UCT finalists in the NSTF-BHP Billiton awards

Seven UCT scholars from six research units are finalists in the prestigious 2012/13 National Science and Technology Forum-BHP Billiton awards. This year, the NSTF celebrates its 15th awards, which recognise, acknowledge and promote excellence in the South African research and development community.

The Annual NSTF-BHP Billiton Awards event, launched in 1998, is the flagship project of the largest and most prominent multi-stakeholder representative forum for science, engineering, technology and innovation (SETI) organisations in South Africa.

The winners will be announced at the NSTF-BHP Billiton gala dinner in Johannesburg on 27 June.

UCT has finalists in the following categories:

To an individual for an outstanding contribution to SETI over a lifetime:
Professor Robert Millar (see below), director of the UCT/MRC Receptor Biology Group and director of the Mammal Research Unit at the University of Pretoria; and
Professor Dan Stein (see belwow), head of the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health and director of the MRC Unit on Anxiety Disorders at the University of Stellenbosch.

T W Kambule NRF-NSTF Awards: To an Individual for an Outstanding Contribution to SETI through Research and its Outputs over the last 5 to 10 years:
Professor Graeme Cumming (see below), Pola Pasvolsky Chair of Conservation Biology in the Department of Zoology; and
Professor Karen Sliwa-Hahnle (see below), director of Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research in Africa, in the Department of Medicine, UCT, and director of the Soweto Cardiovascular Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Professor Robert Millar	Professor Dan Stein	Professor Graeme Cumming	Professor Karen Sliwa-Hahnle

To a Researcher, for an outstanding contribution to SETI through Research Capacity Development over the last 5 to 10 years:
Professor Karen Sliwa-Hahnle (see above).

To an Individual or a Team for an outstanding contribution to SETI through Communication for Outreach and creating Awareness over the last 5 years:
The Aqualibrium Civil Engineering Team, which includes Associate Professor Kobus van Zyl (see below) of the Department of Civil Engineering.

To an Individual or a Team for an Outstanding Contribution to SETI through Research leading to Innovation:
The Adaptive Real-Time Internet Streaming Technology (ARTIST) Team (a collaborative effort between UCT, [Professor Gerhard de Jager and Associate Professor Mqhele Dlodlo (see below)] the CSIR, and East Coast Access).

Professor Kobus van Zyl	Professor Gerhard de Jager	Associate Professor Mqhele Dlodlo

Professor Danie Visser, Deputy Vice-Chancellor responsible for research, wished them well for the finals on 27 June.

"Each candidate and project has already done UCT proud. But we're particularly proud of the work being done by these finalists in capacity building, mentoring, and outreach, which are essential to the growth of the thriving research community we are working to establish."