Page 40 - EngineerIT March 2022

INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCTS AND INNOVATION

Dr Val Munsami leaves SANSA

ith his rich history in space science and extensive experience Dr Val Munsami
made a significant contribution to the development of the agency.
WDr. Munsami holds a PhD in Physics, a Master of Business Leadership,
a Space Studies Program Diploma, and a Certificate in International Air, Space and
Telecommunications Law.
He worked in South Africa’s secretariat for the non-proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, managed the implementation of a suite of bilateral and multilateral science and
technology agreements, was involved in the development of South Africa’s National Space
Strategy and National Space Policy, and oversaw the establishment of the South African
National Space Agency (SANSA).
He led the development of South Africa’s multi-wavelength astronomy strategy and the
SKA readiness strategy for Africa, and conceptualised the model for the Pan African Space
Science University Institute.
He also chaired the African Union space working group, which was tasked with the
development of the African space policy and strategy that was approved in January 2016. He also chaired the committee of
He was the vice president of the International Astronautics Federation, but currently Heads of Organisations of Research and
chairs the IAF administrative committee for developing countries and emerging Technology (COHORT), which comprises
communities. 21 science and technology institutions in
He also served on the South African Council for Space Affairs (SACSA) for a number of South Africa.
terms. He is an academician of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and sits As the process to recruit a new CEO
on the advisory boards of the Space Generation Advisory Council and the Global Space for SANSA continues, Ms Andiswa Mlisa
Congress, and on the board of trustees for the International Academy of Science. (currently the managing director: Earth
He has published several scientific and policy-related journal articles and sits on the Observation) will hold the reigns for the
Springer editorial advisory board for the Southern Space Studies series. next six months.

Miromico’s new LoRaWAN gateways seamlessly

integrate with the Azure Sphere platform

iromico’s new LoRaWAN gateways seamlessly integrate fronts. Firstly, it ensures safety from the risk of cyber-attacks by
with the Microsoft Azure Sphere platform, enabling the providing multiple layers of security to help guard the gateways
Mmonitoring, tracking and management of data in almost against threats. It can also be deployed in a flexible way to secure
every environment from buildings to factories, in hospitals, in existing equipment, as well as building protection into new IoT
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the platform from qiio®, the gateway supports cellular, Wi-Fi automatic security update services help users stay ahead of current
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LoRaWAN is an RF communications technology that enables for the gateways throughout their operating lifetime,
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Companies and organisations across the globe use the customers to remotely upgrade gateways without fear of them
technology for monitoring weather or tracking sensors, asset becoming unreachable due to a glitch during the update.
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Ensuring security and smooth operation of LoRaWAN
gateways has always been a major challenge. However, the Azure To view the technical specification and request a demo,
Sphere platform delivers peace of mind for operators on both visit: www.avnet-silica.com/lora-gateways

EngineerIT | March 2022 | 38