Christiané Heiligers, a scientist at Element Six
in South Africa, has been awarded a Women in
Science Fellowship under the L’Oréal-UNESCO
Award programme. The award recognises
and promotes the achievements and research
carried out by women scientists and is run in
collaboration with national bodies.
The award was announced in Johannesburg
on 8 August 2008 under the auspices of the
South African Department of Science and
Technology. It has created recognition awards to
celebrate the contribution of outstanding women
in scientific research. The 2008 awards are in five
categories and Christiané has been given one of
only two L’Oréal South Africa 2008 Fellowships for
Women in Science.
Christiané Heiligers studied science at the
University of Port Elizabeth and collaborated with
the University of Witwatersrand during her Master’s
Degree, which involved the study of ceramic-metal
materials, used in cutting tool applications. The
work provided insights into the behaviour of
cutting tools based on the composition, structure
and mechanical properties of these materials.
This was followed by doctoral work (continuing
the collaboration with the Centre of Excellence
in Strong Materials at WITS) on the properties
and structures of ultrahard materials based on
hafnium-titanium carbide producing using powder
metallurgical techniques.