THEME: ADVANCING THE NEXT AFRICAN SPACE GENERATION
Host: Tumo Fortunate Kedumele
Field: STEM, Space Technology
Occupation: Founder/ Managing Director; Researcher
Institution: WiS-BW; BIUST
Education: BEng Telecommunications Engineering
SSAASS 2022, PASEA 2022, BMAAS 2023 Delegate
Inspiration:
I have always been interested in STEM subjects from a young age, I was also passionate about astronomy and fascinated by space technology. During varsity years I was mostly drawn to space communication, particularly satellites, cubesats, radio and microwave engineering. Venturing into the astronomy field gave me an opportunity to work with radio communication, instrumentation and astronomy in radio astronomy research.
Furthermore because of my passion for women empowerment, outreach and education I was inspired to establish Women in STEM-BW (WiS) alongside my co-founders. The mandate of the social enterprise was and is still to inspire and build capacity for girls, young women and general youth to pursue STEM, Astronomy, Space Science and Technology studies and careers. I believe and practice Mahatma Gandhi’s principle that “One can always be the change they want to see around them and in the world”, hence I encourage many I encounter to adopt such a principle and to always take initiative.
Hobbies: Hiking, Music, Reading, Writing, Yoga, Dancing & Adventure sports
Speaker1: Natasha C.S.T Moleele
Field: STEM
Occupation: Aircraft Engineer
Institution: CAAB
Education: BEng Aerospace Engineering
Forbes 2023 Delegate
INSPIRATION:
I became very passionate about my career path because I watched a lot of
documentaries growing up. I always saw men in this field but when I found out about
various women of colour in this profession my interest grew more. I also saw books
of rockets, space, astronomy ,jets and aircrafts. This honestly made my ask myself
the question if I could give it a shot because all my life I was told to pursue other
careers because they were popular and common. I am definitely thankful for the
women in space I saw on Turning Point, TBN and Discovery Channel.
Hobbies: Reading, writing, dancing and taking walks.
Speaker2: Keletso B. Dichaba
Field: STEM, Space Science
Occupation: PHD Candidate; Programs Manager
Instituition: BIUST; WiS-BW
Education: BSc. Applied Sciences, MSc. Computer Science
DARA 2017, WAKE 2022 Delegate
Inspiration:
I grew up a quiet child, to occupy my time I would read a lot. Overtime my reading led me to ask a lot of questions about a lot of things. From enjoying photos of sunsets, sunrises and stars to wondering what those stars looked like up close to what happens within them. Now I am A Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science with an MSc specializing in radio astronomy, I am interested in galaxy cluster evolution, machine learning analysis of galaxy populations, and black hole investigations. My MSc research centered on radio emission sources within galaxy clusters, while my current work merges computational techniques and deep learning for automated source detection and classification in astronomy. Stellar populations and the mysteries of black holes captivate my research pursuits. Through innovative applications of machine learning, I strive to uncover celestial secrets and contribute to the realm of automated astronomy. With a firm belief in the synergy of computer science and astronomy, my goal is to advance our comprehension of the cosmos and its elusive phenomena.
Hobbies : Reading, Drawing, Poetry