Professor Mike Lee together with Dr Jacques O'Connell at the microscope used for the work.
The prize-winning best poster presentation by Prof Lee and CHRTEM Director Professor Jaco Olivier was a team effort by the CHRTEM staff and made possible by our Russian collaboration with the Flerov Laboratory for Nuclear Reactions at the joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia.
Essentially, the work presented in this poster is a study of the effects of radiation damage to the microstructure of materials by atomic resolution electron microscopy.
It aims to understand these effects to engineer the materials to create safer nuclear reactors as well as the safer encapsulation and storage of nuclear waste, says Prof Lee.
Mandela University’s delegation presented a total of eight posters at the conference attended by some 3 400 delegates and 2 100 oral and poster presentations in four different sessions of microscopy applications.
The IMC is the largest international conference dedicated to all aspects of microscopy, including light, electron, and confocal microscopy. It is held every four years and therefore considered the “Olympics” of microscopy.
The Centre for HRTEM was represented by seven staff members, including junior staff, the largest South African delegation compared to the total of four delegates from three other South African institutions. Junior staff received conference travel grants from the National Research Foundation, Mandela University, and the Microscopy Society of Southern Africa (MSSA).
Mandela University’s CHRTEM Director Professor Jaco Olivier also represented South Africa as president of MSSA at the AGM of the International Federation of Societies for Microscopy general assembly.