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The Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs Naledi Pandor, has called on the CSIR and other key players in the science, engineering and technology sector to communicate their work more aggressively to maximise its impact on society. "Communicate, communicate, communicate. Make science more visible. Expand the interface between yourselves and society," she said. She was speaking during her first official visit to the CSIR.
Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs Naledi Pandor, with Vincent Khumalo during her visit at the National Centre for Nano-structured Materials |
Dr Sabelo Mhlanga, a postdoctoral research scientist at the National Centre for Nano-structured Materials, explains his research on the synthesis of carbon nanomaterials |
Dr Gerald Malgas demonstrates to the Minister how the high resolution scanning microscope functions |
Herman Le Roux of CSIR Defence, Peace, Safety and Security; explains about the work done in the mathematical and computational modelling research group |
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| Dr Hulda Swai from CSIR Materials Science and Manufacturing and Chrisna du Plessis of CSIR Built Environment take turns in engaging Mrs Pandor on their work |
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CSIR National Laser Centre Manager, Professor Ndumiso Cingo, makes use of the opportunity to talk about laser science's many applications |
Mrs Pandor familiarises herself with the GasCam camera that Jeremy Wallis from CSIR Materials Science and Manufacturing and his group developed to detect gas leaks |
Science and Technology Minister, Mrs Naledi Pandor, with the CSIR President and CEO, Dr Sibusiso Sibisi |
The Minister and her delegation of senior departmental officials were hosted by the CSIR President and CEO, Dr Sibusiso Sibisi, and the entire executive team. In his overview, Dr Sibisi outlined the CSIR's interpretation of its mandate and the organisation's strategic position within the South African System of Innovation. Explaining the CSIR's approach, he used case studies to demonstrate the multidisciplinary and integrative nature of the CSIR's research, the strong emphasis on partnering and how the organisation's portfolio of work spans the entire research, development and innovation value chain.
The presentation stimulated a very positive and lively discussion with a clear message from the Minister: focus on society.
One of her comments was that "very exciting work is being done in South Africa. It makes me grateful to be in the science and technology portfolio because I think this is the sector that is going to make the biggest difference in the lives of all our people, well into the future. Future prospects for society look really promising."
The Minister's positive views on the CSIR's work were further reinforced when she visited the Centre for Nano-structured Materials, which is co-funded by the Department of Science and Technology and the CSIR. She was impressed by the partnerships and collaborations that the centre has gone into, the focus on human capital development and the various applications of nanotechnology for the benefit of society. She was particularly heartened by her interaction with the talented young Master's and PhD students at the centre.
After lengthy engagements on a broad spectrum of work spanning health, defence and safety, natural environment, built environment, space technology and ICT, the Minister concluded her visit.
"What I have seen here today has reinforced my view that science for development does not necessarily mean low-end science. We can use cutting-edge, Nobel-prize-level science to address the needs of society and thus dramatically impact the lives of millions of people."
- Manana Makhanya
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