ISSUE 17 | JULY 2016
INTERNATIONAL
UWC physicist to attend prestigious Nobel Laureate meeting UWC rising scientist Siyambonga Matshawule has been nominated by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) to attend the 66th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, Germany. ASSAf, as the official partner of the Lindau Foundation and with funding from the Department of Science and Technology, annually nominates young scientists to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings which are designed as a forum for young scientists from countries around the world to have an in-depth exchange with Nobel Laureates. The meeting will take place from 26 June to 1 July 2016 and around 30 Nobel laureates are expected to participate. The participants are outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate students and postdoctoral research fellows under 35 years of age in the field of physics, which is the focus of this year’s meeting. They were selected after a multi-stage international selection process. Matshawule, a Next Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP) lecturer and PhD student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is one of five top young physicists in South Africa to attend the meeting. He is the second scientist from UWC to have been nominated to attend the meeting. The meetings have been held annually at Lindau, Germany, since 1951.
BUSINESS
Creating young entrepreneurs
UWC alumnus Chris Kilowan has embarked on initiatives to reduce unemployment of young people.
Having developed excellent networks across Africa, the Middle East and the Asian markets, UWC alumnus Chris Kilowan regularly forms new collaborative ventures with small and medium enterprises to offer their products and services to a broad market. “In this way all of us become global players,” he explains. His latest initiative envisions creating entrepreneurship opportunities for 500 000 unemployed young people in South Africa to start their own cellphone airtime and data selling micro-businesses. On Worker’s Day Kilowan posted information regarding the social conditions under which more than 80% of our 19 million youth survive every day. Through one of his companies, AMOSS Payments (Moya Cell in South Africa), he called for donations of at least R100 to enable one young person to start a business. “It is clear that those with or without matric make up by far the biggest segment of young people who are unemployed. We are focusing on that group.” The response to his call was overwhelming. “Today I am happy to report that members of this group have responded positively to my call. We are now able to provide seed capital of R100
to 50 young people.” Kilowan studied law at UWC in the 1980s and led the Legal Aid Clinic for a number of years. After he left UWC he obtained a number of qualifications from other universities and held top positions in several organisations. His goal for the next 10 years is to build the AMOSS Holdings companies across sub-Saharan Africa and make a positive contribution in the markets where his companies operate. “As a leader, teacher and visionary I aim to constantly inspire and motivate young entrepreneurs and help them to build their dreams, the objective always being to make a positive difference in Africa,” he says.
Matshawule was excited about the nomination. “It serves as a great source of inspiration not only to me, but also other aspiring scientists,” he says. “I am more motivated to continue the work I am doing. As a young researcher, the nomination shows that hard work indeed pays off and also that people in the field do recognise one’s potential to become a great researcher in the future.”
SAVE THE DATE GOLFING FOR EDUCATION When: Wednesday, 24 August 2016 Where: Killarney Country Club, 60 5th Street, Lower Houghton, Johannesburg For more information please call Marlene Scholtz at 021 959 2482 or mscholtz@uwc.ac.za SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE The proceeds from this event will support the Jakes Gerwel Education, Development and Endowment Fund FROM HOPE TO ACTION THROUGH KNOWLEDGE.
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