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12 September 2018 Photo iFlaire
Architectural excellence celebrated at recent Sophia Gray lecture
Prof ‘Ora Joubert, a leading architect and academic, delivered the 30th Sophia Gray Memorial Lecture at the UFS.
A jolly kink, creative, aesthetically sensible, a dream house, welcoming, true colours, bright lights – these are some of the terms one can use to describe the work of Prof ‘Ora Joubert, leading architect, academic and former head of the UFS Department of Architecture.

A journey through time and space

She is also the 30th laureate to deliver the recent Sophia Gray Memorial Lecture on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). The lecture was titled: La Promenade Architecturale – A journey through time and space. “The title refers to the revelatory experience of an observer who wanders on a pathway in and through architectural spaces,” said Jan Ras, lecturer in the Department of Architecture and organiser of the event. 
“As the observer tours the architectural configuration, a sequence of composed images, themes and ordering systems are revealed. This gradually unfolds as the observer moves through the spaces,” Ras said.

The lecture, which coincided with an exhibition at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum, is a highlight of the South African architectural community and celebrates outstanding practitioners and academics in architecture.

Besides the numerous design awards she received as practitioner, Prof Joubert’s work has also received critical acclaim internationally in publications from Australia, to Russia and the UK. In 2001 she was cited as one of the most esteemed architects under the age of 40 and her work was included in the 2004 Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary Architecture. She is also a well-respected academic with 34 articles published in a variety of publications.

Recognising the intelligence and ingenuity of design

Prior to the lecture, the department also presented a mini-congress, introducing the new PhD with Design programme. This programme recognises the intelligence and ingenuity of design and is aimed at, among others, younger MArch graduates who wish to explore creative research. The department envisaged that the PhD study might be practice-based for architects who wish to document and research their own work and or design-led for candidates who wish to explore a new creative project. 

Forming part of this week filled with architectural creativity was a fundraising breakfast, with contributions going to the Sophia Gray Bursary Fund. The fund is part of a greater call to alumni and friends to be actively involved in the department’s continuous development and future endeavours towards imagination, care and excellence. 

News Archive

Mathematical methods used to detect and classify breast cancer masses
2016-08-10

Description: Breast lesions Tags: Breast lesions

Examples of Acho’s breast mass
segmentation identification

Breast cancer is the leading cause of female mortality in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the low survival rates in developing countries are mainly due to the lack of early detection and adequate diagnosis programs.

Seeing the picture more clearly

Susan Acho from the University of the Free State’s Department of Medical Physics, breast cancer research focuses on using mathematical methods to delineate and classify breast masses. Advancements in medical research have led to remarkable progress in breast cancer detection, however, according to Acho, the methods of diagnosis currently available commercially, lack a detailed finesse in accurately identifying the boundaries of breast mass lesions.

Inspiration drawn from pioneer

Drawing inspiration from the Mammography Computer Aided Diagnosis Development and Implementation (CAADI) project, which was the brainchild Prof William Rae, Head of the department of Medical Physics, Acho’s MMedSc thesis titled ‘Segmentation and Quantitative Characterisation of Breast Masses Imaged using Digital Mammography’ investigates classical segmentation algorithms, texture features and classification of breast masses in mammography. It is a rare research topic in South Africa.

 Characterisation of breast masses, involves delineating and analysing the breast mass region on a mammogram in order to determine its shape, margin and texture composition. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) program detects the outline of the mass lesion, and uses this information together with its texture features to determine the clinical traits of the mass. CAD programs mark suspicious areas for second look or areas on a mammogram that the radiologist might have overlooked. It can act as an independent double reader of a mammogram in institutions where there is a shortage of trained mammogram readers. 

Light at the end of the tunnel

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies among females in South Africa. “The challenge is being able to apply these mathematical methods in the medical field to help find solutions to specific medical problems, and that’s what I hope my research will do,” she says.

By using mathematics, physics and digital imaging to understand breast masses on mammograms, her research bridges the gap between these fields to provide algorithms which are applicable in medical image interpretation.

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