THE CUTTING EDGE PROFILE
Marion Edmunds
WHAT keeps a phenomenally intelligent,=20 internationally acclaimed, charming, A- rated scientist working and living in Cape=20 Town?
“That”, says 43-year-old Professor Daya=20 Reddy, gesturing upwards to the great hulk=20 of Table Mountain whose crags loom=20 possessively over the University of Cape=20 Town’s upper campus.
Reddy, who has preferred to do the=20 interview on the lawn outside the faculty=20 of applied mathematics, rather than in his=20 office, pauses.=20
“Of course, there was a time before the=20 changes when it was quite difficult for me=20 to work and move as an academic, and I=20 wondered whether I should stay here in=20 isolation or go to where it was all=20 happening in the United States.
“But I am very comfortable here, it’s a=20 beautiful city to live in, the University=20 of Cape Town is a wonderful institution,=20 and I have worked under enlightened=20 department heads who have actively=20 encouraged research.”=20
Reddy, who is one of 17 A-rated scientists=20 at the university, admits to having=20 received a number of tempting offers for=20 posts overseas and considering them=20 carefully. But he eventually decided to=20 stay at UCT, where he was a student and has=20 been based on and off since 1979. He does=20 travel overseas for conferences and=20 research regularly, but equally does his=20 thinking in Cape Town, he says.
“Well, with electronic mail these days=20 things have changed – you can collaborate=20 and exchange ideas without having to be at=20 the centres,” he says.
Reddy has firm evidence to back up his=20 view. He has co-authored almost 60 articles=20 in international journals on the subject in=20 which he excels – quantum mechanics – with=20 a US-based academic, Weimin Han, but has=20 only met him briefly a couple of times.=20
Han is based at Iowa University and=20 contacted Reddy after reading one of his=20 articles. They are interested in the same=20 field and have collaborated ever since,=20 although they are many thousands of=20 kilometres apart.
They write about mind-boggling things which=20 would go over the head of most South=20 Africans – those who are trying to make the=20 new South Africa work and those who are=20 packing for Perth.
UCT boasts in press releases that Reddy’s=20 work covers a wide spectrum of problems,=20 including “mathematical modelling of=20 complex material behaviour, the study of=20 the well-posedness of such mathematical=20 models, computational approaches to the=20 construction of approximate solutions and=20 invention of the quality of=20 approximations”.
“Let me explain,” says Reddy gently. “I=20 study the mathematical models of=20 substances, to work out, for example, how=20 paint flows down a wall or blood moves in=20 the arteries. Paint is a very complex=20 substance, you know. Many of the problems=20 are too complicated to do without a=20 computer, so I need very good, expensive=20 computer equipment to do my problems.”
Reddy’s research is of great use to=20 industry, which makes it easier for him to=20 raise research funds than a colleague who=20 specialises in algebra, for example. Reddy=20 is concerned, in his gentle way, about his=20 colleagues who are not as well placed to=20 get funding for their research. He=20 acknowledges that with the cut-backs to=20 budgets all round, the flow of money for=20 research is thinning.
“I have to be on my toes all the time, and=20 I don’t think the Foundation for Research=20 and Development will be able to accommodate=20 all needs,” he says.=20
And then, with a greater passion, he adds:=20 “Scholarship is at the heart of what=20 constitutes a national culture, and that=20 must not die. Research plays a very=20 important role in building national culture=20 and I’m not just talking about goal-related=20 research.”
Reddy attracts funds to the university=20 through his work, and through being the co- director of the Centre of Research in=20 Computational and Applied Mechanics on=20 campus. The centre is an intellectual home=20 for students interested in mechanics, civil=20 engineering and applied mathematics, and=20 collects funding for research in those=20 fields.
“It is interdisciplinary work that is one=20 of the fascinating aspects of mechanics -=20 it crosses boundaries. We hope the centre=20 makes the students – the engineering=20 students and the mathematicians – talk to=20 each other on the common problems.”
The interdisciplinary nature of the centre=20 reflects one of Reddy’s preoccupations. He=20 started his career studying civil=20 engineering under Professor John Martin,=20 another A-rated scientist specialising in=20 applied and computational mechanics.
After completing a PhD in mechanics at=20 Cambridge University in the United Kingdom,=20 he was lured back to UCT with a special=20 offer from his mentor, and took up two=20 posts at the same time – one in civil=20 engineering and one in applied mathematics.=20
“I had two subjects, two offices and my=20 salary was paid equally by both=20 departments. When I applied for promotion,=20 I had to get it from both departments=20 simultaneously,” he says.=20
Eventually, Reddy moved permanently into=20 the applied mathematics department, but he=20 retains his respect for the principle of=20 interdisciplinary study, which he thinks is=20 not sufficiently encouraged in South=20 African schools: “The syllabus is=20 characterised by rigidity, where many=20 people, particularly arts students, feel=20 they can’t do maths and science. There is a=20 widespread irrational fear of maths – it is=20 unfounded and probably the way people were=20 taught rather than anything else. We don’t=20 have enough good science and maths teachers=20 … and I don’t think maths and science get=20 their due in the media.”
It was his matric maths teacher at Lenasia=20 High School in the former Transvaal who set=20 Reddy on his course to international=20 success. “He was a good teacher – an=20 unqualified one, ironically – who suggested=20 to me that if I wanted to apply=20 mathematical ability in a concrete way, I=20 should do civil engineering. I had never=20 met a civil engineer before, I did not know=20 what they did, but I took his word for it.”
This occasional column will profile leading=20 figures in the scientific and research=20 community, both in South Africa and the=20 world at large
ENDS