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INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCTS AND INNOVATION

CSIR renews CEO contact for second term

he Board of the Council for and Chief Researchers”.
Scientific and Industrial Research Under his leadership, the CSIR has
T(CSIR) has unanimously agreed seen significant improvements in terms
to extend the employment contract of the transformation of its leadership as
of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr well as the senior levels of the science,
Thulani Dlamini for another five years. engineering and technology base,
Dr Dlamini’s current contract would have streamlined its research development
ended on 31 January 2022. and innovation capabilities to attain
Chairperson of the CSIR Board, Prof better integration and alignment, made
Thokozani Majozi, said of the renewal: significant strides in fostering relationship
“We are pleased to announce that the with the private sector and international
CSIR Board has approved the renewal of sectors, improved profitability and
the CEO’s contract for another five years, retained its track record of good
commencing on 1 February 2022”. Prof corporate governance.
Majozi said the CSIR has made significant Prof Majozi further said the role
strides under the leadership of Dr Dlamini. and contribution of the CSIR from the
“Foremost among these is the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic cannot Dr Thulani Dlamini
repositioning of the organisation to be over-emphasised and attests to the
align with the country’s industrial needs capable and visionary leadership at all to better understand movement patterns
through the commercialisation of our levels of the organisation. The CSIR has across specific areas, such as virus
technologies, transformation of the been at the forefront of the fight against hotspots, high-risk and vulnerable areas,
Science, Engineering and Technology the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. as well as monitor lockdown compliance
(SET) base within the CSIR, as well Working with a number of local partners, and the spread of the virus.
as the accentuation of our visibility the CSIR developed a local ventilator
and accessibility. While there is still that proved critical to saving the lives of EngineerIT congratulates Dr Dlamini on
more work to be done, the CSIR Covid-19 patients. his richly deserved reappointment and
now has demographic and gender As part of government’s efforts to wishes him well during his tenure. We
representativity at the highest levels of flatten the curve, the CSIR has developed look forward to continuing our open
the scientific ladder, which are Principal a platform that monitors human mobility, relationship – editor.

NEW VIEWS ON SOLAR CYCLE 25 a strong Solar Maximum? “Not so fast,”
cautions Dr Ron Turner, an analyst at
the ANSER research institute in Virginia.
or much of the past year, the space weather community has been buzzing about the “It may be too early to anticipate a strong
strong performance of young Solar Cycle 25 (SC25). Every month, sunspot numbers solar cycle.”
Fseem to be higher than past official predictions. Does this mean we’re about to have The graph shows why Turner is
sceptical.
Solar Cycle 25 is doing something
interesting. It is mimicking old Solar Cycle
24 (SC24). “I took sunspot numbers from
the early years of SC24 (the red dashed
line) and overlaid them on SC25,” says
Turner. “They’re an almost perfect match.”
This is significant because Solar Cycle
24 went on to become the weakest
solar cycle in a century. Its sizzling start
did not lead to a strong maximum. Turner
isn’t saying that Solar Cycle 25 will likewise
be a dud. But, rather, “these early sunspot
numbers are not enough to guarantee a
strong cycle.”

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