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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

First for UFS – Students learn from industry
2005-09-02

The University of the Free State (UFS) will present a Career Development Week from 19-23 September 2005 for students on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein.  This will give companies the opportunity to introduce themselves to students. 

It will be the first time that such a programme is presented at the UFS.  Similar career development programmes take place at most of the other big South African universities.

This initiative was inspired by the huge need among students to network with the business sector so as to prepare themselves for the practical demands made on prospective employees in the marketplace.  The UFS also receives many requests from the corporate and private sector to meet with students with a view to possible recruitment.

There will be no costs involved at participating in the programme and companies may also use it as a recruitment opportunity.

The Career Development Week will be presented in the format of “lunch hour talks”.  Companies specify at which time and date they would prefer to make a presentation of about 30 minutes to the students.  Aspects to be covered in the presentation include information about the company, the career possibilities within the company and the type of academic qualifications and personality characteristics needed in the specific company and industry.  If necessary, afternoon sessions (14:00–17:00) could be arranged.

Companies interested in taking part in this opportunity can contact Ms Ilse Olivier on (051) 4012415.

Media release
Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel:  (051) 401-2584
   Cell:  083 645 2454
   E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za 
   2 September 2005

 

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