2011 elections

CSIR's science-based election forecasting spot on During the 2011 local elections in May, the CSIR election forecasting team's precision was again demonstrated by its early national predictions. After 1% of the national votes were in, the CSIR forecast that the ANC would get 62% of the votes, and after 14% were in, that the party would get 62.8 %. This number stayed constant and was, in fact, the final percentage released.

Hot off the press

Municipal waste management good practices toolkit CSIR researchers compiled a toolkit of good waste management practices at rural, local and urban municipalities to serve as examples to other municipalities struggling with service delivery. The toolkit highlights initiatives which have resulted in improvements to the way that waste is managed in communities.

ScienceScope: All things ICT The latest edition of the ScienceScope, focusing on information and communications technology, is now available. This edition highlights a number of areas of ICT research in the CSIR. It shows how our work contributes to society, human capital development, and the economy.

Our people

CSIR nano expert receives Dean's Fellowship award at MIT Professor Thembela Hillie, one of the CSIR's foremost researchers in the field of nanotechnology, has been selected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan) to pursue a one-year mid-career fellowship in innovation and global leadership.

Built environment

CSIR helps curb cross-infection of drug-resistant TB nationally In the country's fight against TB, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe recently opened a dedicated long-term accommodation unit for drug-resistant TB at Catherine Booth Hospital in rural KwaZulu-Natal. The CSIR was instrumental in supporting the design, development and construction of this unit.

SA public infrastructure shows slight improvement The overall state of South Africa's public infrastructure has improved slightly over the past five years - from a D+ rating in 2006 to a C- in 2011. Such infrastructure covers 10 sectors, namely drinking water systems, sanitation, roads, airports, railways, ports, electricity reticulation, hospitals, clinics and schools.

SA's first sanitation technology demonstration centre launched at CSIR Only three days after the launch of the Sanitation Technology Demonstration Centre on the CSIR site in Pretoria at the end of May, the CSIR project team already hosted the first visitors - engineering consultants - for a tour of the facilities.

Defence and security

CSIR helps SAAF fix Gripen communication The South African Air Force has awarded the Defence, Peace, Safety and Security unit of the CSIR a contract for specialist engineering support service to identify and correct "problems with data communication between Gripen aircraft".

Industry

CSIR and Optimal Energy signs agreement The CSIR and South Africa's electric vehicle developer, Optimal Energy, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU). This agreement will support the localisation of the manufacturing of components and parts of Joule, South Africa's own electric vehicle.

Natural environment

South African oceanographer part of international GEOTRACES research cruise The CSIR's Dr Thato Mtshali is the first South African research scientist to join the international GEOTRACES-team on its research cruise in the western Pacific Ocean. GEOTRACES helps the science community understand past, present and future cycles of trace metals, and how changes in the environment are impacting on these cycles.

Local laser technology used to measure carbon-uptake of African savannas In a local first, CSIR researcher Alecia Nickless took existing ground-based laser technology and worked with a local laser instrument manufacturer, ABB, to deploy a cost-effective version of a ground-based laser-scanner to measure carbon uptake of trees and grass in savannas.

Enabling technologies

Infrastructure: CSIR champions knowledge and expertise sharing for betterment of laser development in Africa The CSIR's laser User Facility is receiving increased attention from foreign scientists and students who visit the facility to use lasers for their research. The facility has hosted more than 100 staff and students over the past few years, covering disciplines from physics, chemistry and engineering to biology and animal health sciences.

ICT: SAGrid infrastructure to be part of nuclear experiment simulation South Africa will take its place among its global peers in the e-science arena when it participates in the international software validation run of software to simulate the passage of particles through matter.

ICT: High performance computing collaboration between SA and Tanzania picks up the pace Future collaboration between the Centre for High Performance Computing and Tanzania's India-Tanzania Centre of Excellence in ICT is on the cards, following high-level bilateral discussions between the governments of South African and Tanzania in Dar-es-Salaam in April 2011.

ICT: Canadian knowledge representation researcher finds sabbatical meaningful Professor David Toman of the University of Waterloo's Cheriton School of Computer Science recently completed a sabbatical visit at the CSIR's knowledge reasoning and representation research group. His visit supports the CSIR's objectives to foster and maintain research and development collaboration with universities.