Mar 5, 2019 | Read
Since the dawn of the 20thcentury, more and more women have been taking on entrepreneurial roles as well as breaking grounds in fields that were not previously available to them. One such field is science, and once such woman who is literally reaching for the stars, is Dr Adriana Marais. A physicist, innovator, aspiring astronaut, and the Head of Innovation at SAP Africa where she is driving digitisation and innovation on the continent, Dr Marais is a woman on a mission. A mission that she believes will culminate in one of the most profound possible contributions to the science of all humanity – the potential discovery of evidence of life beyond Earth.
Nov 28, 2018 | Creativity & Innovation, Read, Technology
InnoCircle recently hosted a webinar with Dr Adriana Marais to discuss the link between the vision and mission of the Mars One project and the imminent Africa-first Aerospace Accelerator #Africa4Future. African innovators in the tech sector have 4 days left to apply.
Oct 25, 2018 | Creativity & Innovation, Read
Gone are the days where being a pilot was the epitome of cool and space exploration was prime television. From fighter pilots to aeronautical engineers, the aviation and aerospace industry is struggling with acquiring and retaining talent.
Oct 10, 2018 | Mars, Read, Watch
Dr Adriana Marais, Head of Innovation, SAP Africa, is one of the candidates for the Mars One programme, meaning she could go on a one-way trip to Mars. We talked to Dr Marais about what drives her out-of-this-world ambition.
Dr Marais said: “I’ve wanted to explore other planets since I was about four. I wasn’t sure which ones at that point, and then in 2013, I read the newspaper headline: ‘Call for volunteers for a one-way trip to Mars’. I hadn’t even finished reading that sentence when I knew, this was my opportunity, this was my destiny.”
Sep 12, 2018 | Creativity & Innovation, Cryptography, Quantum Biology, Read, Technology
The South African Technology Network (SATN), a consortia of Technology focused Universities, are hosting an international conference addressing the role of universities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The conference is held at the Elangeni Hotel, Durban from 11 September 2018 to 13 September 2018. One of the key speakers during day one of the event was Dr Adriana Marais, Theoretical physicist, Head of Innovation at SAP Africa and aspiring extra-terrestrial (100 to Mars Astronauts), who shared her talk on her mission ‘The Allure of the Unknown “The reason I want to go to Mars’.
Aug 24, 2018 | Read, Technology
Life as we know it requires water to survive. While simple in composition, the H2O molecule in bulk liquid form enables the complex chemistry required for organisms from bacteria to humans to function. However, as the pace of change of our technological development accelerates and shifting weather patterns and a growing population place increasing pressure on our freshwater resources, a deeper appreciation and better management of this most vital resource to our existence need to become a priority.
