Bursaries fund student ambitions
SKA projects have made their wildest dreams come true
THE FIRST science experiment that Siyambonga Matshawule ever did was to create a volcano-like explosion at school by mixing bicarbonate of soda with vinegar.
The 27-year-old from Lady Frere in the Eastern Cape is now a telescope operator and cosmologist working for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Project. He’s also doing his PhD in cosmology, funded by SKA.
Once operational, the SKA will be the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope.
Scientists will use it to understand how the universe evolved, how stars and galaxies form and change, and what dark matter really is.
Matshawule is one of four young people who work at or study through the SKA project’s Young Professionals Development Programme (YPDP) who shared their experiences with guests at the Science Forum in Pretoria yesterday.
He attended a farm school, and his policeman father had to take out a loan in order to finance his first year at university.
“After first year, funding ran out; I’ve received bursaries since then,” he said.
His struggles with funding were echoed by his colleagues in the YPDP.
Matshawule was inspired to study astronomy after he was invited for a night sky viewing session while he was still an undergraduate.
“If it weren’t for that one night sky-viewing session, I wouldn’t have taken astro- nomy. I wouldn’t have known you can do astronomy as a career.
“One of the things that has inspired me, why I chose to do astrophysics, it was a different career compared to your normal standard career.
“I was driven by the passion to find out new things about astronomy and computing.”
Since his father’s death a few years ago, Matshawule is now his family’s breadwinner and supports his mother and three siblings.
He will be lecturing at the University of the Western Cape from next year.
Dr Bernie Fanaroff, SKA’s project director in South Africa, said it was important to give young people projects that would keep them in the country and also keep them in the fields of science and technology.
“The SKA project has given more than 730 bursaries to students. We scoop up the best of the graduates into our YPDP,” he said.
The SKA project offers bursaries over a wide range of subjects and skill levels, and several of these bursary holders are employed by SKA.
Forty bursaries were provided for students based in the Karoo.
Aphiwe Hotele, 23, started at SKA as a computer scientist, but is now a hardware engineer.
She’s responsible for creating systems that monitor and cool the equipment that processes the data that comes from the telescope.
Hotele recalls one of the reactions she got when she first visited SKA’s offices.
“I expressed my interest in hardware. This lady said: ‘How long do you think you’ll last in hardware, because hardware is for men?’”
Despite this, Hotele – who is a science processing developer and is also busy doing her masters in electrical engineering – said she has received nothing but support from her col- leagues at SKA.
“What helped me is being surrounded by engineers who know what they are doing and are willing to assist me.
“As a young black woman, when you’re done graduating, the first thing your parents want you to do is send back money. At the YPDP you’re working and studying and getting paid. We need more of those programmes, especially in the scientific field, so we can attract young people.”
For Tyrone van Balla, 23 – an electronic engineer who’s about to do his masters in electrical engineering – the opportunity to be part of the YPDP was a dream come true.
“I was able to work in an environment, gain experience and study something I really wanted to do. I want to wake up in the morning knowing I’m going to do something worthwhile. I wanted to work on something that contributed to something that was larger than just earning a salary, to use that potential to benefit the world you live in.”
Professor Oleg Smirnov, the research chairman for SKA at Rhodes University, said it was important for him to teach his students the importance of balance between collaboration and competitiveness.
It was also important to keep them productive and create the right conditions for a group atmosphere.
“I sincerely think being a scientist is the best job in the world, but it can also be very stressful.”