AIMS graduates keen to go out and make a difference
Inside this issue:
AIMS South Africa Graduation Ceremony
1/3
AIMS STEM Workshop 2018
1/3
AIMS-DISCNet Data Science School
2
Cosmology Group 2 Updates MMED Workshop 2 Seminar
2
JST Visit
2
Field Arithmetic Conference for 2018
2
Student updates
3
Learners visit AIMS
4
AIMSWIS year-end 4 function Public Lecture
4
Announcements
4
“The future belongs to those who not only believe but are prepared to walk into an unknown future choosing hope over fear.” These inspiring words were delivered by Prof. Thuli Mandonsela, Chair in Social Justice in the Law Faculty: Stellenbosch University and member of the AIMS International Board of Directors, at AIMS South Africa’s 15th Graduation ceremony held on 19 June 2018. Forty-one students (including 16 women) from 17 African countries were awarded a Master’s in Mathematical Sciences, bringing the total number of graduates since 2003 to 757, of which 34% are women.
Prof. Madonsela asked the mathematical science graduates to help combat social injustice “We have many programmes in our country and on our continent to tackle poverty and inequality but they are not working, the day to day human experience is becoming more unequal. You can help government policy makers calculate the impact of their policies before they implement them by designing mathematical applications that can predict the future outcome of these policies helping to ensure that the correct policies are put in place.” She went on to encourage the students to be leaders for Africa
in the 4th and 5th Industrial Revolutions. Continued on page 3.
Prof. Madonsela
Empowering the future workforce of South Africa with STEM knowledge and 21st-century skills As part of our contribution to National Youth Month, AIMS South Africa hosted a FREE full-day electrical engineering hands-on workshop for middle school learners and educators on 25 and 26 June 2018. Continued on page 3.
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Research Centre updates AIMS-DISCNet Data Science School AIMS South Africa, in partnership with UK-based DISCNet, hosted a Data Science School from 13 to 15 June 2018 at AIMS South Africa, Cape Town. The school was aimed at Master’s and PhD students from all fields involving data intensive research. The school was highly interactive, focusing on a mixture of
Clinic on Meaningful Modeling of Epidemiological Data
lectures and tutorials. Topics covered Machine Learning, taught by Dr Michelle Lochner (AIMS/ SKA SA), Software Carpenty, taught by Dr Matt Hilton (UKZN) and Advanced Statistics taught by Prof. David Bacon (ICG Portsmouth). There were 40 participants from local and national universities including nine AIMS students. Workshop participants
The 9th annual Clinic on the Meaningful Modeling of Epidemiological Data (MMED) was held from 28 May to 8 June 2018 at AIMS South Africa. MMED is a 2-‐week modeling
School participants
Seminar On 17 June, the Cosmology Group at AIMS South Africa, hosted a seminar by Prof David Bacon (ICG, Portsmouth) titled: ‘Probing the dark Universe with the Dark Energy Survey and Beyond.’ Prof. Bacon
Field Arithmetic Conference for 2018 There were 25 participants including five women.
The Field Arithmetic Conference for 2018 was held at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, Germany, from 3 to 10 June. Dr Nantsoina Cynthia Ramiharimanana, a postdoctoral fellow at AIMS South Africa, attended the conference and gave a talk.
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“Each talk was extremely interesting and followed by discussion that lead to interesting projects. There was a session where the participants talked only about those famous open problems in Field Arithmetic and discussed about the possible techniques to solve them. The conference was closed by a talk about the history of Field Arithmetic. I would like to thank AIMS South Africa and the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach (MFO) for their financial and material support during the conference,” noted Dr Ramiharimanana.
clinic that emphasises the use of data in understanding infectious disease dynamics. Participants conduct modeling projects informed by epidemiological data that address practical questions in a meaningful way.
JST visit Ambassador Tatsuo Arai, Director for Special Missions and Ms Takako Shibata, Department of International Affairs of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) visited AIMS South Africa on 22 June 2018. They met with Prof. Jeff Sanders, Academic Director, Dr Rejoyce Gavhi-Molofe, Resident Researcher and Ms Linda Camara, Advancement and Communications Manager. Prof. Barry Green joined the meeting via Skype.
During the meeting the guests were given presentation on AIMS South Africa and all of its activities. This was followed by Ambassador Arai expanding on the reason for the visit which was to exchange information on existing cooperation and ideas for future activities regarding the cooperation of the JST with the African continent. For example the Japan-Africa workshop on STI for SDGs in Africa which is set to take place in Senegal in November.
Ambassador Arai, Ms Camara, Ms Shibata, Dr Gavhi-Molefe and Prof. Sanders
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Graduation continued... “As you take Africa forward to be a leading continent, do so with integrity. It may be slow but when you do things the right way and you attain success it will be sustainable.” In his welcoming address Prof. Barry Green, Director of AIMS South Africa said, “Today is a very proud moment for AIMS as we celebrate 15 years with our new graduates who join over 1600 alumni across the network.”
AIMS STEM Workshop continued ...
Among the many friends and the ceremony was the first Director Prof. Fritz Hahne, as well as the Chair of the AIMS Advisory Council Prof. Sizwe Mabizela, the Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University.
