South African Radio Astronomy Observatory
Pontsho Maruping has a diverse work experience spanning various organizations and roles. They are currently serving as the Managing Director of the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory since October 2022. Prior to this, they held the position of Member of Board of Trustees at the NRF Pension Fund starting from February 2021. Their experience also includes serving as a Board Member at Mintek from June 2020. Furthermore, they have worked as the Chairperson of the South African Council for Space Affairs and Deputy Managing Director of the SARAO South African Radio Astronomy Observatory. In addition, they have held the role of Head of commercialisation at SKA South Africa. They also served as the Chairperson of the Scientific and Technical SubCommittee at UNCOPUOS. Before that, they worked at the Technology Innovation Agency in various executive positions. Lastly, they were a Councilor at the South African Council for Space Affairs and served as the CEO of MHSC from September 2008 to October 2010.
Pontsho Maruping completed an Executive MBA at IMD from 2013 to 2015. Before that, they obtained an MEng in Space Systems Engineering from Delft University of Technology in 2008. Their undergraduate studies include a BEng (hons) in Management of Technology from the University of Pretoria/Universiteit van Pretoria, a BEng in Metallurgy from the University of the Witwatersrand, and an ND in Economic Geology from the University of Johannesburg. They also earned a BEd in Science Education from the University of Lesotho in 1988.
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South African Radio Astronomy Observatory
The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), a facility of the National Research Foundation, is responsible for managing all radio astronomy initiatives and facilities in South Africa, including the MeerKAT Radio Telescope in the Karoo, and the Geodesy and VLBI activities at the HartRAO facility. SARAO also coordinates the African Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network (AVN) for the eight SKA partner countries in Africa, as well as South Africa’s contribution to the infrastructure and engineering planning for the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope. To maximise the return on South Africa’s investment in radio astronomy, SARAO is managing programmes to create capacity in radio astronomy science and engineering research, and the technical capacity required to support site operations.