IAEA Profile: A Passion For Measurement

The first in her family to pursue science, Msimang initially set out to become a physician. Her path switched when, despite pouring hours into studying biology, she found physics practically effortless. Following her strengths, she graduated from the University of Forte Hare, South Africa, with degrees in physics and mathematics. Yet, it was a postgraduate scholarship that introduced her to her current profession: medical physics, the application of physics principles to medicine.

Through this opportunity, she visited various facilities in South Africa. While touring a hospital, she witnessed the impact and relevance medical physicists had in ensuring safe, effective and high-quality care for patients and workers alike. She heeded the call of the clinic and underwent two years of additional training to become a clinically qualified medical physicist. Throughout her practice, she calibrated radiotherapy machines, conducted treatment planning for cancer patients and performed quality assurance checks on life-saving equipment.

Following her tenure at the clinic, she found an interesting position with the National Metrology Laboratory in Pretoria. The laboratory was searching for a physicist with an understanding of measurement science, and she had an opportunity to continue her work in calibrations and quality assurance. What began as a temporary, lateral move into the unknown would prove to be the career of a lifetime.

Starting off as a metrologist for electricity, Msimang was responsible for the country’s primary standards for voltage and resistance. She calibrated industry equipment, commissioned a new system to quantify resistance, and even served on an advisory committee.

When a vacancy arose in 2001, she jumped at the opportunity to work with ionising radiation again?— becoming the laboratory’s metrologist for that field. Through the IAEA technical cooperation programme, she participated in a regional training course on a new?code of practice?for dosimetry.?

“The training launched my career, by showing me the importance of having a unified and consistent approach to calibrating equipment around the world,” Msimang remembers fondly. This introduction to the IAEA’s work persuaded her to join the IAEA’s Dosimetry Laboratory on a technical cooperation fellowship in 2003, while pursuing her master’s degree.

Returning to Pretoria, she became a group leader and eventually director of the entire division at the National Metrology Institute of South Africa.

“Moving into an executive position meant fighting for funding for key programmes; coming with up strategic ideas; understanding what laboratories have, what the country needs and what is possible,” Msimang reflects.

Armed with this leadership experience, she joined the IAEA in 2020, just after finishing her doctorate in physics. “Joining the IAEA enabled me to undertake a larger role?— one that contributes to ensuring the harmonization of dosimetry and global access to calibrations for all.”

Reflecting on the journey that brought her from South Africa to the IAEA dosimetry lab in Seibersdorf, she reminds herself and all those around her: “Follow your passion, even if it isn’t clear.”

The IAEA is committed to gender equality and to supporting the ability of all individuals, regardless of gender, to equally contribute to and benefit from its programmes and activities.

Additionally, in 2020, the IAEA launched the?Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme (MSCFP)?to support the next generation of women nuclear professionals by offering scholarships for master’s degree in nuclear-related fields. A new IAEA initiative launched in March 2023, the?Lise Meitner Programme, offers early- and mid-career women multi-week training visits to nuclear facilities.?

Read more about the IAEA’s work on?gender equality, and apply for?vacancies, internships or pipelines.?