Tania Samantha Douglas Scholarship in Biomedical Engineering
Award for Excellence in Biomedical Engineering Studies
About the Award
This award honours the legacy of Prof Tania Samantha Douglas by recognising and rewarding excellence in Biomedical Engineering (BME) among students enrolled in the MSc programme in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cape Town.
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Eligibility and Award Criteria
To be eligible for this award, students must:
- Be enrolled full-time and in their 2nd year of study for the MSc in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cape Town
- Have demonstrated excellent academic performance in at least 3 BME-related courses (BME overview and 2 electives) completed during the 1st year of their MSc degree
- Have completed their thesis proposal presentation
All eligible students will be automatically considered for the scholarship.
The scholarship will be awarded annually to the 2nd-year student who achieved the highest overall grade during their 1st year, which shall be computed using:
- the grade achieved on the BME overview course (25%)
- the grades achieved on at least 2 BME electives (50%). If more than 2 electives were taken, the 2 highest grades will be used.
- Performance on the thesis proposal presentation, based on a poll taken following the presentation (25%)
Award Review Committee
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| Aubrey Douglas, PhD | Rita Douglas | Christopher Vaughan, PhD Emeritus Professor, Biomedical Engineering, University of Cape Town |
Tinashe Mutsvangwa, PhD A/Professor, Biomedical Engineering, University of Cape Town |
Ernesta Meintjes, PhD Professor, Biomedical Engineering, University of Cape Town |
About Prof Tania Samantha Douglas
"Tania Douglas was a true citizen of the world, transcending geography and embracing the environment in which she found herself"
Leading biomedical engineer, innovator and academic
Prof. Tania Douglas (1969 – 2021) was the inaugural recipient of the prestigious South African Research Chair in Biomedical Engineering and Innovation, and founding director of the Biomedical Engineering Research Centre at the University of Cape Town (UCT). During her 21 years at UCT, she excelled in all spheres of academia.
Quoting Prof Christopher Vaughan, “Tania Douglas was a true citizen of the world, transcending geography and embracing the environment in which she found herself.” She was passionate about combining biomedical engineering with social context to find novel solutions towards improved health. She believed and advocated for Africa to find solutions to its own problems and was a driving force in building biomedical engineering capacity across Africa. She played a leading role in the establishment of the African Biomedical Consortium, launched and was founding Editor-in-Chief of the open-access electronic journal, “Global Health Innovation”, and edited the open access e-book entitled “Biomedical Engineering for Africa”.
Tania was an internationally recognised scholar, an outstanding mentor and a friend to many. This award, established in her honour by her parents, friends and colleagues, contributes to her phenomenal legacy.
2023 Award Recipient
Congratulations to Oreneile Maiphetlho, the inaugural award recipient of the Tania Samantha Douglas Scholarship in Biomedical Engineering.
Oreneile, known as Nene to her friends, was born in 1999 and is an only child from Johannesburg. After completing a degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where she received a 1st class honours, Nene enrolled for a Master's in Biomedical Engineering with the Division of BME. Her research topic is “Examining the effects of prenatal maternal choline supplementation on brain connectivity in neonates exposed prenatally to alcohol” and is supervised by Prof Ernesta Meintjes and Dr Fleur Warton. About the award, Nene had this to say: "I feel honoured to have received the Tania Samantha Douglas Scholarship and grateful to the family and selection committee for choosing me as the recipient."
Inaugural Lecture gallery
The inaugural Tania Samantha Douglas scholarship lecture was held on 4 April 2023. The Dean of Health Sciences, A/Prof Lionel Green-Thompson, welcomed the attendees to open the lecture. Guest speaker, Emeritus Professor Kit Vaughan, gave a talk entitled "The Scholarship of Tania Douglas", highlighting the legacy of Tania and her contributions to science. Head of Division of BME, Prof Ernesta Meintjes, then explained the relevance of the award and the criteria used by the committee to choose the award recipient. Oreneile Maiphetlho was selected as the inaugural recipient and was given the award by Tania's parents, Dr Aubrey and Rita Douglas. Tania's father, Dr Aubery Douglas, then gave some closing remarks before Prof Meintjes closed the session.
