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History

Conception of Programme | AfricaArray White Paper | Official Launch of Programme

 
Conception of Programme

The initial ideas for AfricaArray were conceived in October 2003 by Professor Andrew Nyblade (The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA) as a result of discussions with Professor Paul Dirks (The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa), Mr. Joaquim Boavida, (Departamento de Geofisica, Universidade Agostinho Neto, Luanda, Angola), and other participants at the Inaugural AESEDA Symposium about geophysics training in Africa, hiring pressures for scientists from petroleum and mining companies, and the need to advance science training infrastructure within Africa.

AfricaArray White Paper

In November 2003, Professor Nyblade wrote, with assistance from Professor Dirks and Sue Webb (The University of the Witwatersrand), a white paper titled “AfricaArray: Training a Scientific Workforce for Africa’s Natural Resource Sector” that was circulated to interested scientists and managers within academic, government and industry organizations. A favorable response to the white paper led to a series of workshops in 2004 in which the ideas for AfricaArray were developed further; February 23 at the University of the Witwatersrand, May 14 in Houston, Texas, and July 13-14 at the University of the Witwatersrand. The results of the workshops are summarized in a report that provides a blueprint for AfricaArray (Report of the AfricaArray Planning Workshops).

Official Launch of Programme

Because of strong support from participants at the July 13-14 workshop, AfricaArray was officially launched with a target start date of January 1, 2005, when the first class of AfricaArray students would begin at the University of the Witwatersrand.