Remembering South Africa's "Grand Geek" Barry Dwolatzky - engineer and programming pioneer
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Thursday, June 1, 2023
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To some of his former students, Professor Barry Dwolatzky was the “Grand Geek” – a name of which he was very proud.
Key Points:
- To some of his former students, Professor Barry Dwolatzky was the “Grand Geek” – a name of which he was very proud.
- But Barry, who passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa on 16 May 2023, was much more than a computer geek.
- He was also a leader and a visionary in the field of software engineering in South Africa.
A pioneer in programming
- I first met Barry in 1989 when he returned to South Africa as a senior lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering at Wits.
- When he joined the School, there was only one programming course, Engineering Applied Computing, taught to second-year electrical, civil and mechanical engineering students.
- Barry identified the growing importance of programming and information technology in engineering fields before anyone else in South Africa really had.
- Today, the School of Electrical & Information Engineering’s curriculum contains two second-year programming courses and a third-year course that is compulsory for all electrical and information engineering students.
Software to drive development
- At that time, Barry started working on a software programme that would assist engineers in planning the electrification of townships, historically black urban residential areas.
- A number of postgraduate students under his supervision worked on aspects of this software.
- It was the work he did through the centre that established him as an important thought leader in the software and IT space.
Innovation champion
- He raised funding and transformed the rundown buildings into the innovation hub that is today one of the university’s flagship projects.
- Even after retiring, Barry remained committed to and driven by the idea of innovation.
- He worked alongside Wits University’s deputy vice-chancellor, Professor Lynn Morris, to establish the Wits Innovation Centre.