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Mintek researcher receives award for contribution to nanotechnology...

Prof Lucky Sikhwivhilu, a chief scientist in the Advanced Materials Division is one of the esteemed researchers at Mintek who have received multiple awards in recognition for his contribution in the field of nanotechnology this year.

A prestigious international award (ISSN International Research Awards, IIRA-2022) in the International Best Researcher Award in nanotechnology research category was presented to him in association with the World Research Council during a ceremony held at the Breeze Residency Hotel, India.

The ISSN Awards is one of the biggest International Research Awards and is a private society of distinguished scholars, professionals and researchers honouring individuals for exceptional achievements and significant contributions in the fields of Agriculture, Engineering, Medical Science, Management, and Humanities, Social Sciences.

In addition to his role at Mintek, Professor Sikhwivhilu serves as the professor of nanotechnology at the University of Venda’s Faculty of Science, Engineering and Agriculture, where he teaches and supervises postgraduate student’s research. Since 2022, he’s been appointed as a member of the International Advisory Board of the EU project on coating alternatives for industrial and consumer products.

Professor Sikhwivhilu aims to use these awards and recognition to advance nanotechnology research in South Africa. “My future prospect is to see nanotechnology culminates in building of nanofactories or compact molecular manufacturing systems that could build a diverse selection of large-scale, atomically precise products. This could help contribute to the realisation of a sustainable society”, he said.  

Prof Sikhwivhilu holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand. He has over 15 years of experience in nanotechnology research.  Before joining Mintek he worked for the CSIR National Centre for Nano-Structured Materials (NCNSM). He has held postdoctoral fellowships at Unipress – Institute of High-Pressure Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. He holds editorial roles for the South African Journal of Chemistry, Advances in Theoretical & Computational Physics, and Current Chinese Science: Nanotechnology and  has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals.