Filed under SAFIPA capacity building by Kerryn on 18 July, 2011 at 9:12 am
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The square outside Helsinki central railway station
The final two students to take part in the Knowledge Exchange Finland (KEF) programme, have returned to South Africa. Anton Delen and Nobert Jere have been the last two post-graduate students involved in this enriching and exciting journey, which has seen a total of seven students embark on the learning adventure of a lifetime.
Throughout this Love from Finland series, it has been wonderful to gain insight into what the initiative has meant for students, in terms of what they have learned, and how this exchange has changed their world-view. For the last time, we caught up with the final two students, to find out what kind of impact this knowledge exchange programme has had on their future studies and their personal outlook.
Anton Delen is a student at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) who has recently submitted his Masters of Technology (MTech) thesis. Anton’s focus is on semantic meta-data repositories and architectures in healthcare, where he developed an ontology for home-based healthcare by also considering healthcare standards
Anton Delen enjoying the snow
Anton, when did you leave for Finland and when did you return to South Africa?
Prior to taking up the Knowledge Exchange in Finland, I was in Delft at The Hague University of Applied Sciences for a week, where I was attending to Industrial Design and IT students whom I supervise. I arrived in Finland on the 27th of March and returned to South Africa on the 7th of May.
The focus of your Masters’ research was to look at service design challenges in home-based healthcare, based within the Socio-Tech project. Do you believe that this KEF programme will help further inform your research project?
Yes, the knowledge exchange has given me confidence in this new field of Service Design, which is currently still unheard of in South Africa. The most encouraging thing about Service Design is that MBA students worldwide are paying it lots of attention. I think it is extremely encouraging for economists and business students to be sold into design process and practice. In short, Service Design is central to the creation of a service economy. The confidence I gained while speaking to fellow students and experts on the subject has allowed me to apply my subject to a host of projects in which our Innovation Hub is involved. We hope to be able to demonstrate the usefulness of this to industry stakeholders with our next few project deliverables.
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Filed under SAFIPA capacity building by Kerryn on 11 April, 2011 at 8:57 pm
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A building showing the temperature as -16 degrees in Kuopio, Finland. Image by Cecil van der Watt.
Cecil van der Watt is the fifth student to take part in the Knowledge Exchange Finland (KEF) initiative. It has been a whirlwind first quarter of 2011 so far for Cecil, having started his Finnish exchange at the beginning of the year at the University of Eastern Finland, in Kuopio where he continued working on his thesis. Cecil, who is a researcher in Informatics, is currently completing his Masters of Technology (MTech) at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). His field of research is Service Design Challenges in Home Based Health Care in the Western Cape: A Case Study.
After what will probably be looked back upon as the trip of a lifetime, Cecil has crammed learning, experience and appreciation into three very short months. Having taken up the exchange programme in January 2011, his three-month stint has now come to an end. Just before his return to South Africa, we caught up with Cecil via email to find out just what this experience has meant for him.
Cecil, please could you tell us a bit about your area of study, and what you will be doing academically upon your return to South Africa.
My thesis looks at the design consideration needed for a semantic metadata repository in home-based healthcare within the South African context. My research follows a design science research approach and looks at the design and considerations that went into creating the first iteration of the metadata repository.
The metadata repository itself is simply a tool for capturing data elements and the interpretation of data elements used in home-based healthcare. Most of these data elements are captured on paper forms and the definition and usage of these data elements are usually not documented. The repository attempts to digitise and capture these data elements and their interpretations for the different home care initiatives that we are working with.
The metadata repository is part of a larger project undertaken at CPUT that attempts to aid communities in need. The project is currently looking at home-based healthcare and a number of sub-projects are being undertaken such as mobile devices for helping with data capturing and community health awareness.
Upon returning to South Africa I will complete the last part of the current Masters studies and then continue with my Doctorate. The topic for my Doctorate is still not finalized yet but will ideally be based on some of the topics I’ve been exposed to during my studies in Finland.
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Filed under SAFIPA capacity building by Kerryn on 11 October, 2010 at 10:09 am
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Pic by timonoko on flickr.com, CC BY 2.0
The two academics who have been chosen for the SAFIPA Knowledge Exchange programme, Alexandros Yeratziotis and Fiona Wilson, are acclimatising to life in Finland. Juggling academic work with establishing a routine and meeting new people could be a challenge.
But it seems as if Alexi and Fiona are taking it all in their stride. We caught up with Alexi on Skype to find out how things were going.
Alexi, how long have you been in Finland now?
Believe it or not I’ve only been here for ten days, having arrived on the 30th of August.
What are you currently working on?
I have an office which is located in a building called Innopolis, on the same floor as SoberIT, which is where the
Strategic Usability Research group is situated. I generally work on my research for the largest part of the day.
To give you an idea of what I’m working on, my specialisation
is within the field of Human
Computer Interaction and in
particular usable security. Aalto University is extremely well
regarded in this field. A bit of background about the university itself, is that it was established only this year, although it is a merger of three Finnish universities so there is a wealth of experience and history attached to the new university. The three schools of the Aalto University – the School of Economics, the School of Art and Design and the School of Science and Technology – are all leading and renowned institutions in their respective fields and in their own right. (more…)
Filed under SAFIPA capacity building by Daniela White on 2 August, 2010 at 2:01 pm
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Pic by IK's World Trip on flickr.com, CC BY 2,0
The Knowledge Exchange Finland programme is SAFIPA sponsored, six-month exchange programme for two South African students to work at a Finnish university.
Students Fiona Wilson and Alexandros Yeratziotis, both from the Summerstrand Campus at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University based in the Eastern Cape, have been selected for the programme. Fiona Wilson is currently working on her Masters of Technology (M.Tech) and Alexandros “Alexi” Yeratziotis is completing his Doctorate (PhD). They will spend six months at the Aalto University in Helsinki, under the mentorship of Professor Marko Nieminen, Professor of Usability.
Both students come highly recommended by Professor Darelle van Greunen, Associate Professor at the School of ICT at the Summerstrand Campus, who personally nominated them for the programme. The qualities that make both Fiona and Alexi perfect candidates for the exchange programme are their integrity, responsibility, and the innovation that they display in their work.
During the six month programme Alexi and Fiona will be encouraged to complete course work of their choice whilst continuing with their respective research degrees.
We hope to catch up with Alexi via Skype over the coming months during which time he will share a glimpse of his time in Finland. He shares with us his thoughts so far:
For starters, Finland gets extremely cold in winter with about six hours of each day. Helsinki is a beautiful, but expensive, city with great public transport and filled with friendly people who are always willing to help.
Regarding Aalto University, it is a well-known institute with great programmes and it forms part of the University of Helsinki.
I would just like to make say a big thank you to all the people involved in this exchange programme. I am truly grateful and look forward to being able to make the most of this great opportunity, professionally, academically and personally.
This is the final edition of the SAFIPA newsletter. The month of November 2011, marks the conclusion of this dynamic initiative.
