东京热

Circular Economy, waste to resource, sustainability, green economy and wasterwater Treatment

Prof. Thandiwe Sithole is the Vice Dean of Global Engagement and an Associate Professor in the Circular Economy within the Department of Chemical Engineering at the 东京热’s Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the 东京热, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Suffolk, UK, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education.

Additionally, she has earned an Emerging Leader Certificate, a Women in Leadership Certificate, and completed a research in leadership programme within the 东京热. Prof. Sithole was funded by the NRF for her Ph.D. and is a recipient of the NRF-BAAP programme. She is also NRF rated and registered as a Professional Engineering Technologist with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). A multi-award winner, Prof. Sithole has received several accolades, including the prestigious 2023 National Research Foundation (NRF) Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers, the South African Women in Science Award, and the UJ Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Most Promising Researcher of the Year Award. She was also a finalist in the NSTF Awards, often referred to as the “Oscars of Science.” Additionally, she has received best paper awards from various international conferences and grants and fellowships from the NRF and the European Union.

She is a member of South African Young Academy of Science: SAYAS. Prof. Sithole has successfully supervised 14 postgraduate students to completion and is currently supervising 16 post graduate students. With over 51 published journal articles featuring impact factors ranging from 3 to 23, 11 book chapters and 12 conference papers, she has established synergistic collaborations in 14 international countries. She is a Review Editor in Chemical Treatments (specialty section of Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry, Associate Editor Journal of Smart and Green Materials, Guest editor Springer book and a member of the early career editorial board of the Chemical Engineering journal, which has an impact factor of 13.2. An advocate for collaboration, her research in the circular economy is incredibly beneficial to South Africa, which led to her appointment as a board member and technical advisory chair at the Platinum Incubator (TPI). In this role, she has strategically guided TPI in executing industrial application duties, providing innovative and holistic support to PGM beneficiation. Prof. Sithole holds a patent in her field, showcasing her commitment to innovation and practical solutions. She is also a member of the Universitas 21 (U21) network and serves as a mentor, judge, editor, reviewer, and external examiner both nationally and internationally. She contributes to various departmental and school committees and serves on the Research Outputs Sub-panel for the evaluation of scholarly publications. Additionally, she is involved in the National Research Foundation Panel review for ratings and acts as a Virtual Peer Review Panelist for Postdoctoral, Travel, General, and International Research Grants.