MADE IN SA
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F E AT U R E
SPORT
SPEED GUN Used to accurately measure the speed and angles of fastmoving objects like cricket and tennis balls in sporting arenas, the speed gun was originally thought up by South African engineer Henri Johnson. Having worked on radar technology for the South African Navy which could measure the velocity of projectiles in flight, Johnson realised that there was an opportunity to apply this tech in sports. And thus the speed gun was born.
FLIGHTSCOPE The FlightScope is the second invention by Henri Johnson on our list. Developed in 2004 after Johnson had turned his attention to golf, this 3D Doppler tracking radar follows the trajectory of a golf ball as well as the speed and acceleration profiles of the club head. FlightScope has become a household name among golf instructors and professionals; the technology is also popular with other trajectory-based sports like shot put and javelin.
MEDICINE
CAT SCAN The computed axial tomography scan, or CAT scan, was developed by South Africa-born physicist Allan Cormack. Cormack became interested in the problem of differentiating between layers of tissue with different densities with an X-ray. Realising that more information could be gained if X-rays were taken from several different directions, he set to work with British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield to solve the problem. The two invented the CAT scan in 1972 and were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1979.
25 YEARS OF SUCCESS
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