Welcome to the 7th CSIR Conference
To celebrate our 75-year contribution to research, development and innovation in South Africa, we are bringing you a range of online talks, interviews, virtual tours and webinars, with participation by local and international experts. The conference programme has been designed around nine topics, namely chemicals, health, advanced agriculture and food, manufacturing, mining, defence and security, smart mobility, smart places and next-gen enterprises and institutions. Some special interest sessions have also been scheduled.
Conference attendance comes at no charge, but registration is compulsory. Once registered, you can participate in any session. Join us to learn from, and engage with, some of the world’s foremost experts!
Join in on a conversation between the CSIR’s Dr Jan van de Loosdrecht and Avantium Chief Technology Officer Prof Dr Gert-Jan Gruter. Gruter provides an industry perspective on renewable polymers and renewable chemistry.
Prof dr Gert-Jan Gruter has a background in polymer chemistry. He was part-time professor of polymer catalysis at Eindhoven University of Technology (1999-2006). In 2000 he transferred to Avantium where in 2004 he was appointed as Chief Technology Officer. Gruter is inventor on more than 100 PCT patent families and (co)author on about 45 scientific papers and book chapters; he was elected 2014 European CTO of the year and runner-up European inventor of the year in 2017. Gruter is currently part-time professor of Industrial Sustainable Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam, where he is working on novel high Tg sustainable materials for re-use, on electrocatalysis and downstream conversions, on plastic biodegradation, on chemical recycling of polyesters, on consumer psychology and on ocean plastics.
Mamello Matikinca is the Chief Economist at First National Bank. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree (Econometrics) from the University of Johannesburg and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Management Finance and Investment at Wits.
Matikinca started her career at the Bureau for Economic Research; she later moved to Rand Merchant Bank where she worked as a macroeconomic analyst in the RMB global markets research team.
Matikinca joins Lee Naik, Chief Executive Officer, TransUnion Africa; Mauricio ZuaZua, Partner and Board Member of Kearney and Dr Thulani Dlamini, CSIR Chief Executive Officer, in a discussion on the fourth industrial revolution and industrialisation opportunities for South Africa’s economic recovery.
Dr Ayodele Odusola, Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in South Africa, leads a session that looks at the role of the UNDP in developing and contributing towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in South Africa, Africa and globally.
As part of the United Nations 75th anniversary celebrations, UNDP SA presents its 25-year highlight reel showcasing its impact within South Africa through its various programmes, including inclusive, just and sustainable economic growth; effective, efficient and transformative governance; and climate resilience and sustainably managed natural resources. This showcase will include lessons learned along the journey and feature current and future initiatives, including UNDP SA’s Covid-19 response.
Prior to his current role as Resident Representative of the UNDP in South Africa, Odusola was Chief Economist and Head of the Strategy and Analysis Team for the United Nations Development Programme’s Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA), where he coordinated economic, social and environmental dimensions of development in Africa. He led the preparation of regional flagship reports for RBA, including the Africa Human Development Report, the African Economic Outlook, Africa MDG/SDGs progress reports and the book Income Inequality Trends in sub-Saharan Africa: Divergence, Determinants, and Consequences (which he co-edited). Odusola provides intellectual leadership to SDG acceleration frameworks in sub-Saharan Africa, managing the network of Senior Economists in UNDP Africa Country Offices and providing strategic advice on policy matters to the RBA Director.
As an economist, Dr. Odusola focuses on dynamics of macroeconomics and development economics pertaining to the African continent. In addition to being an African Visiting Scholar to the IMF in 2002, Dr Odusola had served as a consultant to many international organizations like the World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, the World Institute of Development Economic Research (WIDER), the Global Development Network (GDN), the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) and the West African Institute of Financial and Economic Management.
Dr Odusola is a Nigerian national and holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Sietse has a Master's degree in radiation physics. As Manager at the National Nuclear Regulator, he was responsible for the establishment of a regulatory framework for radiation protection in mining. He did his MBA with a focus on integrating sustainability issues into the strategy of businesses. He then joined Xstrata as a manager responsible for safety, health, environment and quality. In 2004 he was appointed as the Head of Safety and Sustainable Development in the Mineral Council (formerly Chamber of Mines) where he enjoyed being part of the mining industry's safety and health enhancement initiatives. Since 2015 he serves as the Senior Executive: Modernisation and Safety and his purpose remains to help facilitate a people-centric modernisation of the mining industry
Sihle is a Director of Strategy and Corporate Services at Bushveld Minerals, where she works closely with the executive team in the strategy update and the execution thereof in the business. Her role also entails ensuring that the organisational design and capacity enable effective strategy execution and collaboration across organisational boundaries. This is underpinned by an engaged workforce and a collaborative approach in engaging with stakeholders – all of which reside in her portfolio in Corporate Services.
Prior to joining Bushveld Minerals , Sihle was a Director and Operations Transformation leader at Deloitte Africa’s Strategy and Operations practice. She assisted her clients in defining and executing on their strategies and in improving their cost per output unit in a sustainable manner - whilst ensuring robust stakeholder engagement to enable lasting socio-economic impact in the communities where they operate. She was a trusted advisor to her clients and has extensive experience in building stakeholder value in the Mining and Public Sectors focusing on Strategy Formulation and Execution, Business Model Transformation, Recovery and Turn-around Strategy, Capital Projects Efficiency, Collaborative Facilitation and Stakeholder Engagement. Sihle has led and participated in national agenda projects such being a project manager for Mining Phakisa and a facilitation for the Mining and Beneficiation panel at the first SA Investment Conference.
She joined Deloitte in 2010 and prior to that she worked for De Beers where she accumulated over 6 years experience in mining; in plant operations, project management, general management and diamond sales. She holds a BSc Engineering degree in Metallurgy and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of the Witwatersrand. Sihle is a co-founder for SuperLead, an organisation aimed at building high-capacity Africa leaders. She believes that her life’s work is doing well by doing good – and this is a motto that she lives by.
View this post on InstagramWe have changed our logo, but our mandate, values, and excellence in our work have not changed.
A post shared by CSIR South Africa (@csirsouthafrica) on
Company | Location | Opt-Out / Privacy Contact |
Google Inc. Services: Google Analytics, DoubleClick, YouTube | USA | https://www.google.com/intl/en /policies/privacy/ https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout DoubleClick: [email protected] |
AddToAny | USA | http://www.addtoany.com/privacy http://www.addtoany.com/contact/ |
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.