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SA scientists create cheap computers forschools2015‐05‐20 14:06 ‐ Ahmed Areff

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Wits physics professor Bruce Mellado andpsychology major Thomas Wrigley with aprototype of a low cost locally made mini PC,that could potentially change South Africa'seducation system. (Ahmed Areff, News24)

Johannesburg - A team of students andprofessors at the University of theWitwatersrand who are searching for the secretsof the universe, are also hoping to fundamentallychange the educational system of the countrywith locally produced low-cost computers forpupils.

Professors and students with the university'sHigh Energy Physics group, who are involved indealing with "big data" from the EuropeanOrganisation for Nuclear Research's (Cern)Large Hadron Collider (LHC), are alsospearheading a project to create low cost PCsor tablets that could possibly be in the hands ofeach pupil in the country in the near future.

This work was being done in the physicsdepartment's new electronics lab.

"One of the big spin-offs of our work is thesolution to the big data problem, which we dealwith on a daily basis. We are creating thishuman capacity to solve complicated problemsin software, hardware, electronics, computingand all that," Professor Bruce Mellado, who leads the university's involvement in the LHC, toldNews24.

He said this work helped to create "local solutions and local designs".

"The scope of our social impact is the high end devices for the big data problem, but we are alsoworking with the Gauteng Department of Education to develop devices for schools in the Gautengprovince, 2 100 schools, which will hopefully be extended to the rest of the country."

These devices could take the form of tablets or mini PCs.

"We realised that we had built up expertise with this high end work, and we could potentiallyleverage that expertise to create a low cost device."

Mellado said the ultimate target of the project was the entire educational system of SA, and thatmission would be made easier with locally designed and manufactured devices.

"Someone could say I am producing something here, when [most of what they are using to built it]comes from China," he said.

"We are doing the whole thing. We are working with the local industry. We got a grant from theTechnology Innovation Agency to start working with schools and produce the first devices here inSouth Africa.

"We are looking at finishing the pilot project by the end of the year."

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He said the problem with what was happening in SA and other countries, was that while it wasadmirable to give pupils tablets, most of these devices were standard ones that came from "bigcompanies".

"Do we even know that these tablets are appropriate, or tablets in that form are the appropriatetool for education? So we wanted to create devices that are geared toward learning and teaching,that are produced in South Africa."

He said SA would never come out of its "funk" unless it was industrialised, and this could nothappen without the country developing its own ideas.

"If there is no fundamental science, there is no innovation. Our mission as physicists and engineersis not only to do our job, but to raise awareness that it is only through innovation... that we can turnaround the country."

Mellado said people needed to know that it was the work of fundamental scientists that developedmost inventions we used everyday, much like how Cern created the World Wide Web.

"The core of today's electronics... those properties were identified by physicists. A huge array ofinventions came because we [scientists] had to do something complicated at the time."

He said SA in particular still lived in a "neo-colonial space".

"All of these big companies come with their very strong PR [public relations] and they tell you, 'youare too small, let us do it for you'. This is neo-colonialism.

"South Africa is a very interesting country in that it has a very strong academic infrastructure... ithas amazing capabilities.

"This project... is supported by the university. That we will get funds for it from the government is avery good example that if you structure a project well and take into account the specifics of thecountry, you can achieve it."

Mellado said local media often spent time looking at technological developments "outside" of thecountry.

"They say, 'Oh what is Apple doing, what is this other company doing?'," he said.

"As a scientist that depresses me because if you see our lab, you see the youngsters and they arebrilliant. It makes you think: 'What are they talking about - we can do this'."

Thomas Wrigley, a masters student in psychology is part of the team co-ordinating the creation ofthe devices.

"Thomas is studying the interaction between children and the devices.. so that these devices, ifthey are mini PCs or tablets, can help children engage in learning, especially in improving theirmathematical skills," Mellado said.

Wrigley said work was being done on mini PCs, which are central processors a little larger than adeck of cards that can connect to a screen, laptops and eventually tablets.

"The strategy is you start with the simpler ones and then you build up. The tablet is probably themost complex," he said.

Wrigley said the "exact configuration" of the final device that would be rolled out was still beingdetermined.

"When you look at the research, we don't know a lot about the impact of these devices oneducation."

He said the project would help bolster the economy by keeping more money inside the country,instead of sending it outside and it would also help to create jobs.

They both said the final device would be available commercially, however Mellado added: "I don'tsee that as having the same broad social impact as having every school in the country use thedevice."

Mellado said there were also big leaps being done in the big data aspect of the university's workon the LHC, which is the largest physics experiment in the world.

The collider, which lies between Switzerland and France, basically crashes together protons atspeeds approaching the speed of light.

Protons, together with neutrons and electrons make up atoms, are the building blocks of all matterin the universe.

Scientists have been studying the results of these collisions, and this had lead to the discovery ofthe Higgs Boson particle, and the Higgs field, which is responsible for matter gaining mass.

Mellado described the recent discovery at the LHC of the Higgs Boson as the "discovery of thecentury".

"We only know about 4% of the universe. This discovery is the key to understanding the rest."

He said the university expected to make a major announcement on its own discoveries very soon.

"We have found in the data accumulated so far, anomalies, and we are terribly excited about it. Ifthese anomalies are confirmed, we are looking at a new discovery that is as important as that ofthe Higgs Boson," Mellado said.

"This will be a South African led discovery... Wits is certainly leading the understanding of thateffort."

When asked what the nature of the anomalies implied, Mellado said: "In science you always haveto be cautious about rushing to conclusions."

He said they think they knew what the anomalies were, but were busy developing the tools toextract those anomalies again in new data.

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Jason Worrall (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004812036809) May 20, 2015 at15:41

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If they can develop and manufacture their PCs more cheaply and powerful than a Raspberry Pi (RPIs)for example, it would be awesome, even tablets. If not, perhaps more efforts should be spent on how todeploy and utilize these mini PCs at schools instead. I read a long while back of a good case study onthe RPis being deployed in schools in Kenya.

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Atheitis (http://www.news24.com/user/John Raywood) May 20, 2015 at 17:38Report comment

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Well done. Much better than supplying them with totally overpriced Ipads which are nothing more thanexpensive fashion accessories.

Trouble is the ZANC run education departments are not going to be interested unless they see a bigkickback for themselves.

.

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Gerald Gigi (http://www.news24.com/user/Gerald_Gigi) May 20, 2015 at 19:33Report comment

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Exellent, now develop some device that can generate electricity, not using solar or wind. So we canforget about Eskom monopoly.

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