{SAIP}: Newsletter : February 2005 Editor: Miss. N.J. Ncapayi (ncapayi@tlabs.ac.za) (1) SAIP Matters Ms J. Padayachee - secretary@saip.org.za (a) Update of Personal Details and Deposits into the SAIP Bank Account {SAIP}: Newsletter : February 2005 Editor: Miss. N.J. Ncapayi (ncapayi@tlabs.ac.za) (1) SAIP Matters Ms J. Padayachee - secretary@saip.org.za (a) Update of Personal Details and Deposits into the SAIP Bank Account (J. Padayachee, secretary@saip.org.za) Please remember to inform the Secretary/Treasurer if any of your personal details change. Also, there are many anonymous deposits for SAIP membership fees into the Institute's bank account. The treasurer has no choice but to treat these deposits as donations to the Institute until the following is provided as proof : deposit slip (containing date, amount) with names of people for whom the deposit was made. (b) New Member Applications to the SAIP in 2005 : If you know of anyone who wants to join the SAIP specifically to take advantage of the member discounts at the conference, please note that there is a deadline of 1 April 2005 for new member applications. This is to allow me sufficient time to process the applications and for the Treasurer to ensure that these new applications have paid their fees so that they are eligible for the discounts at the conference. (2) SAIP conference announcement Jackie Nel : saip2005@up.ac.za University of Pretoria (a) SAIP 50th Annual Conference and Winter School: Pretoria 4 - 7 July 2005 It is the SAIP’s 50th Anniversary. The first meeting of the SAIP was held in Pretoria, and it was thought that it would be appropriate to celebrate 50 years of Physics in South Africa by holding the Annual conference in Pretoria again. It will be hosted by the Physics Department of the University of Pretoria at the main Pretoria campus. The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) has also declared 2005 to be the World Year of Physics. This year also marks the centenary of Albert Einstein’s three revolutionary papers. You are invited to join us in celebrating both these events between 5 and 7 July 2005. The central day of the conference (6 July 2005) will concentrate on Einstein's papers and the effect they have had during the last 100 years. (b) Winter School 4 July 2005 The conference will be preceded by a one day winter school on Biophysics on Monday 4 July 2005. The level of the talks will be of such a nature that students and young researchers will benefit from attending them. (c) Share your memories You are invited to share some of your memories of the past 50 years with the larger physics community. Send any interesting photos with a short description to Helga Nordhoff ( hnordhoff@postino.up.ac.za ) to be published on the photo album pages of this web site. The closing dates for abstracts and registration : 15 April 2005: Abstract Submission 27 May 2005: Response re abstracts 3 June 2005: Early Bird Registration 3 June 2005: Closing date for accommodation 30 June 2005: Closing date for late registration For online registration and more information keep an eye on the conference website at: http://saip2005.up.ac.za or contact the organisers at saip2005@up.ac.za (3) International Year of Physics Harm Moraal : SKHM@puknet.puk.ac.za North West University (Potchefstroom Campus) Please visit the website www.saip.org.za for more information on the international year of Physics. The first month of the IYP 2005 has come and gone. The Steering Committee that coordinates South African efforts has all its operations in place. Basically, South Africa will: a.. Host the IUPAP General Assembly in Cape Town in October b.. Organise a World Conference on Physics and Sustainable Development in Durban in November 2005 c.. Present an Einstein day for learners, and a Physics on Parade day for teachers at the SAIP Conference in July d.. Get a Physics Olympiad off the ground e.. Issue a postage stamp on 7 July to celebrate the IYP f.. Publish an issue of the SA Journal of Science devoted to Physics in July (Have you submitted your contribution?) g.. Have the annual SciFest and National Science Week focus on Physics h.. Revitalize science clubs in schools i.. Make available several items of written and promotional material (posters, calendar, Physics board game, pocket cards, etc.) Every Physics Department has also been challenged to organize at least one special event for the IYP that it would not have done otherwise. (4) Science Clubs Mr Sivuyile Manxoyi : sivuyile@saao.ac.za SAAO Celebrate Year of Physics in style: support the science clubs. There are 46 active science clubs in the Cape Town area. Many of these are being actively supported by SAAO. To celebrate the year of physics the clubs are ready and willing to host speakers who are trained and working in any area of physics. The talk/demonstration should be fun, informative and interactive and should not extend beyond half an hour. Those interested in participating, please contact Sivuyile. (5) NMMU students form Cosmology/Astronomy Society Prof Jan Neethling jan.neethling@nmmu.ac.za Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (Port Elizabeth) Enthusiastic Physics students at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth have recently formed a Cosmology/Astronomy society under the