In the ceremony AIMS Endowed Scholarships were awarded to a number of top achievers by Prof. Thandi Mgwebi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Postgraduate Studies, Research, Innovation and Engagement, Tshwane There were also messages of University of Technology and congratulations via video from AIMS South Africa Council Prof. Neil Turok, Founder of Member. AIMS, who said, “As AIMS grad- The Stephen Hawking Scholuates you are part of a unique arship went to Mr Kiady set of people and you are on the Mahefa Andry Manantena, leading edge of a wave of young from Madagascar. Africans who will change Africa.” The Martin Rees Scholarship, Mr Thierry Zomahoun, Presiwas awarded to Ms Juliana dent and CEO of the AIMS Thomasia Chakirath Marcos, Global Network, reminded the from Benin. graduates, “AIMS gave you the opportunity to blossom intellec- The Paul G. Allen Scholarship was awarded to Ms tually and showcase your skills, Sandra Annie Tsiorintsoa, now it is your turn to give back from Madagascar. and help support AIMS so that we can give this same oppor The two Dr Victor Rothtunity to other young Africans.” schild Scholarships went to Ms Rojo Fanamperana The ceremony was officiated by Randrianomentsoa, from Prof Susan Bourne, Interim Madagascar and Mr Yasser Dean of Science, University of Salah Eddine Bouchareb, Cape Town, Ms Nita Lawtonfrom Algeria. Misa Registrar, who presided on behalf of the Rector and VicePlease click on the links Chancellor, Prof. Tyrone Preto- below to view the videos rius, University of the Western shown at the ceremony: Cape, and Prof. Nico Koopman, 15 years of Excellence! Vice-Rector: Social Impact, What's so special about my Transformation & Personnel, Research Project? Stellenbosch University. Graduation Ceremony 2018
This workshop was organised in partnership with the United States (US) Military Academy (USMA, also known as Westpoint) Center for Leadership and Diversity in STEM (CLD STEM). The mission of CLD STEM is to increase the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority and disadvantaged youth populations in STEM by focusing on learners at the pre-college and university level to increase the number of learners who intend to major in STEM. Prof. Barry Green, Director, AIMS South Africa opened the 2-day workshop which served 75 learners, Grades 6-9, from Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Eastridge, Heathfield and Rondebosch. The workshop focused on developing and improving their STEM-based knowledge and skills, which are in high
demand in the modern economy, as well as their interest in pursuing these fields. During the workshop, the learners were introduced to the Arduino platform (an open source, low-cost introductory tool for electrical engineering – see https://www.arduino.cc/en/ Guide/Introduction) and worked with scientists from CLD STEM and AIMS South Africa to build a series of projects, such as a mood lamp and distance detector. These exercises gave the learners insight into the machines they use every day, bridging the gap between these machines and what role they might personally play someday in making such devices come to be, whether building circuits, programming them, or any of the other myriad STEM jobs. Please click here to read more.
Student updates The January intake completed the following courses: Designing Algorithms (Jeff Sanders, AIMS South Africa); Distributed Coordination (Simukai Utete,
AIMS South Africa) and Numerical Maths (Jonathan Marks, Gordon Institute of Business Studies).
Prof. Barry Green, Ms Tsiorintsoa, Ms Randrianomentsoa, Prof. Mgwebi, Ms Marcos, Mr Bouchareb, Mr Manantena and Prof. Sanders.
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Learners from Kulani High School visit AIMS
On 9 June, 50 learners from Kulani High School visited AIMS South Africa in Muizenberg. These grade 10, 11 and 12 learners have been tutored mathematics by AIMS South Africa’s Master’s students for 13 Saturdays from February to June.
about ‘What you can do with mathematics’, Mr MacDonald Chapwanya, Programme Coordinator talked about ‘How to choose a career,’ and Mr Mhla Mvubu, a Research Master’ss student at AIMS gave a talk titled:‘What I did with mathematics.’
The visit was an opportunity to motivate the learners to study further and let them work on the computers in the computer lab to search the net and apply for tertiary study and bursaries. The day started with guest speakers giving motivational talks. Dr Simukai Utete, Senior Researcher at AIMS talked
AIMSSEC coordinated the tutoring programme and organised the special visit to the AIMS centre. The Saturday tutoring project at Kulani High School was sponsored by GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World under the auspices of Sun International Socio-Economic Development.
AIMSWIS year-end function The AIMSWIS programme for the 2017-18 academic year has largely been focused on creating a platform for the AIMS female students to find support through mentorship as well as encouraging the students to see themselves as future mentors. We have also prioritised the importance of being proactive in finding opportunities by guiding them through scholarship applications. In order to gauge the success of the AIMSWIS programme during the 2017-18 academic year, we hosted a year-end function at a local restaurant.
The event objectives were to: To find out what the students’ plans are after graduation and offer additional support applying for opportunities, if required. To assess the success and obstacles associated with the 2017/18 AIMSWIS programme implementation and discuss how the programme could be improved in future. “The programme was educative, inspiring and fun. I think it was a necessary programme and met my expectations,” noted one of the participants.
Public Lecture
Mr Chapwanya, Dr Utete, Mrs Liesl Sivertsen HR Manager and Ms Fatima Bey, representing GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World, and Dr Barrie Barnard from AIMSSEC.
Announcements Opportunities for South African PhD students in Mathematical and Statistical Sciences AIMS is pleased to announce the following opportunities: Attendance at Special Courses Research in Pairs Visits These opportunities are funded by the Teaching Development Grant provided by the Department of Higher Education and Training and overseen by the University of Pretoria. For more information please visit https://sites.google.com/ aims.ac.za/phdopportunities/
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On 5 June 2018, the AIMS South Africa Public Lecture Series presented a talk titled: ‘Math and rabies control,’ by Dr Jonathan Dushoff, McMaster University Department of Biology Rabies is a horrifying disease whose effects on humans are almost entirely preventable. Within the last decade rabies has been recognised as a global
public-health priority, and some areas of the world have made large strides in control, while others continue to struggle. Dr Dushoff’s talk reviewed the role of mathematical modeling, and novel statistical approaches, in: elucidating patterns of rabies spread; informing intervention strategies; and evaluating control progress and prospects.
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