Hayley, only one of three honours students, was awarded the best presentation for a second language student at the science symposium held in Stellenbosch.
Her 15-minute presentation, all in Afrikaans, was on a type of mathematical model, that underpins the design of solar cells, architectural glazing, anti-reflective coatings, and thermal-control films.
Hayley together with Petrus Prinsloo and Rika van Dyk, both Mandela University Chemistry students, who presented five-minute flash presentations; Hayley Britz received the best presentation for a second language student award.
“In a nutshell, the goal of my research was to derive a mathematical model to calculate the percentage light intensity transmitted, reflected, and absorbed by a transparent multilayer stack (for example, a stack of multiple thin layers of semiconducting material in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum), and then programmatically implement it, as well as an existing model and compare the theoretical results and computational performance and limitations,” Hayley said.
“It was a memorable and enriching experience, and my first time attending and presenting at such an event, as well as my first time delivering a presentation in Afrikaans, which is not my home language”.
“Speaking to such an academically diverse audience of scientists, was quite nerve-wracking, but I met many brilliant and friendly people, who are deeply knowledgeable and passionate about their research and excellent communicators. I felt very impressed and inspired (and even a little intimidated) by the high quality of work shared. The symposium was also a valuable language learning experience; I discovered, for example, that the Afrikaans word: “monster”, in a research context, means “sample”.
Hayley thanked Professor Andre Venter and the Physics Department, for their support as young researcher.
In addition, Hayley received the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for the Best First Degree student at Mandela University, as well as the Best First Degree student in the Faculty of Science, at the University's recent Academic Achievers Awards ceremony.