The Meiring Naudé medal for the top student in physics in the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University has been awarded to Zander Lee, a former pupil of Pearson High School in Port Elizabeth.
The medal is awarded annually to the top student who obtained at least 80% in his or her BSc Honours programme as well as an average of at least 60% for each module in the programme.
Zander, who is currently busy with a MSc in particle physics, says he has always been interested in how the world works: "At school I wanted to become a programmer, but after talking to a physicist as part of a school project in Grade 11, I realised that I would rather study physics."
"Physics seek answers to how everything in this world works and ranges from the smallest of particles to the study of how the universe started."
On the difference between mathematics and physics, he says that physics is more rooted in the physical world: "In physics we use maths to build models to understand the world, but eventually the models need to give us the same results as our experiments, otherwise it does not really describe the natural world.
"Mathematics, on the other hand, is about logical reasoning. Mathematicians start with a set of axioms and from there they use pure logic to arrive at a conclusion. These axioms can be physical or abstract.
His advise to prospective students is to study physics if they want to know how the world works, but physics is also a good option if you are considering a career in science, but are not sure which direction to go in: "With physics you can easily move into other fields in science later on," he says.
Apart from academic research, there are also numerous career paths open to physicists: "With a degree in physics you can work at just about any technology company. These days one requires a strong physics background to understand most of the technologies. In physics you also acquire mathematical techniques and a way of thinking which is very relevant to the financial world.
"Theoretical physics also requires programme, as we have to do many numerical simulations," he adds.
Zander had to complete two projects during his Honnours programme: Under Prof Herbert Weigel he did a project about how to solve the energy spectrum of the hydrogen atom using algebra. Under Prof Michael Kastner, chief researcher at the National Institute for Theoretical Physics, he did a project about the transition of quantum states to thermal equilibrium.
On the photo, Physics student Zander Lee (middle) with Prof Louise Warnich, Dean: Faculty of Science, and Prof Erich Rohwer, head of the Department of Physics at Stellenbosch University: Photo: Wiida Fourie-Basson
