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The Specialist Groups are charged with the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of a specific subject or subjects in pure and applied physics. Membership of the Specialist Groups are open to all members of the Institute. Any one interested, especially in industry, regardless of their physics background, is welcome to join in dicussions, contribute information and receive our communications: Send me your email address, and I'll add you to our mailing list.

The current chairperson of the Applied and Industrial Physics Specialist Group is Prof. Ernest van Dyk and he can be contacted at applied{at}saip{dot}org{dot}za (Remember to replace the words {at} and {dot} with the appropriate symbols - anti-spam measure).

At present, the Applied and Industrial Physics Specialist Group is acting as a co-ordination centre to improve communication between academia and industry in Southern Africa.

The group can not enforce policy or law, but aims to facilitate dialogue between affected parties.

We hope to identify the needs and problems in two main areas:

1. Of industry and what industry would like to receive by way of support from tertiary educational facilities,
2. Of tertiary educational facilities and what they would like to receive by way of support from industry and industrial partners.

If you have any other suggestions or wish to volunteer your help, then please send me an email to applied{at}saip{dot}org{dot}za (Remember to replace the words {at} and {dot} with the appropriate symbols - anti-spam measure). 

We aim to identify the needs and problems of industry and what industry would like to receive by way of support from tertiary educational facilities.

Some potential questions or concerns are:

• What are industries' requirements of South African tertiary educational facility graduates?
• Is the course material taught at our universities and technikons, etc, actually addressing any of our industrial requirements?
• What individual course should be considered required study for graduates not intending to remain in academia?
• Or, What would an Applied Physics course curriculum look like?
• How do businesses advertise their services to academia,
• and, how do businesses find academic help?

If you, as an industrialist in Southern Africa, have any comment on these or other questions, please send them to me for inclusion on this web site to applied{at}saip{dot}org{dot}za

Some responses

As reponses and suggestions to handle them are developed, they will be posted here.

• "Academics have no concept of time and don't appreciate deadlines" - An industrialist on outsourcing projects to universities.

We hope to identify the needs and problems of tertiary educational facilities and what they would like to receive by way of support from industry and industrial partners.

We also aim to provide information on those institutions that provide applied physics courses. If your institution does provide such a course, please send me an appropriate URL for inclusion on this site.

Some potential questions or concerns are:

• What should institutions provide to support academics who want to offer commericial services?

If you, as an academic in Southern Africa, have any comments or questions regarding applied physics, please send them to me for inclusion on this web site to applied{at}saip{dot}org{dot}za.

Some responses

As reponses and suggestions to handle them are developed, they will be posted here.

• "My university does not have a formal policy or guidelines to allow me to consult".
• "My industrial work is not recognised in the `Publish or Perish' infrastructure of rating academics".

Old website: http://appliedphysics.co.za/

Disclaimer

The views expressed on these pages do not necessarily reflect those of either the SAIP, the Applied and Industrial Physics Specialist Group, nor can they considered indicative of the views of the membership in general.