The legacy of world renowned space scientist and Maties alumnus Dr Japie van Zyl endures with Hydrosat‘s launch of the eponymous VanZyl-1 satellite aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-11.
Van Zyl was co-founder of Hydrosat and a former leader at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
According to iGrow News, the VanZyl-1 satellite will deliver high-resolution thermal imagery worldwide to assist in monitoring water stress in agriculture, enhancing food security, and providing critical data to improve agricultural and climate models. Further launches are on the cards and VanZyl-2 is scheduled for early 2025.
“Dr Van Zyl’s remarkable and immense contribution to space research continues with the work being done by Hydrosat’s VanZyl-1 satellite. Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading space scientists, Dr Van Zyl’s indelible legacy is a reminder of the contribution of Africa, and Stellenbosch University, to technological advances on a global scale,” says Prof Wim de Villers, SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor.
Prof Petrie Meyer, acting Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Stellenbosch University, says the satellite is a fitting tribute to a “good friend of the faculty” and “world leader in the satellite industry”.
Van Zyl obtained an HonsBEng in Electrical Engineering cum laude at SU in 1979, and an MS in Electrical Engineering (1983) and a PhD in Electrical Engineering (1986) at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA. While at the JPL, Van Zyl helped design the radar system that enabled the robot Curiosity to land on Mars in 2012. He served as an Extraordinary Professor at the Department Electrical and Electronic Engineering and presented talks to SU students on the exploration of Mars.
SU honoured Van Zyl with an honorary doctorate in 2015 for his contribution as “a driving force behind many a successful space project, ambassador for Africa and Stellenbosch University in probably the most advanced technological environment globally, and an inspiration for young scientists on his home continent”.
When he died in 2020, Prof Christo Viljoen, a former Dean of Engineering and Vice-Rector at Stellenbosch, said: “Japie is one of the greatest of SU’s graduates, not only in Engineering, but among all alumni.”
Meyer praised the alumnus’ enduring contribution. “Van Zyl played a significant role in motivating young Stellenbosch engineers to enter the global satellite industry over the past decades, and his legacy is evident in the thriving satellite small-business activity in the Western Cape.”
Author: Corporate Communication and Marketing/Korporatiewe Kommunikasie en Bemarking [Anel Lewis]
