Grahamstown ready to host Scifest Africa 2016
The 20th edition of the National Science Festival takes place in Grahamstown this month, and the city is ready to host the finest minds in science, technology, mathematics, engineering and innovation.
Scifest will see delegates from across Africa and the rest of the world gather in Grahamstown from Wednesday until March 8.
Scifest was established in 1996 to promote public awareness of the aforementioned fields.
The festival consists of two main components, namely the National Science Festival, as well as national and regional outreach programmes that are implemented during the course of the year.
Some of the key aims of Scifest Africa is to identify and design unique interactive events and educational resources with scientific integrity to advance science, facilitate learning in an informal and non-threatening way, and to give learners the best opportunity to discover science outside the classroom environment.
Scifest Africa also gives an opportunity to some of the world’s leading scientists to show and share their work and encourage learners about the importance of science.
This year’s program is filled to the brim with lectures, exhibitions and shows that are set to enthrall the thousands of learners that will descend upon the Settlers Monument during the week-long festival.
The Great South African Inventions exhibition is always a well attended exhibition, where they showcase all the proudly South African inventions, including world renowned ones such as the CAT Scan, Prepaid Airtime, Kreepy Krauly, Speed Gun and Pratley Putty.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will also be in attendance this year, and their programmes cover a number of topics, from biopharming to radar.
The Brian Wilmot lecture will be the flagship lecture and will also form part of the official opening of Scifest Africa 2016, which will be held in the Guy Butler Theatre at the Monument on Friday, March 4.
Wendy Sadler from the United Kingdom will cover the topic: Demo to democracy: How science communication can change the world.
South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology, is the main driver of the event, and will run a number of programmes during the week, while Science and Technology Minister, Naledi Pandor, will be in attendance and will also host a question and answer session.