The JD Roberts Award for emerging researchers was presented to Alize le Roux of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) last night (26 September 2013) at a gala event at Murray & Roberts in Bedfordview.

The award is a long-standing (more than 30 years) tradition between Murray & Roberts and the CSIR Built Environment unit. This year was a first, with both parties agreeing to call for nominations of emerging researchers under the age of 35 to recognise and celebrate the contributions of younger colleagues within CSIR Built Environment. The award is usually bestowed on more seasoned researchers’ work over an extensive period. The two categories (emerging and long-standing researchers) will in future be celebrated every alternate year, respectively.

Le Roux is a geo-informatics scientist in spatial planning and systems, who has made substantial and innovative contributions to many high profile projects and initiatives by consistently providing technical leadership and innovation over the past six years. Le Roux has already supervised two Honours students at the University of Pretoria and has delivered a number of presentations on her work both locally and internationally.

She has been applying her knowledge in a range of disciplines such as urban and regional development and planning, and related fields. Le Roux’s area of research includes regional socio-economic and environmental analysis, geo-informatics, planning support systems, data management, urban simulation, land-use change modelling and risk and vulnerability analysis.

The ‘spirit’ of the JD Roberts award for emerging researchers remains unchanged from the one for long-standing researchers. It is awarded based on the relevance and potential improvement to the quality of life of people of South Africa; the innovation, uniqueness and distinction of the work; the potential uptake and practicality of the research in the relevant sector and the potential impact of the research.

Three highlights of Le Roux’s technical expertise, innovation and peer recognition include:

• Developing a widely accepted settlement typology for South Africa, for the continuum of urban and rural areas.
• Her research on the identification of vulnerable settlements in South Africa in a CSIR-wide project where she bridged the interdisciplinary gap between social, economic and environmental analyses within the field of risk and vulnerability.
• Her contribution towards work done in support of local municipalities for them to adopt land-use change models as part of the authorities’ urban and regional planning processes.

Le Roux received a Kruger rand and a cash prize, while the two runners-up also received cash prizes. According to the panel of judges, the competition was fierce and the presentations made by the three CSIR finalists were of an outstanding quality. The runners-up were Katekani Ngobeni and Kishan Tulsi, respectively.

Ngobeni is an environmental health practitioner and researcher in the building science and technology area. She has made contributions at national, provincial, and district levels in numerous training and capacity-building activities, developed a training course and led the development, piloting and national roll-out of an electronic risk assessment and management tool for tuberculosis (TB) infection prevention and control.

Tulsi works in the CSIR coastal engineering and port infrastructure group. He specialises in research on coastal engineering and offshore developments, especially in the field of physical modelling and numerical modelling. Tulsi, manager of the physical model facility, is also involved in using innovative monitoring techniques to assess damage of coastal structures and the coast line. He is locally and internationally recognised for the small-scale physical modelling of breakwaters, harbour models and ship motions.

The annual JD Roberts Award is a prestigious event for both Murray & Roberts and CSIR Built Environment. It is an occasion to pay tribute to the memory of Dr JD Roberts and the bond between the two bodies, as well recognising the outstanding contribution by researchers in improving the quality of life of ordinary people through advances in the built environment.

Notes:

About Alize le Roux’s research:

Three highlights of Le Roux’s technical expertise, innovation and peer recognition include:

• Developing a widely accepted settlement typology for South Africa, for the continuum of urban and rural areas. As technical leader of the National Spatial Trends Overview study, Le Roux was tasked with developing a methodology to support the demarcation and description of a range of functional settlement areas in South Africa, as well as taking the technical lead on all spatial analysis. The typology development was described as a breakthrough by external clients, especially given the complexity of South Africa’s apartheid spatial and settlement legacies
• Her research on the identification of vulnerable settlements in South Africa in a CSIR-wide project where she bridged the interdisciplinary gap between social, economic and environmental analyses within the field of risk and vulnerability. In this process she had a significant impact on the unfolding and conceptualisation of the South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas. She was furthermore instrumental in creating a series of South Africa’s first geography-specific integrated risk analyses, and was also selected to serve on the technical working committee that steered the research direction and application.
• Her contribution towards work completed in support of local municipalities for them to adopt land-use change models as part of the authorities’ urban and regional planning processes. Le Roux has done extensive work on land use change simulation over the past five years and contributed significantly to the adoption of the UrbanSIM technology demonstrator by co-developing the first simulation run in the CSIR’s Urban Dynamics Laboratory alongside the principal developer. The matured technology package was implemented in several metros including eThekwini, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Ekurhuleni. The work is deemed ground-breaking in growth predictions to meet future demand for municipal services, testing the feasibility of large-scale investment projects and doing spatial-explicit resource demand forecasting and estimations.

About the JD Roberts Award:

The award, instituted by Murray & Roberts in 1980, is named after one of the founding fathers of the company, Dr JD (Douglas) Roberts. Douglas Roberts was a doyen of the construction industry in South Africa, well known for his innovation, entrepreneurial flair and passion for seeking and trying new techniques and ways of doing things. The JD Roberts Award is presented annually in recognition of talent and research within CSIR Built Environment.

About the CSIR:

The CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) is one of the leading research and development, technology and innovation institutions in Africa, with a track record spanning over 65 years. The CSIR strives for excellence in all its endeavours in order to improve the quality of life of South Africa's people and to increase the global competitiveness of South African industry.
The CSIR − our future through science
See www.csir.co.za  

About Murray & Roberts:

Murray & Roberts is a leading South African engineering, contracting and construction services company. It offers civil, mechanical, electrical, mining and process engineering; general building, construction and infrastructure development; materials supply and services to the global underground mining market and selected emerging market natural resources and infrastructure sectors.

The company operates in Southern Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australasia and North and South America. The company is based in Johannesburg South Africa, where it has a public listing on the JSE Limited.

Murray & Roberts is a group of world-class companies and brands aligned to the same purpose and vision, and guided by the same set of values.

More information is available at www.murrob.com