JOHANNESBURG – SAP Africa, the software giant, has appointed prominent astronaut and multiple award winner, Dr Adriana Marais, as Head of Innovation. Based at its head office in Johannesburg, South Africa, she will lead the Internet of Things (IoT) Lab, the Co-Innovation Lab initiatives, as well as other innovation streams for SAP while taking the company’s digital platform solutions to market.
SASTA Congress 2016 was opened withan “out of this world” address from the guest speaker Dr Adriana Marais. Adriana has stirred much interest in her bid to be selected for the Mars One mission, which will establish the first human colony on Mars in 2025.
At the 2016 Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, Mars hosted a Science Breakfast for 100 of the scientists attending the conference to ask, ‘Why does soft matter matter?’ Adriana Marais joined the panel discussion to offer her views on soft matter, scientific exploration and the origins of life. She is a postdoctoral researcher in quantum biology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Durban, South Africa and one of the 100 finalists in Mars One’s Project Astronaut who could be flying to Mars in 2026.
Durban – The South African scientist hoping for a one-way ticket to Mars will get her chance to prove she has the right stuff later this year.
In the meanwhile, Adriana Marais is keeping herself busy training for the Two Oceans ultra marathon in March, and as a senior Kung Fu student with the Chinese Martial Arts Centre. She was one of 100 candidates worldwide short-listed for the Mars One project, which aims to establish a human settlement on the red planet. In September, they are due to undergo a three-week selection process at an as yet unknown location. The aim is to whittle them down to the final 24.
