Previous news items 2011

Welcome

The School of Chemistry has been in the fortunate position of being able to make an unusually large number of academic and support appointments this year. Our new staff members, in approximately chronological order of appointment, are listed below.

Dr Shane Durbach is an old friend who completed all his previous studies at Wits (BSc Hons, 1992; MSc, 1997; part-time PhD, 2009, with Neil Coville). While working on his MSc he was also on contract to the RADMASTE centre, where he developed an interest in aspects of science education. His extensive teaching experience dates back to 1998, when he joined the erstwhile Technikon Witwatersrand – now University of Johannesburg (Doornfontein campus) – as a lecturer while working part-time on his PhD. While there he managed to establish a good research programme in nanomaterials, and he brings considerable expertise in this area to our School. Shane has been appointed to a Senior Lectureship.

Dr Nosipho Moloto was appointed to a Lectureship at the beginning of January. Nosipho recently completed her PhD under the joint supervision of Neil Coville and Suprakas Ray (CSIR); her previous degrees were obtained from the University of Zululand. Nosipho is an inorganic chemist who has a strong interest in materials chemistry. She was previously employed at the University of Johannesburg (Auckland Park), having worked at the CSIR before that. During her PhD studies she spent one year on a pre-doctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she conducted research into the applications of quantum dots in optoelectronic devices and biological sensors. Nosipho already enjoys strong collaborations with members of this School, and will certainly help to strengthen our activities in materials science.

Dr Mandy Rousseau, who joined the staff as a Senior Lecturer on 12 January 2011, is a Wits product through-and-through. She completed her BSc Hons degree in 1995, obtaining the University’s prestigious award for that year as the most distinguished Honours graduate in the Faculty of Science. She went on to complete a PhD under the joint supervision of Charles de Koning and Jo Michael, and graduated in 2000. After leaving Wits she joined the CSIR, where she rose through the ranks to become Principal Researcher in Discovery Chemistry. While retaining her interest in synthetic organic chemistry, she has also become an expert in medicinal chemistry, and she will be starting up a research programme in that field.

Ms Khwezi Ndawonde, our new Administrative Assistant, joined the School at the beginning of June to take up the position created after Pat Cawthorn’s retirement (see below). Khwezi came to us from the School of Computer Science, where she was the School secretary. She will take over much of our School’s academic administration, including the maintenance of undergraduate and postgraduate records, liaison with course coordinators, and liaison with the Faculty, Examinations and Research offices. She will assist with scientific typing during busy times, and she will also be responsible for the issuing of stationery. Khwezi will also act as stand-in for Agnes Pointeer, our Senior Administrative Officer, when necessary.

Ms Mmakoma Lloyd Bogopa joined the School as a Laboratory Assistant at the beginning of September. Lloyd was previously employed at the BPI Palaeosciences centre, where she worked on contract as a laboratory technician. Although she will be working in the Wilkinson laboratory for the moment to learn the ropes, next year she will be one of the team members whose main activities will be in the new AECI laboratory in the Science Stadium.

Dr Moira Bode joined the academic staff on 1 October. Moira is a graduate of Rhodes University, where she completed her PhD in 1994 under the guidance of Professor Perry Kaye. She has had a varied career, which commenced with a three-year spell as a lecturer at UNISA before she moved to a research position in the Division of Toxicology at Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute. She then spent two years in the Netherlands as a post-doctoral researcher before returning to a research post at the CSIR in Modderfontein. Her nine years there saw her rising to the rank of Principal Researcher in the Biosciences division. Moira’s area of expertise is medicinal and synthetic organic chemistry.

Ms Lucy Phiri has been appointed as Messenger and Clerical Assistant in the School with effect from 1 November 2011. Lucy previously did voluntary work as an administrator at Diodi Primary School in Soweto before being appointed to a contract position in our School in August. Our staff will be very happy that she has now been appointed to a permanent position!

Another new member of the laboratory staff is Mr Bethuel Lekganyane, who was appointed on 7 November 2011. He was previously employed by Prestige Cleaning Services at the Johannesburg General Hospital, where he gained some experience in biohazard waste management. Bethuel’s time will be divided between the Humphrey Raikes building and the AECI Laboratory in the Science Stadium.

Last but not least, we welcome Dr Marc Humphries, who has been appointed to a Lectureship in Analytical Chemistry with effect from 14 November 2011. Marc hails from Durban, where he completed his previous degrees and also carried out post-doctoral research. His main interest is in the analytical geochemistry of wetlands, an area that will complement the research carried out by the environmental analytical chemistry team. He has already established collaborations with colleagues at Rhodes University and in the USA, and with Professor Spike McCarthy in the Wits School of Geosciences. It’s a pleasure to welcome him to the School of chemistry. However, let’s hope he realises that there’s no SCUBA-diving in Jo’burg!

