College of Science, Engineering & Technology
Unisan in the home straight at the NSTF-South32 Awards
Prof Ndzondelelo Bingwa, a National Research Foundation (NRF) Y2-rated scientist from the Institute for Catalysis and Energy Solutions (ICES), has been named a finalist for the "Science Oscars of South Africa" - the 2024/2025 NSTF-South32 Awards - in the TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher category.
Prof Ndzondelelo Bingwa
Bingwa dedicated the past six years of his career to developing metal oxide catalysts of the perovskite form for application in heterogeneous catalysis. He designed his project with the aim of beneficiation of our country’s mineral resources. Metals abundant in South Africa and the African continent, such as cobalt, manganese and lanthanum, to mention a few, formed the basis of his work in catalysis. These metal-based catalysts were applied in converting biomass-derived compounds to value-added chemicals with applications in energy.
Along the research journey, he utilised computational tools to validate his work, and this culminated in several publications in internationally accredited, peer-reviewed journals. Also, his work has been presented at several international conferences across the globe. One recent conference where his work attracted interest from both academia and industry was the 3rd China-Africa Innovation, Cooperation and Development Forum hosted in Wuhan, China, in November 2024, which was attended by dignitaries from many African countries, including South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Nomalungelo Gina.
Bingwa’s work on biofuel additives and biodiesel attracted international interest and saw him team up with China’s Shandong Jianzhu University on a bilateral project funded by the NRF and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. To date, Bingwa and his team from China have successfully demonstrated the use of microwave energy to enhance biodiesel production.
Bingwa’s achievements reflect not only his excellent research but also his strong contribution to human capacity development through postgraduate supervision. To date, 24 research projects, spanning honours, master’s, and doctoral levels have been successfully completed under his guidance.
* Submitted by Lesego Maloka, Marketing Administrative Assistant, College of Science, Engineering and Technology
Publish date: 2025/05/29
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