The Order of Mapungubwe in Bronze

Prof Thokozani Majozi Awarded for:

His outstanding contribution to science, particularly the development of a novel mathematical technique for near-zero-effluent batch chemical facilities which enables the reuse of wastewater; as a young scientist, more trailblazing is expected of him in the years ahead.

Prof Thokozani Majozi was born in KwaMashu in KwaZulu-Natal in 1972 and completed his secondary education at Maqhawe High School in Inanda, north of Durban.

He is a full professor in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) where he also holds the National Research Foundation/Department of Science and Technology (NRF/DST) Chair in Sustainable Process Engineering.

His main research interest is batch chemical process integration, where he has made significant scientific contributions that have earned him international recognition.

Some of these contributions have been adopted by industry. Prior to joining Wits University, he spent almost 10 years at the University of Pretoria, initially as an associate professor and later as a full professor of chemical engineering.

He was also an associate professor in computer science at the University of Pannonia in Hungary from 2005 to 2009. He spent the early years of his professional career as a chemical engineer working for Unilever, Dow Agro Sciences and Sasol Technology. Majozi is an NRF B1 rated scientist.

He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Process Integration at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in the United Kingdom. He is a member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa and a Fellow at the African Academy of Sciences.

He has received numerous awards for his research, including the Burianec Memorial Award (Italy), S2A3 British Association Medal (Silver) and the South African Institute of Chemical Engineers Bill Neal-May Gold Medal.

He has twice been the recipient of the National Science and Technology Forum Award and twice the recipient of the NRF President’s Award. Majozi is author and co-author of more than 190 scientific publications, including three books on Batch Chemical Process Integration, published by Springer and CRC Press. 

In his career as a scientist he has supervised more than 20 postgraduate students (50% PhD and 50% Master of Science) to completion. He has also supervised four postdoctoral fellows with whom he has had a chance to produce more than 10 publications in leading chemical engineering journals and two textbooks published by CRC Press/Taylor and Francis.

He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Cleaner Production (IF = 5.715) and Chemical Engineering Transactions (IF = 1.03), deputy editor-in-chief of the South African Journal of Chemical Engineering (Scopus indexed).

He is a regular reviewer for leading chemical engineering journals, including Computers and Chemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering Science, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, Applied Thermal Engineering and Energy. He currently has 1 753 citations and a Google h-index of 23, Scopus h-index of 18 and the Web of Science h-index of 16.

He has also served as Vice-President of the Engineering Council of South Africa (2009-2012), member of the Nuclear Energy Corporation Board, where he also chaired the Research Committee and is currently the Chairperson of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Board, which is the largest public sector multidisciplinary research institution on the continent.