Prof Winschiers-Theophilus received the coveted titles at the annual National Research, Science, Technology, Engineering and Innovation Awards Ceremony which is hosted in recognition of individuals who have made immense contributions to the country’s development. The Awards Ceremony marked the conclusion of the NCRST Month of Science which showcased various activities centred on science, technology and innovation throughout September. Shortly after receiving the award, she said: “I am extremely honoured to have received these two national awards in recognition of my scientific research work. I now feel even more encouraged to pursue research and technology development activities, striving for the highest socio-economic impact at national level.”
Winschiers-Theophilus has been involved in Namibia’s education sector since 1994. The first priority at that time was to develop a national workforce in the Information Communication Technology sector by developing suitable curricula and capacity building of graduates. “Over the last years my focus has been on technology design and research with indigenous and marginalised communities, with the aim of promoting socio-economic improvements,” she said.
Besides her world-renowned work with indigenous communities, she has recently expanded her focus on marginalised Namibian youth. “One of my major concerns is the lack of opportunities for under-qualified Namibian youth to prosper within an extremely unequal and harsh national economy. Thus I have established a number of research and community outreach projects under the umbrella of technology design for social change with Namibian marginalised youth,” she added.
Dr Anna Matros-Goreses, Director: Project Services Unit at NUST, said she is extremely proud to have such exemplary staff members as part of the Institution, while the Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Computing, Dr Anicia Peters, said: “Prof Winschiers-Theophilus is already an internationally renowned researcher, so it is wonderful to see that she finally receives these accolades at home as well.”
