"You, as young South Africans are in poll position to take advantage of these new technologies. But you won't be able to take advantage if you don't excel at science and maths.” These were the words of Deputy Director General of Research Development and Support in the Department of Science and Technology, Dr Thomas Auf der Heyde, at the opening of Scifest Africa 2015 on Friday 20 March.
"You, as young South Africans are in poll position to take advantage of these new technologies. But you won't be able to take advantage if you don't excel at science and maths.” These were the words of Deputy Director General of Research Development and Support in the Department of Science and Technology, Dr Thomas Auf der Heyde, at the opening of Scifest Africa 2015 on Friday 20 March.
Auf der Heyde addressed school pupils, teachers and members of the public at the Guy Butler Theatre in the Monument, speaking on behalf of the absent Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor.
Pandor’s flight from Brazil, where she was attending a BRICS conference, was delayed.
One of the intentions of Scifest Africa is to get school children interested and excelling in mathematics and science.
“Scifest, our DST supported science centres, and our National Science Week all serve the objective of expanding science access and awareness,” Auf der Heyde read.
Grahamstown has filled this week with pupils from all over the province.
Wandering in and out of the Scifest Africa exhibits, engaging with a host of demonstrations on offer and simply enjoying the fun of science, thousands will have had the opportunity to glimpse the next great invention or the beginnings of new technologies when Scifest ends on Tuesday 24 March.
“All of these initiatives affirm that the success of our endeavours depends on the development of a science, engineering and technology human-capital pipeline that starts at the schooling level,” read Auf der Heyde.
Among the spectacular projects on show at Scifest Africa is a scale model of the Bloodhound, a land vehicle that will be attempting to break the land speed record, driving faster than an aeroplane can fly.
“The Bloodhound world land speed record attempt in the Northern Cape later this year has already created global excitement not only among lovers of speed but also among scientists of all kinds.”
This project is as a result of international collaboration between Britain and South Africa and both Auf der Heyde and the British High Commissioner in South Africa Judith Macgregor expressed a hope that this partnership continue to the benefit of the global scientific community.
“We need to diversify the range of people going in the sciences. Partnership is the way to create new Einsteins,” Macgregor said in her address.
Macgregor stressed the importance of Scifest Africa in making science and mathematics relevant to our daily lives.
“We need to keep doing what Scifest does, we must keep communicating why science is important,” she said. Macgregor also commended the teachers in the audience for their role in moulding the next generation of scientists.
NASA’s Chief Scientist Dr Ellen Stofan concluded the ceremony with a detailed but accessible explanation of where space exploration is currently in terms of technology.
She said the current generation of learners are the people who will be working on the future developments in space exploration. She said space is challenging scientists’ conceptions of what life could mean in phenomenological terms.
“We’re pushing the limits of what we know.”
Speaking about NASA’s project to find life outside Earth’s atmosphere, Stofan said, “We know where to go, we know what to measure and we’ll be able to do it in the next 15 to 20 years.”
She concluded by encouraging pupils to work hard on mathematics and science so they can be a part of future scientific developments.
“I want to inspire the learners here to try hard. Scifest is a wonderful example of how we inspire the next generation of explorers.”
