Student scientist from KwaZulu-Natal strikes gold with nanotubes for cleaner water

06 May 2016 - 16:10 By Aarti J Narsee

Nozipho Gumbi‚ a 26-year-old aspiring scientist from KwaZulu-Natal‚ has scooped the top award in a competition dubbed “Pop Idols for scientists”.The finals of International FameLab South Africa were hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre‚ and Gumbi impressed the judges with her three-minute speech on water filtration using carbon nanotubes.She is studying nanotechnology at Unisa and doing PHD research which focuses on ways of improving water purification using membrane filters.The award comes with R5‚000 but the real prize is a trip to the UK‚ where Gumbi‚ from Eshowe‚ will face more than 30 other national champions for the international title.FameLab is an international competition and training programme designed to "inspire‚ motivate and develop" young scientists and engineers to actively engage with the public.The panel that judged the 10 South African finalists at a Going Global conference on Wednesday included Dr Tollulah Oni from UCT School of Public Health‚ Dr Carolina Odman from Universe Awareness Programme‚ Koki Selepe from the Department of Science and Technology and John Wade Smith of the British High Commission.Runners-up were: - Claude Moshobane from Limpopo‚ of the South African National Biodiversity Institute‚ who discussed alien invasive plants and how they disrupt the ecosystem; and - Savannah Nuwagaba from Uganda‚ a Stellenbosch University student who spoke about how mathematics is used to predict possible changes in animals’ body size‚ depending on changes in their eating habits.FameLab in South Africa was hosted by the British Council‚ the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement and Jive Media Africa.- TMG Digital/The Times..

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