encouragement of physics professors Jan Neethling and Japie Engelbrecht. The student executive committee of the society, Profs Neethling and Engelbrecht, Mr Pine Pienaar (photography department of the former Port Elizabeth Technikon) and Dr Francois du Toit (amateur astronomer and photographer) have just spent a weekend on a guest farm close to Steytlerville where a 10 inch Newtonian reflector telescope will be installed permanently. The objectives of the society are to foster a public interest in astronomy and cosmology, to introduce this science to young learners in the metropole and to use astronomy/cosmology as a springboard to the introduction of other sciences e.g. physics, chemistry, mathematics and geology. The total number of students who have joined the society now stands at 40. Two staff members of the Dept of mathematical sciences at the former PE Technikon, Messrs Michiel Ackermann and Freddie Vorster are also actively involved in the astronomy project. (6) NMMU Physics builds ties with German university Prof Jan Neethling : Jan.Neethling@nmmu.ac.za Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (Port Elizabeth) The NMMU (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) physics department was again well represented at the recent annual conference of the Microscopy Society of Southern Africa held at the University of Pretoria during December 2004. Three physics staff members and 2 postgraduate students presented papers at the conference. Profs Japie Engelbrecht and Jan Neethling and Dr Pearl Berndt acted as session chairs and both Profs Engelbrecht and Neethling were re-elected as executive committee members of the Microscopy Society of SA for 2005. Dr Alistair Douglas, who received his PhD from UPE during July 2004 and who is now working at Mintek, was also elected to serve on the executive committee. Two NMMU papers published in the conference proceedings also received awards for excellence. The one was a paper by H Lombard, PR Berndt, JH Neethling and DH Hattingh, and the other was by A Douglas and JH Neethling. Hannalie Lombard and Danie Hattingh are of the Mechnical Engineering Department, while Jan Neethling and Pearl Berndt are of the Physics Department. Prof Neumann of the Institute of Physics at the Humboldt University of Berlin visited South Africa on invitation of Prof Neethling. Prof Neumann presented the 27th John Matthews Memorial Plenary Lecture at the conference. He also presented workshops at the NMMU and the University of Pretoria on Crystallography and Electron Microscopy Investigations of Nanostructured Materials. Prof Neumann's visit has initiated collaboration between his institute and the NMMU. The first atomic resolution electron microscopy investigations of semiconductors and hardmetals of the NMMU Physics Department will be carried out in Berlin during May 2005. (7) Establishment of the Synchrotron Task Team Dr Simon Connell : connell@src.wits.ac.za University of the Witwatersrand The Department of Science and Technology has established the Synchrotron Task Team under the chairmanship of Dr Tshepo Seekoe (Manager: Science Platforms Unit). The brief of this Team includes a wide-ranging investigation and feasibility study which will inform the Ministry of the merits of a Synchrotron program for South Africa. Such a program may simply involve facilitated and encouraged access to exisitng facilities, or it may extend to implementing a carefully designed roadmap whose goal is the ultimate realisation of a South African or African Synchrotron Facility.The Synchrotron Task Team has a number of Working Groups to assist it in its mission. One of these is the Science Working Group, chaired by Dr Simon Connell. This working group will focus on the science case, the identification of the current and potential Synchrotron based scientific progams and the current and potential Synchrotron scientific user community. You are invited to nominate individuals to this group as well as to submit any relevant information. We will be working towards a report which will form a pre-feasibility study. We are also working towards a Workshop scheduled for about 6 months time. The Workshop will be an important opportunity for the Science Community to participate in the process. Please let Simon Connell know if you would like to continue to receive information on this process. (8) African Laser Centre laser course held in Stellenbosch Dr E.G Rohwer : egr@sun.ac.za University of Stellenbosch The African Laser Centre (ALC) was launched in October 2003 as a NEPAD initiative and several co-operative projects are already running. During the first week of February 2005 a successful course on lasers was held at the University of Stellenbosch. The first African Laser Centre course "Introduction to lasers" was presented by the Laser Research Institute at the University of Stellenbosch in co-operation with the National Laser Centre and attended by 17 delegates from all over Africa. The course was sponsored by the ALC, and similar courses will be held in future. For more details about the course see the news page on the website: http://www.laser-research.co.za More news on the ALC in general see the new ALC website: http://www.africanlasercentre.org/ (9) Summer school on advanced scientific computing Dr Nithaya Chetty : chettyn@ukzn.ac.za University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg The 16th Chris Engelbrecht Summer School in Theoretical Physics on the subject of "Advanced Scientific Computing" was held at the Alpine Heath Resort in the Northern Drakensberg Mountains in January 2005, and drew a record number of participants including physicists from other African countries. There were seven international lecturers and a number of local experts who presented an exciting lecture series in Computational Physics. I believe that we need to entrench a more hands-on computing culture amongst our students with the view of solving real, physical problems. The skills that students learn in such an environment are useful and practical and in demand in the modern scientific and technical workplace. Exposing our students to current topics in Computational Physics was an essential goal of the School. The lecture series by Ian Bush (Daresbury, UK) on 'Parallel Computing on a cluster of PCs' was especially relevant, and showed that near supercomputing speeds can be attained by developing smart parallel computing algorithms and using hardware that is usually already available in a typical university LAN. Several of the lecturers used the Monte Carlo method to solve problems in Condensed Matter Physics as well as in Statistical Physics. Paul Ricker (Illinois, USA) underscored the importance of stable numerical solutions of systems of partial differential equations (Euler equations) that govern the dynamics of galaxy formation. The School exposed our students to a wide range of scientific endeavours where large-scale computing is essential in the elucidation of the many research problems. The School celebrated the International Year of Physics by having Prof Domenico Guilini (Freiburg, Germany) give a three lecture series on Einstein's work. Guilini is clearly a world expert on the academic subject as well as the history of Einstein's work ... a copy of his slides may found on the School website. The proceedings of the School will be published by Springer Verlag. Please see http://academic.sun.ac.za/summerschool/2005.html for further details about the School, and an exciting gallery of photographs taken of the School venue and surroundings. (10) Physics Outreach Programmes (a) Minquiz Regional Finals for all high (Gr 12) schools in KZN will be held on the 02 March 2005 : UKZN, Edgewood Campus from 12:00-4:00- sponsored by Mintek. Sent by Dr Nadaraj Govender : govendern37@nu.ac.za (University of Natal) (b) Physics Emasondosondo Dr Max Chirwa : chirwa@getafix.utr.ac.za University of Transkei In September 2004 the Physics Department at the University of Transkei hosted the Physics Emasondosondo trailer from Wits University. From the 8th and 24th September 2004, we visited 11 high schools, namely Sea View, Ngwayibanjwa, Dudumayo, Khulanathi, Bazindlovu, Jongintaba, MD Dalasile, Umtata College, Zamukulungisa, Xolilizwe Sangini and Mditshwa.. During the first visits, we used the programme as structured by our counterpart from Wits. Later we modified it so that most of the demonstrations were run as parallel small group sessions (station-based) as this increased learner- demonstrator contact. The Physics staff members on tours were Mr J K O Bamfo, Dr M Chirwa, Mr T A Dyeyi, Mr G Kurian, the late Mr A M Nkanyza and Dr P J Thampi. From the Umtata district education management we had Mrs Nosisa Nyangeni and Mr Vuyani Matshayana who arranged for our prepacked lunches. Overall there were 34 student demonstrators; however their attendance was erratic partly due their normal commitments in the University. On average we had eight students per tour. The programme was well received with praises and encouragement from ordinary people on the street, the students and teachers. There were many teething problems in running the programme here. For instance, two Physics staff members almost routinely served as vehicle drivers, starting of visits to schools due to delayed release of vehicles by the Transport Department, delay by the University of Transkei in paying the student demonstrators their allowances, and confusion over supply of liquid nitrogen to either the Chemistry (regular user) or the Physics Departments. Comments and observations 1. The teachers and most of learners reside far away from their school premises and the schoolday ends by mid-afternoon, thus probably less time is spent in school. Fridays are much shorter. 2. Some teachers spoke of (i) lack of school textbooks and (ii) hunger of the pupils as additional problems faced by learners from poor homes or families. Thus these schools need support to acquire textbooks which the learners could use at least on a loan basis. 3. The student demonstrators need more tutoring and preferably should be those in higher years of study, as is the practice in the Gauteng programme. A small team of dedicated students cannot be readily available all the time as the school visits occur during the University semester. 4. When handling delicate apparatus, student demonstrators need to be closely monitored to avoid or minimize breakages. A glass bowl, used in some demonstrations on pressure, broke as students were loading the equipment into the trailer. Our counterpart at Wits promptly sent us a replacement by courier.