Bruce Bassett is head of data science at SKA Africa, professor of Mathematics at the University of Cape Town. He is a senior researcher at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and research astronomer at the South African Astronomical Observatory. He will talk about modelling the progression of COVID-19 in South Africa and factors that may influence the spread
Ralph McDougall is a Stellenbosch University second-year Electrical Engineering student who has a keen interest in understanding and solving problems using mathematical techniques. He has developed a tool that provides a visualisation of the number of COVID-19 cases in some countries of interest. The goal was to provide an objective, condensed daily report showing the spread of the virus, which he could use for verification of trends reported in the daily media. He believes that a better understanding of virus modelling will help to reduce the spread of misinformation.
Dr. Vaibhav Vaish is a researcher (specialising in Algebraic Geometry) and a teacher of mathematics at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali . Having had a long convoluted journey to the subject (that began with the mathematical olympiads, but passed through electrical/electronics engineering, computer science, and briefly even the world of finance) he has an off-centric, perhaps eccentric view of the subject. He will be talking generally about why mathematics is a science, on the boundary-less nature of the subject, and more specifically about what it can mean during a pandemic.
JP le Roux is the Head of the Mathematics Department at Cedar House School. His research interests include assessing for mathematical proficiency. He has led discussions on new and effective approaches to assessments with online learning. He will talk on how to assess for more than procedural fluency during remote learning. This will focus on the complexities and opportunities of adapting classroom-based assessment and learning.