Farewell

One of the School’s longest-serving administrative staff members, Mrs Pat Cawthorn, decided to take early retirement at the end of April, much to our regret (and consternation). Pat, who joined the School as a major-time secretary in September 1995, rapidly became the School’s expert in all matters pertaining to the entering and keeping of records on the University’s sometimes impenetrable computer system. She was also a skilled scientific typist, and even got to grips with the drawing of chemical structures. Her intimate knowledge of the quirks and oddities of University administration, built up over time, will be sorely missed! We wish her happiness and health in her retirement.

Condolences

We wish to express our condolences to the family of the late Mrs Roselyn Dhlamini, a messenger and general worker in the School, who passed away unexpectedly on 12 July 2011 after a short illness.

Congratulations

The School extends warm congratulations to the following:

• Alvaro de Sousa has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with effect from 1 October 2011. Alvaro joined the School as a Lecturer in 1999, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2008. His research interests are in aspects of coordination chemistry, and his particular field of expertise is in ligand design for making complexes with potential applications as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging.
• Associate Professor Luke Chimuka has been named Chromatographer of the Year for 2011 by ChromSA, which is the Chromatography division of the South African Chemical Institute. The award was based on Luke’s excellent publication record and patents in the field of chromatography (specifically, sample preparation techniques for chromatographic analysis). The award will be formally handed to Luke at a ChromSA event in February 2012.
• Professor Emeritus Mike Scurrell has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement award of the Catalysis Society of South Africa (CATSA). The announcement was made in September 2011.
• The research of Dr Andreas Lemmerer has graced the covers of several journals this year. Crystal structures of hydrogen-bonded ammonium carboxylates were featured on the cover of the March 2011 issue of Acta Crystallographica C. Work with his post-doctoral host, Professor Joel Bernstein, was featured on the cover of the 7 October issue of the prestigious RSC journal CrystEngComm, as well as on the cover of the last 2011 issue of Chemistry: A European Journal.
• Andreas is not the only one to have won the accolade of a cover feature. The work of Sabelo Mhlanga and Neil Coville made the cover of the September 2010 issue of Materials Science & Engineering – something that came to our attention only in February this year. Neil, Paul Franklyn and Ahmed Shaikjee have also had a rather pretty image of a spiral carbon nanotube features on the September 2011 cover of the journal Carbon.
• Dr Sabelo Mhlanga appears to be turning into a media personality. He was interviewed on Swati and Zulu radio stations on 3 August 2011, when he fielded questions about nanoscience and nanotechnology as part of the DST’s programme for National Science Week.
• Kathy Hadje Georgiou, an MSc student in the organic chemistry research group, has been awarded a joint Skye Foundation–Cambridge scholarship for PhD studies at Cambridge University in 2012. Kathy has just (November 2011) received her MSc with distinction, and hopes to join the research group of Dr David Spring early next year.
• PhD student Elisee Bakatula Nsimba was awarded the second of two student prizes for best student presentation at the International Mine Water Conference, which was held in Aachen, Germany, in September 2011.
  • The annual postgraduate “Research Showcase Day” of the Carbon Nanotube and Strong Composites focus area in the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, held on 4 October 2011, saw two of our students receiving awards. First prize for an excellent presentation went to Mahalieo Kao, while James Maifadi received third prize.
  • This year’s Young Chemists symposium, an annual event of the Gauteng Branch of the South African Chemical Institute, took place at the Vaal Institute of technology on 14 October 2011. Once again our students shone: Zikhona Tetana received first prize in the PhD section of the Young Nanotechnology Researcher programme, while Adushan Pillay was awarded second prize for his PhD presentation in the SACI section itself.
  • MSc student Sello Masinga won the prize for the best poster presentation at the DST/Mintek Nanotech Innovation Centre Workshop held at the CSIR on 22/23 November 2011.
  • Last but not least, ChemSoc’s prizes for the best presentations in the 2011 Postgraduate Colloquium series have been awarded to Millicent Mogale and Kathy Hadje Georgiou. Well done!

• Professor Charles de Koning and his PhD students Justin Omolo and Adushan Pillay were profiled on the allafrica.com website in connection with research projects under the aegis of SABINA (the Southern African Biochemistry and Informatics for Natural Products initiative).

