Ministor Pandor visits SKA site
14 April 2010
News
The Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs Naledi Pandor, together with the Premier of the Northern Cape, Ms Hazel Jenkins, led a high-level ministerial visit to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) site in Carnavon in the Northern Cape, at the end of March.
This is aimed at celebrating a major milestone in Africa’s international bid to host the SKA, which is deemed to be the world’s most powerful radio telescope.
A core component of the country’s bid initiative is the design and construction of an operational demonstrator telescope, the MeerKAT. To achieve this objective, the construction of the seven-dish Karoo Array Telescope (KAT-7) serves as the Meerkat precursor array. The minister’s visit to the region is in celebration of the successful construction of the seventh and final dish of the KAT-7, which was completed ahead of schedule in early 2010. This is a significant milestone, which positions Africa well ahead of Australia, the only other remaining contender in the bid to host the SKA.
The achievement also clearly demonstrates Africa’s existing capabilities in science and technology and positions the continent more favourably to host the telescope as a collective of African partner countries (Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Mauritius, Madagascar, Kenya, Ghana and Zambia). The KAT-7 will serve as both an engineering test-bed and as an operational radio telescope.
The MeerKAT will be one of the largest scientific research facilities in the world and will consolidate Africa as a major global hub for astronomy in the world. It will hopefully attract the best scientists and engineers to work in Africa and will provide opportunities for scientists and engineers from across the continent to engage with transformational science and cutting-edge instrumentation, as well as to collaborate in joint projects with the most renowned universities and research institutions in the world.
Further reading:
SACEEC celebrates standout industrial innovation on the KITE 2025 show floor
News
Exhibitor innovation took the spotlight at the KITE 2025 as the South African Capital Equipment Export Council announced the winners of its prestigious New Product & Innovation Awards.
Read more...
SA team for International Olympiad in Informatics
News
The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa has named the team that will represent South Africa at this year’s International Olympiad in Informatics.
Read more...
Anritsu and Bluetest to support OTA measurement
News
Anritsu Company and Sweden-based Bluetest AB have jointly developed an Over-The-Air measurement solution to evaluate the performance of 5G IoT devices compliant with the RedCap specification.
Read more...
The current sentiment of the global electronics manufacturing supply chain
News
In its latest report, the Global Electronics Association provides an analysis of the current sentiment and conditions in the global electronics manufacturing supply chain as of June 2025.
Read more...
Global semiconductor sales increase in May
News
The Semiconductor Industry Association recently announced global semiconductor sales were $59,0 billion during the month of May 2025, an increase of 19,8%.
Read more...
New president for Avnet EMEA
News
Avnet has announced that Avnet Silica’s president, Gilles Beltran, will step into the role of president of Avnet EMEA.
Read more...
DARPA sets new record for wireless power beaming
News
In tests performed in New Mexico, the Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay program team recorded over 800 W of power delivered for about 30 seconds with a laser beam crossing 8,6 kilometres.
Read more...
Nordic Semiconductor acquires Memfault
RF Design
News
With this acquisition, Nordic has launched its first complete chip-to-cloud platform for lifecycle management of connected products.
Read more...
Trina storage demonstrates high efficiency and long-term reliability
News
Independent testing confirms 95,2% DC efficiency and 98% capacity retention after one year of operation.
Read more...
From the editor's desk: AI – a double-edged sword
Technews Publishing
News
As with any powerful tool, AI presents challenges, some of which, if not carefully managed, threaten to undo the potential that it can offer.
Read more...
printer friendly version