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Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Honors

•    Invited to give the Danckwerts Lecture at AIChE, 2022
•    Winner of the NRF Science Team Award, 2021
•    Finalist of the China National Friendship Award of 2020, which is the People’s Republic of China’s highest award for "foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country's economic and social progress", 2020
•    Awarded the Hebei Province Provincial Award Friendship Award in 2020, which is the highest honor granted to foreign experts to recognize their contribution to China's development and progress in technology and education, 2020
•    Textbook Attainable Region Theory: An Introduction to Choosing an Optimal Reactor was recipient of the 2019 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA), 2019
•    Chosen for the China National Talent Programme for Foreign experts, 2018
•    Appointed as one of the 10 Foreign Experts to advise the Government of Hebei in the first round of 100 Foreign Experts program, 2017
•    Winner NSTF Research and Capacity Development Category, 2017
•    Winner of the ASSAf ‘Science-for Society’ Gold Medal Award, 2010
•    Winner of the NSTF NGO Award, 2010
•    Finalist in the NSTF Individuals Awards, 2010
•    Finalist in the 10XE Competition run by AIChE, 2010
•    The Academic and Non-Fiction Authors’ Association of South Africa (ANFASA) grant for preparing the book Membrane Process Design using Residue Curves, 2009
•    African Union Scientific Awards; 2009 Continental Awards for the category Basic Science, Technology and Innovation, 2009
•    Distinguished Woman Scientist Award of the DST South Africa, 2009
•    Elected to the Academy of Engineering of South Africa, 2006
•    Elected to the Academy of Sciences of South Africa, 2005
•    Awarded A rating by the NRF. This award recognizes that I am considered a world leader in my field of research by my peers, 2005
•    M. Joshua, co-supervised by D. Hildebrandt, D. Glasser, D. Rubin and N. Crowther, awarded NACI prize for the most innovative research by a postgraduate student at a South African university, 2003
•    Vice Chancellor’s Researcher Award, University of the Witwatersrand, 2002
•    Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, 2002
•    Bill Neale-May Gold Medal, South African Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2000
•    Meiring Naude Medal, Royal Society of South Africa, 1997
•    Distinguished Researcher Award, University of the Witwatersrand, 1996
•    President’s Award, Foundation for Research and Development, 1996

 

Professional Experience

•    2023-Present Professor, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA
•    2021-2023 Distinguished Professor of Future Energy, Joint appointment in the African Energy Leadership Centre, Wits Business School, & Molecular Sciences Institute, School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
•    2018-2021 Director IDEAS (Institute for the Development of Energy for African Sustainability), UNISA
•    2013-2017 Director MaPS, a Research Unit at UNISA Professor of Chemical Engineering, School of Civil and Chemical Engineering
•    2007-2013 SARChI Professor of Sustainable Process Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand
•    2005-2013 Professor and Director of COMPS School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand
•    2002-2005 20% appointment: Professor of Process Synthesis, University of Twente the Netherlands
•    1998-2004 Unilever Professor of Chemical Engineering, School of Process and Materials Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand
•    1991 (June - Dec.) Assistant Professor (while on Sabbatical), Princeton University, USA
•    1988-1998 Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand
•    1985-1987 Senior Lecturer, Department of Metallurgy, Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education
•    1984 Process Engineer Sastech, SASOL
•    1982-1984 Professional Assistant, Chamber of Mines Research Organization, Environmental Engineering Laboratory

 

Education

•    PhD Chemical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, 1985-1990
•    MS Chemical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, 1982-1983
•    BS Chemical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, 1978-1981