the Mission Idea Contest, a global competition run by the Tokyo University and the Japan Space Agency. Last year CPUT were semi-finalists in the competition. More than sixty Universities from across the world are participating.
By Thami Nkwanyane
Written by CPUT News
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