Innovators fly the SA flag high

AS YOUTH Month draws to a close, we turn the spotlight on a handful of South Africa’s many outstanding young people who are excelling in fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem).

KENZO ABRAHAMS

This nuclear physicist from the UWC represents local talent overseas as he works with an international team at the European Centre for Nuclear Research in Switzerland (Cern). Abrahams, from Kuils River, helped to set up a detector array which led to the discovery of vibrating pear-shaped nuclei.

Professor Nico Orce from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UWC said: “Kenzo is an inspiration, not only to his peers but to his country. He’s the kind of student that will surely succeed and he’s paved the way with tremendous difficulty for others to follow.”

HLUMELO MAREPULA

This final year civil engineering student at UCT is headed to Berlin later this year to pit her wits against the best young innovators from around the world at the Falling Walls Lab.

Marepula’s three-minute pitch was all it took to convince judges that her idea, which uses urine to create fertiliser, was the best in South Africa.

“I’m excited to be a part of creating a sustainable world for future generations,” she said.

KEATON HARRIS

Harris is a medical student at Stellenbosch University pursuing a second degree after completing pharmacy at UWC.

He is the creator of InforMED, an app which aims to bridge language barriers in healthcare settings.

Earlier this year, he was named the South African champion of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards. Last year, he won a global competition run by the Young Sustainable Impact Innovation Programme for the prototype app design.

“I have now competed against the best student start-ups throughout the country and have come out victorious,” he said. “It has given me such a sense of motivation to want to work even harder.”

MARIQUE AUCAMP

Pharmacy researcher Dr Aucamp is based at UWC and is working on making anti-retroviral medication for HIV palatable, low-cost and effective for children. Her work has earned her a prestigious Future Leaders – African Independent Research fellowship.

“Hopefully, after 10 years, I will be able to look back and see that I’ve established myself in the pharmaceutical sciences research community – locally as well as internationally – and I’m finding new ways to make a real difference in the world.”

MVELO HLOPHE

Hlophe is a final-year BCom politics, philosophy and economics student at UCT. Together with a friend, he founded the startup, Zaio, which offers a solution to the biggest problems faced by graduates: how do you get experience in the job market?

Zaio is a free online learning platform where people can learn to code, and work on actual paid projects to build up their portfolio.

KENZO ABRAHAMS