Livukile ! Ndi Matsheloni! Mwabuka Buti! Mangwanani! Avuxeni! Good morning to you all. I am excited to be given an opportunity as a curator for the day. What an important day to an ordinary young-old man like me. I promise they won’t be any equations in this presentation.

1/My name is Innocent Mayida working as a radiation scientist with a regulator in Zimbabwe with more than 12 years in government, regulatory and research with a mix of part time in academia. I did physics and went on to specialise as a nuclear physicist.

Yes I know you are now saying do we have such in Zimbabwe and can you make a nuke bomb. Yes and NO just follow the sharing and by end of day we can agree to leave the planet earth with a tesla spaceship of course. Enjoy as we demystify science and mainly physics.

Flow of things- I will divide my presentation in integral atomic units - enjoy and I will give an opportunity for followers to ask questions and interact. All the views expressed here are mine and have nothing to do with my employer or any related parties that I interact with.

Part A- early morning – background and Physics for dummies
Part B STEM issues in Zimbabwe- mid morning
Part C Research challenges and way forward - afternoon
Part D science- vocational and academia late afternoon
Part E conclusion evening

when I grow up I want to be a scientist….hahaha many times we hear such screams from kids and we take it as a passing phase. I remember vividly I did not have such dreams when I was young I had other dreams.

Fast forward to studying Sciences thanks to the daring of Mr Muchemedzi our science teacher then who introduced Physical sciences to our school without a lab imagine.( this will need a book of its own).

2/ I went on to do MPC at Advanced level and studied Physics at MSU. Everyone was worried about what they will do after the 4 year program. Thanks to the absence of career guidance from primary to secondary and college. A big void and difficult even for students now!!

We would ask our lecturers, seniors and our relatives most of whom were not exposed to what we were studying then. A ray of answers was proffered but most of them where way out of the scope of http://B.Sc  Physics; yes we got answers according to their exposure then.

Today I can define Physics as follows- experimental based and theoretical – most famous physicists pursued the mathematical physics in what is called theoretical Physics and some will do the experiments to prove the theorised concepts : Sheldon being a theoretical Physicist

I fall as the later experiment based Physics – yes I have other crazy friends who did theoretical stuff; I respect them Prof @Nkululeko Nokwara is one of them- the last time he wasn’t married and still doing quantum entanglement equations. i doubt if he is on social media

I wouldn’t advise any normal person to follow Sheldon or my friend Nkululeko Nokwara in theoretical physics. I joined the normal experimental NUclear Physics in the lab. though a lot thinks I am a bit mad apart from solving equations in my sleep as my wife says I am still norm

3/ Physics Explores the Wonders of Nature- nature laws, Big bang theory, Nuclear etc
Physics Saves Lives,- applications of Physics in medical and industry- use of nuclear based physics solutions etc Radiation Protection
Physics Drives Technology, basic components of Engineering

Physics Looks to the Future – research and most discoveries are hinged on Physics
Most will ask is science necessary, if it is how come we don’t hear such being discussed in Zimbabwe? – all successful economies value science and have science as the scarce skills always .

all successful economies value science and have science as the scarce skills always and hence the term STEM.

All the above simplification just tells us that everything started and ends with Physics from minerals to the internet and this platform we are using today

each of which illustrates basic discoveries and principles through a large representational component or hands-on interactive element. It emphasizes the importance of physics in our daily lives. some call it the mother of all sciences
if its not Physics its stamp collection

4/ Early career journey
After travelling the hard path for a degree in Physics; I got a job as an exploration Geophysicist, to my surprise, as I did not at any one time think of doing exploration - working with geophysical survey instruments to search for mineral –

This is not geology but closer to it and its mainly use of equipment in minerals mapping. This is an intensive way for mineral exploration and its capital intensive and requires a lot of resources. Geophysics compliments Geology what an interesting path

Take homes from Geophysics survey Job
An interesting field it involves use of general Physicist concepts like resistivity, electromagnetism and gravity to search for minerals using geophysical equipment like gravimeter etc. for those who enjoy Physics it’s an interesting area.

Geophysics one of the most paying jobs for the brave and daring alas some of us we enjoy the lab than being in the Bundu... a lot of social activities though let me stop there we had a pact

Regrets
The job involves spending time in the mountains, forest and mostly inhabited areas where exploration takes place. I had spent my early life herding cattle and goats in mountains and having a job that put me there was a put off. I had done my part then

Exploration needs intensive capital resources and most companies bring their experts from parent companies and thereby making the profession a bit of a closed one. In 2008, I took my few belongings and left.

any questions ?? if you ask questions I will spare you equations

after a few years of working. I found myself back at school at Wits doing a different specialisation and the joy of having Physics is you can literally do anything at graduate level. The subject is so flexible; that some of my classmates have chosen different paths

paths that I can’t even comprehend e.g. one went on to do Engineering in telecoms, control system engineering, some meteorologists ( you know those guys who give us weather updates its Physics), medical physics, nuclear medicine. ICT, materials and nanoscience, theoretical physic

energy, climate change scientists, software engineering , Robotics I can’t finish all areas - Most banks and finance takes Phd Physicists for financial modelling and those derivatives etc Physics is just a starting point. I was chosen by the nuclear studies –

5/ Nuclear studies
I will quote from my Professor- The Lord created the heavens and the earth and therefore we use Nuclear Physics to explain what happens thereafter. Yes you are confused as most religious students would be. Religion, Physics and Science what an entanglement

Little science removes you from God and the more you do it the more you see his great works. Scientists and those who pursue Physics tend to be reserved and enjoy doing their own equations and forget about the world activities – I will come to this at the end and explain later.

6/I went on to study for the Masters at Wits in SA specialising in Nuclear research at iThemba labs. I enjoyed the path the lab time and travel. I spent some time at the biggest laboratory on earth CERN in Geneva CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Big Bang