Speaker
Dr
Bruce Rubidge
(WITS)
Description
The Microfocus X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) Facility in the Palaeosciences Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand has been in operation since May, 2012. Details on the facility can be found on its website (www.wits.ac.za/microCT). It is unique amongst microfocus CT facilities in South Africa because of its combination of 320 kV, 225kV rotating, and 225 kV static targets. Each of these has certain strengths in optimizing images acquired from a range of fossilized materials, while collectively they leave the facility well-suited for serving a wide range of palaeoscience needs. The facility is linked to the Virtual Imaging in Palaeosciences (VIP) lab at Wits, which houses high end visualization equipment such as servers and software programs that are necessary for working with and analyzing image data. Scanning requests go through a scientific peer-review process in order to ensure scientific integrity and proper application of the technology. Within the partial year 2012, 29 proposals were approved for scanning. From these projects, there have been so far at least six publications in peer-reviewed international journals, such as Science, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Journal of Human Evolution, and Journal of Archaeological Science. Scanning requests have accelerated thus far in 2013.
| Submit a paper<br>for peer review<br>(SA Journal of Science)?<br>(Yes / No / Maybe) | Maybe |
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Primary author
Dr
Bruce Rubidge
(WITS)
Co-author
Dr
Carlson Kristian
(WITS)
