Youth urged to attend Nasa presentations

THE director for Solar System Exploration at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa)’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Japie van Zyl, will be hosting a presentation on the wonders of the universe at Walvis Bay.

The presentation aims at educating the community on the moons and planets that Nasa has visited over the years.

The Robotic Solar Systems Exploration presentation will be held as a joined collaboration with the Expo Science for Young Environmentalists (EYE) Namibia, in partnership with the American corner in Walvis Bay.

EYE Namibia is a non-profit organisation operating in all regions of Namibia.

Their objective is to stimulate interest in young people and children from the grass roots level in energy, engineering, environment, visual arts and business olympiads.

They engage communities to promote environmental awareness and raise awareness on the responsible involvement of pupils in their environment which can guarantee their good health.

Van Zyl had several Skype presentations with pupils from schools at Walvis Bay earlier this year, which motivated many of them to venture into the field of science.

According to the organiser of the event, Martella Diedericks, the Skype presentations were made to pupils from Grades 11 and 12 from various coastal schools.

“The previous presentations left the learners in awe and amazement, opening up their minds to what is happening in the vast sky above us and triggering interest from children who never gave the discipline much thought in the past.

“From the positive feedback received after the presentations made to the coast schools, Van Zyl agreed to share the presentation with the rest of the Namibian community at large,” said Diedericks.

The open presentation will be made by Van Zyl in person and will be held at the Walvis Bay Community Church on 20 December at 19h00. The venue has a seating capacity for approximately 400 people, and the organisers hope to fill every seat.

“We want to show children that one can dream big and big dreams can come true. This is important for the upliftment of children.

“The presentation is aimed at the youth of Namibia, with them being the guests of honour in the audience.

“We need children and their parents to attend and to be inspired and motivated. Since it is school holidays and many people are at the coast, we are hoping to have many attendees,” Diedericks said.

Nasa is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space programme, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

Van Zyl received an Honours Bachelor’s Degree cum laude in Electrical Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

He received both his Master’s and his Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Caltech University.

He joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1986 and held positions of increasing responsibility in the Synthetic Aperture Radar Programme.

He also managed the Radar Science and Engineering Section, the Earth Science Flight Missions and Experiments Office, and the Focused Physical Oceanography and Solid Earth Programme Office.

Van Zyl was appointed deputy director for the astronomy and physics directorate in 2002.

He has been an adjunct faculty member in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at the University of Southern California, where he taught remote sensing systems from space from 1997 to 2001.

Since 2002, he has been teaching, physics and techniques of remote sensing at Caltech University.

He often accepts invitations to speak at events in South Africa and Namibia because he believes he must give back as much as possible to the continent he comes from.