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Prof Malik Maaza

Capetown, South Africa

UNESCO UNISA ITLABS/NRF Africa Chair in Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies

Prof Malik Maaza

Capetown, South Africa

Talk: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for materials discovery while speeding up the process beyond conventional trial-and-error techniques _________________________________________________________________________________ Prof. M. Maaza is the UNESCO UNISA-ITLABS/NRF Africa Chair in Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies. He is a joint staff of UNISA and the NRF. His Hindex is 112 & i10 =608 with a total of 41145 citations. He is a fellow of various Academies, including the European Academy of Arts & Sciences, the New York Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Science of India, the Royal Society of Chemistry-London. the New York Academy of sciences , the Islamic Academy of Sciences & the African Academy of Science. Prof. M. Maaza has been bestowed several awards among which; the 2019- Galileo-Galilei award by the International Commission for Optics, the 2022-J. Vasconcelos award for education by the World Cultural Council-Hong Kong , 2024, the International Khawarizmi award, the 2024 International Union for Pure & Applied Physics (IUPAP)award & the 2018- A.U. Nkwame Nkrumah award for Excellence in Science & Technology. He has been bestowed with the prestigious Presidential Mapungubwe Order of the Republic of South Africa. Prof. M. Maaza has been the architect behind several continental & National ongoing platforms including the UNESCO-UNISA-iTLABS/NRF Africa Chair in Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies (U2ACN2), the African Laser Centre (ALC), the African Materials Research Society (AMRS), the African Light Source (AfLS), the Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), the National Laser Centre (NLC) among others including the recently implemented African Centre of Competencies.

Prof Philani Mashazi

Makhanda, South Africa

Institute for Nanotechnology Innovation, Rhodes University

Prof Philani Mashazi

Makhanda, South Africa

Talk: Nanomaterials design for ultrasensitive biomarker detection _______________________________________________________________________________ Professor Mashazi is a Professor of Chemistry, an NRF-C Rated researcher, and Director of the newly established Institute for Nanotechnology Innovation at Rhodes University. Prof Mashazi currently leads an Institute in the diverse, inter- and multidisciplinary research activities seeking to address various national and international challenges. The Institute is nationally and globally acclaimed for its research in the use of nanomaterials for cancer treatment, water treatment and photovoltaic energy materials. Prof Mashazi was a leader of the nanoBiosensors Research that developed nanostructured signal transduction mechanisms for the ultrasensitive detection of disease biomarkers. Amongst several other roles, Prof Mashazi is an Associate Editor for the South African Journal of Science, a Board Member and Associate Editor of Chemistry for the Journal of Taibah University of Science. His research interest is in fabricating (bio)sensors nanotechnologies for disease biomarkers detection. Prof Mashazi has published research articles and books in (nano)biosensors and analytical (nano)chemistry. I supervise numerous MSc and PhD students in the various research areas covered within the Institute for Nanotechnology Innovation. I am a National and African Representative and Member of the Society of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines. I hold memberships in IEEE Sensors, South Africa Chemical Institute - Electrochemistry and Inorganic.

Prof Nosipho Moloto

South Africa

University of the Witwatersrand

Prof Suprakas Sinha Ray

Pretoria, South Africa

DSTI-CSIR Nanotechnology Innovation Centre Centre for Nanostructures and Advanced Materials, CSIR

Prof Suprakas Sinha Ray

Pretoria, South Africa

Talk: Nano-enabled Packaging Expanding Shelf-life of Spices and Meat Products – A Journey of Technology Development from Laboratory to Commercial Scale _____________________________________________________________________________ Prof. Suprakas Sinha Ray is a chief researcher in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Pretoria, South Africa. He was awarded a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Calcutta in 2001 and is the director of the DSTI-CSIR Nanotechnology Innovation Centre and the manager of the Centre for Nanostructures and Advanced Materials. He is also affiliated with the University of Johannesburg as a distinguished professor of chemistry. Prof. Ray's current research focus is on polymer-based advanced nanostructured materials and their applications. In 2011, he was recognised as one of the Top 50 high-impact chemists in the world (Feb. 2011, Thomson Reuters), making him the youngest researcher on the list among 1.2 million chemists. He has delivered more than 77 plenary/keynote/invited presentations at international conferences and has organised or co-organised several events. He authored 14 books, co-authored 13 edited books, wrote 15 book chapters on various aspects of polymer- based nano-structured materials and their applications, and published 587 articles in high- impact international journals. His work also includes 14 articles in peer-reviewed international conference proceedings and 30 articles in national and international conference proceedings. Additionally, he holds 9 patents (registered or pending) and has developed 13 new technologies, which he has shared with colleagues, collaborators, and industry partners. His team has commercialised several products and supported/hosted several SMMEs. Over the past 20 years, he has mentored 27 postdoctoral fellows and supervised 48 PhD and 17 Master's students. In 2016, he was honored with South Africa’s most prestigious NSTF Award.

Prof Ajayan Vinu

Callaghan NSW, Australia

Global Innovative Center for Advanced Nanomaterials (GICAN), University of Newcastle

Prof Ajayan Vinu

Callaghan NSW, Australia

Talk: Nanostructured Carbon-Based Materials for Energy and Environmental Applications ____________________________________________________________________________ Prof. Ajayan Vinu is a Laureate Professor and the Director of the Global Innovative Center for Advanced Nanomaterials (GICAN) at the University of Newcastle. Prof Ajayan Vinu is internationally known for his work on the advanced nanoporous materials with different functional elements prepared through innovative chemical approaches and their applications in carbon capture and conversion, energy storage and conversion, and catalysis. He discovered a series of novel nanoporous materials including world’s first nanoporous carbon nitrides, highly crystalline nanoporous fullerenes with different carbon atoms (C 60 and C 70 , etc) and nanoporous biomolecules including cytochrome c. Prof. Vinu’s research achievements have been recognized with numerous prestigious international awards, including the Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher recognition in 2024, JSPS Senior Invitational Fellow 2025, the Aether Industries Indian Chemical Society Centennial Jubilee Award 2025, the Asian Paints Padma Vibhushan Dr. R.A. Mashelkar Medal (2023), Dr. Ghanshyam Srivastava Memorial Award (2021), the Medal of the Chemical Research Society of India (2018), the KY NIEM CHUONG Award and Medal from the Vietnamese Academy of Sciences (2018), Scopus Young Researcher Award (2014), Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Award from the Humboldt Society (2010), JSPS Senior Invitational Fellowship (2014), Australian Future Fellowship at the Professorial level (2010), the Catalysis Society of India Young Scientist Award (2010), the Chemical Society of Japan Award for the Young Scientist (2008), Laureate of the Khwarizmi International Award (2008), and the ICYS Fellowship. He is a Fellow of several distinguished societies, including the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC, UK), the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI), the World Academy of Ceramics (FWAC), the Asia-Pacific Academy of Materials (FAPAM) and the World Academy of Art and Science (FWAAS). Prof. Vinu has authored ca 600 publications in high-impact journals, which have garnered approximately 46,000 citations, resulting in an h-index of 110. The commercial and innovative potential of Prof. Vinu’s research is highlighted by his portfolio of 32 national and international patents on novel mesoporous carbon, silica, and carbon nitride materials. He has secured more than AUD 32 million in research funding from industry and government agencies. He serves on the editorial boards of several prominent journals such as ACS Central Science, Carbon (Elsevier), Materials Today Nano (Elsevier), Materials Today Chemistry, Sustainable Energy and Fuels, and Small Science. Prof Vinu was also appointed as the Editor of Carbon which is one of the prestigious journals in the field of carbon materials.

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