Sasol has developed world-leading technology for the conversion of low-grade coal into value-added synfuels and chemicals.
7) CAT/CT Scan
The Computed Axial Tomography Scan or CAT was developed by Cape Town physicist Allan Cormack and his associate Godfrey Hounsfield. He provided the mathematical technique for the CAT scan, in which an X-ray source and electronic detectors are rotated about the body and the resulting data is analysed by a computer to produce a sharp map of the tissues within a cross-section of the body. This resulted in a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
8) APS Therapy
Grvan Lubbe was the first to develop the technology to electronically stimulate the body’s natural nerve impulses to relieve pain with quick pulses. He created Tech Pulse in 1993, and the devices are sold all over the world. They are used by hundreds of thousands of people to relieve pain every day.
9) Cybertracker
Biologists everywhere rejoiced when physicist Louis Liebenberg and computer scientist Lindsay Steventon created the Cybertracker in 1996. Used to track animals of all shapes and sizes, it uses a satellite navigational system similar to GPS that allows scientists in the comfort of their labs to keep tabs on tagged animals.
10) Retinal Cryoprobe
At the Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, Dr. Selig Percy Amolis introduced his masterwork, the retinal cryoprobe. Used to reattach retinas and for advanced cataract surgery, the model soon became widely used, and Amolis received the 1975 Queen’s Award for Technological Innovation. Margaret Thatcher’s cataracts were treated with the cryoprobe, as were Nelson Mandela’s eyes the day after he became president.
11) Hippo Water Roller
Especially in the developing world, many water-fetchers — often women and children — are forced to struggle lugging giant buckets over their heads or by hand. The Hippo Water Roller was invented by Pettie Petzer and Johan Jonker, and they won the 1997 South Africa Design for Development Award for their work. The Hippo Water Roller reduces physical effort and increases the amount of transportable water. The 90-liter drum can carry 90 kilograms (198.4 pounds) of water. It has a steel handle that controls the rolling when the drum is pushed or pulled across rough terrain.
