Prestigious Google International Scholarship Awarded to Rhodes Student

Computer Science masters student Sinini Ncube has been awarded a Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship for the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region.  These scholarships are awarded by Google in memory of Dr. Anita Borg, who devoted her life to revolutionising the way we think about technology, and to dismantling barriers that keep women from entering computing and technology fields.

Sinini's masters research programme comprises an investigation into the use of web-based user interfaces for the visualisation of zoonotic disease outbreaks (zoonosis refers to diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans).  The specific focus of her research is on providing techniques that can enhance veterinary service delivery in South Africa.  Her supervisors are Dr Hannah Thinyane and Prof Greg Foster.

Following the award of the scholarship Sinini will travel to Switzerland in June 2010, to join all scholarship recipients and finalists at Google's Engineering Centre in Zurich for a networking retreat.  This will include workshops with a series of speakers, panels, breakout sessions and social activities, and will provide an opportunity for all finalists to meet and share their experiences.

Further details of the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarships can be found on the Google website.