ChemSoc

On the subject of ChemSoc (the School’s Chemistry Society), they have once again been extremely active. One of the year’s highlights was the organisation of a Career Day, held on 4 August 2011. About twenty companies, the majority of whom are large employers of chemistry graduates, were represented at the event, which gave our students insights into bursary, internship and job opportunities in the chemical industry. ChemSoc has also continued to organize a regular Postgraduate Colloquium, at which our MSc and PhD students have an opportunity to present short talks on their research projects, as well as a number of excursions to companies in the chemical industry. The activities of ChemSoc were recently profiled in Wits Now, a quarterly magazine that showcases the achievements of Wits students. We warmly congratulate ChemSoc and its current chairperson, Caitlin Zipp, on keeping the society alive and active.

Graduations

We congratulate the following students who obtained higher degrees during 2011:

PhD:

19 April 2011: Nosipho Moloto; Matthew Moodley (jointly with Physics)

19 July 2011: Moses Kabomo, Edward Nxumalo, Kriveshini Pillay, Matthew Rayner, Ketulo Salipira, Poslet Shumbula

24 November 2011: Roy Forbes, Myriam Motchelaho (Engineering), Winston Nxumalo

MSc:

19 April 2011: Zanele Hlam, Myron Johnson, Lee Madeley (with distinction), Bridget Makhura, Diakanua Nkazi (with distinction), Steton Tembe, James Topkin

21 April 2011: Aarif Ellemdeen

19 July 2011: Samantha Birtles, Pierre Kalenga, Ellen Kwenda, Ella Linganiso, Audacity Maringa, Lebohang Mokoena, Nisha Ramsuran

24 November 2011: Chantelle Engelbrecht, Nafise Ghadimi, Kathy Hadje Georgiou (with distinction), Tanya Jeftic, Estee Lawrence, Ebrahim Mohiuddin, Dalia Saad (with distinction)

Faculty of Science Prize Ceremony

The 33rd Annual Faculty of Science Prize Giving Ceremony was held on 11 May 2011. The following awards for Chemistry were presented at the ceremony:

The 2009 Penny Huddle Memorial Awards

The awards are made by the School of Chemistry in memory of Dr Penny Huddle, an exceptional teacher in the School. There are two awards, each to the value of R1000.

The first is to a postgraduate student who has shown exceptional ability as a tutor and demonstrator. Candidates are nominated by their peers or members of staff and selected by a selection committee of representatives of the academic staff, the technical staff and the postgraduate students.

Awarded jointly to: Caryn Gamble and Matthew Rayner

The second is to a postgraduate student who has shown exceptional ability as a demonstrator in the first year undergraduate laboratory. The winner is chosen by a survey of first year students.

Awarded jointly to: Michelle Nyoni and Zolani Mgcima

3M Achievement Award for Chemistry I 2010

This bronze medal and a cheque for R300 are awarded to the student who obtains the highest mark above 75% in the Chemistry Course in the first year of study.

Awarded to: Rumbidzai Denhere

CC Imelmann Prize 2010

Prizes of R500 each are awarded to the two most outstanding or deserving first-year Chemistry students proceeding into the second year of study in chemistry.

Awarded to: Paul Grebe and Pearson Mururi

Merck Achievement Award for Chemistry III 2010

This prize of R1000 and a gold medal, donated by E. Merck SA (Pty) Ltd, is awarded annually to the student who obtains the highest mark above 75% in the Chemistry III Major Course in the third year of study.

Awarded to: Bronwyn Camden-Smith

Merck Gold Medal 2010

This medal is awarded annually for interdisciplinary excellence in the third year of study.

Awarded to: Bronwyn Camden-Smith

Achievement Award for Applied Chemistry Honours 2010

A cheque for R1000 is awarded to the student who obtains the highest mark above 70% in the Applied Chemistry Honours course.

Awarded to: Louise Kendall

Sasol Achievement Awards 2010 

These awards of a medal and R750 each are awarded for the best Honours projects in Chemistry.

Awarded jointly to: Louise Kendall and Ashvir Narrandes

Labotec Chemistry Laboratory Prize 2010

This prize of R500 and a certificate are awarded for the best laboratory work performed by a student majoring Chemistry II.

Awarded to: Amy Rudenberg

EnviroServ Chemistry Laboratory Prize 2010

This prize of R750 is awarded for the best laboratory work performed by a student majoring Chemistry III.

Awarded to: Lara Aylward

South African Chemical Institute Awards

The following award to a member of this School was announced at the SACI Annual General Meeting, held on 12 August 2011.

SASOL Postgraduate Medal

This medal is awarded to students engaged in research towards a MSc or PhD degree at a South African University, or a MTech or DTech degree at a South African University or Institute of Technology. The award of the medal is limited to one per institution.

Awarded to: Ahmed Shaikjee