Sandile Ngcobo (30) is a young, learned and modern South African man but has not forgotten his roots. This young Zulu inkosana hails from Kwa-Mafunze village on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. Mapholoba, his clan name, is from a royal family but he shies away from divulging his royal lineage.
He is now a researcher within the mathematical optics research group at the CSIR National Laser Centre.
Ngcobo studied physics because he says he loves the subject. “If you study physics you basically broaden your horizons and you are guaranteed a job,” he says, adding that he signed his first job contract while he was still busy with his honours studies. “I started working at the HartRAO (Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observation).”
At the CSIR, this inkosana designs laser resonators. Resonators consist of an active media and two mirrors on each side, of which one is highly reflective while the other is only partially reflective and allows emission of laser light.
The laser light can be used in many applications such as range finding. For example, by shooting a laser light to a distant object and timing how long it takes for the reflected light to come back to you, one can determine how far the object is by using a simple physics equation: distance=speed×time, since the speed of light is known to be constant.
Other applications are in laser materials processing where laser is used to cut steel. “This process is accurate and much faster than other methods,” he says.
Ngcobo is currently working on lasers emitting light that could be used in both applications.
He is the second born of ten children in his family. He says his parents allowed him to explore things as a small boy and that is why he ended up in physics. “I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a laser, although I used to be very impressed with the sword laser in movies such as Star Trek,” he says. “And today I design lasers for a living,” he says grinning widely.
He has been designing lasers for the past four years and was part of the team that designed and developed a two-micron, high-power, diode-pumped thulium yttrium lithium fluoride slab laser. This laser has the highest output power in the world. “The laser is a technological demonstrator and can be used in many applications such as laser materials processing and in laser surgery,” he says.
Ngcobo has three publications to his name and is planning his PhD studies.
He is married with two children.
He is now a researcher within the mathematical optics research group at the CSIR National Laser Centre.
Ngcobo studied physics because he says he loves the subject. “If you study physics you basically broaden your horizons and you are guaranteed a job,” he says, adding that he signed his first job contract while he was still busy with his honours studies. “I started working at the HartRAO (Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observation).”
At the CSIR, this inkosana designs laser resonators. Resonators consist of an active media and two mirrors on each side, of which one is highly reflective while the other is only partially reflective and allows emission of laser light.
The laser light can be used in many applications such as range finding. For example, by shooting a laser light to a distant object and timing how long it takes for the reflected light to come back to you, one can determine how far the object is by using a simple physics equation: distance=speed×time, since the speed of light is known to be constant.
Other applications are in laser materials processing where laser is used to cut steel. “This process is accurate and much faster than other methods,” he says.
Ngcobo is currently working on lasers emitting light that could be used in both applications.
He is the second born of ten children in his family. He says his parents allowed him to explore things as a small boy and that is why he ended up in physics. “I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a laser, although I used to be very impressed with the sword laser in movies such as Star Trek,” he says. “And today I design lasers for a living,” he says grinning widely.
He has been designing lasers for the past four years and was part of the team that designed and developed a two-micron, high-power, diode-pumped thulium yttrium lithium fluoride slab laser. This laser has the highest output power in the world. “The laser is a technological demonstrator and can be used in many applications such as laser materials processing and in laser surgery,” he says.
Ngcobo has three publications to his name and is planning his PhD studies.
He is married with two children.