Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
30 December 2019 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah
Gavin Dollman
Gavin Dollman is involved in virtual prospecting for fossils using a drone.

Gavin Dollman is one of the young researchers selected for the international research programme funded through the US-SA Higher Education Network. This prestigious programme is aimed at giving PhD candidates and their supervisors the opportunity to regularly travel to the USA and spend time at participating US universities where their co-promoters will be based.

“The University Staff Doctoral Programme (USDP) has allowed me to bring my idea of collaborative science to fruition. It’s an exciting opportunity,” Dollman said.

Dollman added that his PhD studies would focus on the machine and deep learning for prospecting for palaeontology. He is studying with the Appalachian State University. Other participating universities are Montana and Colorado State.

He has also had the privilege to work alongside a team of Geologists and Paleontologists from the universities of Birmingham, Zurich and Oxford in a project under the auspices of the University of the Witwatersrand’s Evolution Studies Institute (ESI) on a site in rural Eastern Cape.

“My role within this massive project is to perform a detailed survey of the sites and the surrounding area for later analysis. I used a drone known as the DJI Phantom 3 Pro with which I took hundreds of pictures that were later put together to create a detailed map,” he said.

“The maps allowed for virtual prospecting by the team and will in the long term serve as the basis for a predictive fossil model for the area.”

Dollman is a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Informatics on the Qwaqwa Campus.

News Archive

UFS tennis player off to World Games in Turkey
2005-04-06

Kovsie se nommer 1 gekeurde tennisspeler Michelle van Staden is na afloop van die SASSU Oefenkamp van 28 Maart - 2 April 2005 te Pretoria in die SA Studente span verkies om aan die 23ste Studente Wêreldspele in Turkye, Izmar vanaf 10 - 21 Augustus 2005 deel te neem.

Van Staden het te same met 3 ander Kovsie wat in die SA Studente oefengroep opgeneem is, nl. Dillon van der Haer  (Kovsie se nr. 1 mansspeler), Elliott Hogan  (2de agtereen volgende jaar tot oefengroep verkies)  en Lizelle Smith  (Kovsies se nr. 2 gekeurde damesspeler)  aan die oefenkamp in Pretoria deelgeneem.  Die week het bestaan uit fiksheidstoetse en rondomtalie wedstryde.  Uit die 8 mans- en 8 damesspelers van verskeie Tersiêre Instellings in SA is slegs 3 mans en 3 dames verkies tot die span wat na Turkye sal reis.

Die span is:  Mans:  Heinrich Heyl  (Tuks), Warwic Spence  (UJHB), Joshua Nkachela  (Tuks).  Reserwe: Mark Prior  (UJHB).

Dames:  Michelle van Staden  (Kovsies), Catherine Perkins  (UKZN), Zanele Tshabalala  (TUT).  Reserwe:  Leentjie Oosthuizen  (Maties).

Michelle het gedurende verlede jaar se SASSU toernooi nie een wedstryde afgestaan en is nie-amptelik as die nr. 1 damesspeler in SA studente tennis aangewys.  Smith was ook deel van die Kovsie vrouespan wat die goue medalje verower het tydens die toernooi.

Die UV se afrigter, mnr. Marnus Kleinhans sal die SA Studente span as spanbestuurder na Turkye vergesel.  Die afrigter is mnr. Gerrie Dippenaar van die UJHB.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept