Keynote Speakers

Dr. David H. Fine
Entrepreneur Keynote

Founder: CyTerra | Vero-Biotech
Author: Nooshin Erfani-Ghadimi
(Wits BSc Hons 1964, Leeds PhD 1967)
Wits University, South Africa
Leeds University, England

Dr. David H. Fine, retired, studied Chemistry at Wits and received his PhD from Leeds University. His post-doctoral work was in the UK and Canada, before joining MIT in 1969. In 1972, he joined Thermo Electron, staying for 28 years. He then founded CyTerra where he developed a handheld detector for buried land mines and Vero-Biotech, a pharmaceutical company, where his nitric oxide delivery technology was approved by the FDA. His other inventions include detection of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines, explosives and narcotics, as well as instruments used in the beverage industry. He has published several hundred scientific papers and is an inventor on121 US Patents.

Dr Xolani Nocanda

Senior Researcher: CSIR, South Africa

Dr Xolani completed a PhD in Organic Chemistry at Rhodes University in 2001.

In 2011 he completed an MBA degree at Stellenbosch Business School.

He has over 20 years’ work experience in private and public chemical companies.

He currently works at CSIR as Senior Researcher in Water and has worked for the following companies:

  • Ethekwini Municipality, Water and Sanitation as Principal Scientists and Acting Manager for SANAS accredited Chemistry laboratory. 
  • Industrial Oleochemical Products, a member of AECI group of chemical companies as Business Development Chemist.
  • Sappi Saiccor, producer of Chemical Cellulose as a Scientist. 
  • Fine Chemicals Corporation, a pharmaceutical company as Research & Development Chemist. 

He is a registered Professional Natural Scientist with SACNASP, in the field of practice: Chemical Science.

Chair of South African Chemical Institute – Industrial Division

Prof Vincent O. Nyamori

Professor University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban), South Africa

Prof Vincent O. Nyamori is a Professor at the School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.  He is a Fellow of the South African Chemical Institute (FSACI), a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa (FRSSAf) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC).  Currently, he is South Africa’s Representative to the Commonwealth Chemistry Federation and a former SACI President.  Prof Nyamori is an Associate Editor for the RSC Sustainability journal, United Kingdom.  His research interests include Sustainable Chemistry, Nanotechnology and Materials Science.  His NanoChemistry Research Group is interested in advancing carbon-based nanomaterials, particularly for the fabrication of solar energy devices.

Prof Dr Ron M.A. Heeren

Distinguished Professor and Limburg Chair at Maastricht University, Netherlands

Prof. Dr. Ron M.A. Heeren obtained a PhD degree in technical physics in 1992 at the University of Amsterdam on plasma-surface interactions. He started to work on molecular imaging instrumentation and its application as a research group leader at FOM-AMOLF, Amsterdam. In 2001, he became professor at the chemistry faculty of Utrecht University lecturing on the physical aspects of biomolecular mass spectrometry. In 2014 was appointed as distinguished professor and Limburg Chair at Maastricht University. He is the founder and scientific director of M4I, the Maastricht MultiModal Molecular Imaging institute on the Brightlands Maastricht Health campus. He was awarded the prestigious 2019 Physics Valorization prize by the Dutch organization for scientific Research, NWO and the 2020 Thomson medal of the international mass spectrometry foundation. In 2021 he was elected as a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, KNAW. He is the current president of the International Mass Spectrometry Foundation where he actively focusses on strengthening the international MS community. He established a focus group on imaging immune metabolism at the Technical University Munich as a Hans Fischer Senior fellow and was named TUM ambassador in 2024 for his academic and collaborative accomplishments. His academic research interests are mass spectrometry based personalized medicine, translational molecular imaging and “omics” research, high-throughput bioinformatics and the development and validation of innovative molecular analytical imaging techniques across the scientific disciplines.

Dr Martin Brits

Technical Specialist (Southern African Grain Laboratory NPC)

Martin Brits is a Technical Specialist at the Southern African Grain Laboratory (SAGL), where he oversees laboratory operations. Prior to his current role, he held a three year postdoctoral research position at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, contributing to the analysis of micro and nanoplastics to assess their potential health risks. He previously worked at the National Metrology Institute of South Africa developing methods to monitor persistent organic pollutants and emerging contaminants. He earned his joint Ph.D. in Chemistry from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the University of Pretoria, supported by the prestigious NRF Desmond Tutu doctoral scholarship.

Prof. Marietjie Potgieter

Professor Emeritus University of Pretoria, South Africa

Marietjie Potgieter is Professor Emerita of Chemistry and former Deputy Dean: Teaching and Learning at the University of Pretoria. She holds a PhD in bio-organic chemistry (University of Illinois, 1983) and transitioned to chemistry education research in 2002. She received the SACI Chemical Education Medal (2008) and a national commendation for Excellence in Teaching and Learning from HELTASA (2011). She served on the IUPAC Committee on Chemistry Education (since 2016) and is its current chair (2022–2026). Her research focuses on effective instruction and student success in tertiary science, with recent work on integrating systems thinking into chemistry education.

Prof Cornelia GCE van Sittert

Professor North-West University, South Africa

Prof. Cornelia GCE van Sittert obtained her PhD in Chemistry (1999) from the Potchefstroom University for CHE and a second MSc in Molecular Modelling (2004) from Cardiff University, Wales, UK. She is promoted to Professor at North-West University (2023) and leads the Laboratory for Applied Molecular Modelling. Her research focuses on the computational study of materials and catalysis, with 60 publications and the supervision of 30 postgraduate students. She had leadership roles in CATSA, the SA Journal of Chemistry, and several national scientific committees. She is a member of SAAWK, serves on the advisory board for the Water Research Council, and was appointed honorary professor at the University of KwaZulu Natal’s School of Engineering in October 2024.

Prof Vladimir Azov

Professor University of the Free State, South Africa

Vladimir Azov is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of the Free State, South Africa. He earned his PhD from Emory University, followed by postdoctoral research at ETH Zurich and LMU Munich. He later led a research group at the University of Bremen, where he completed his Habilitation (venia legendi). His research focuses on supramolecular chemistry and molecular self-organization, including the synthesis of molecular receptors, redox-active materials, and non-canonical amino acids for peptide-based systems. He also applies mass spectrometry to investigate molecular and supramolecular processes, bridging synthetic, analytical, and physical chemistry in interdisciplinary collaborations.

Prof Perdita Barran

Professor University of Manchester, UK

Perdita Barran holds a Chair of Mass Spectrometry in the Department of Chemistry, is Associate Dean for Research Facilities and Director of the Michael Barber Centre for Collaborative Mass Spectrometry at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, UK. She develops and applies ion-mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry to the study of molecule structure and is searching for biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and was awarded the 2009 Joseph Black award and the Theophilus Redwood Award from the RSC in 2019, Researcher of the Year 2020 from the University of Manchester and the ACS Measurement Science Lectureship 2021. In 2020 she initiated the COVID-19 Mass Spectrometry Coalition and was appointed as Chief Advisor to the UK Government on Mass Spectrometry as part of their pandemic response. Perdita has authored over 160 publications in peer reviewed journals. In 2021 Perdita founded the company Sebomix Ltd. to exploit sebum as a diagnostic biofluid with a focus on Parkinson’s Disease

Prof. Dr. Moniek Tromp

Chair of Materials Chemistry at the Zernike Institute at the University of Groningen, Netherlands

Moniek Tromp obtained her PhD at the University of Utrecht. She held positions in the UK and Germany, and from July 2018 she has taken up the Chair of Materials Chemistry at the Zernike Institute at the University of Groningen, where, from January 2023, she is also the research director.

Moniek currently is the Captain of Science of the Topsector Chemistry, an advisory role the government. She has been and is leading many large collaborative research grants, and active in many national and international roles related to science advice and policy, as well as diversity and inclusion. She has been awarded prestigious awards and has published over 125 papers in high profile journals and given over 80 invited lectures worldwide.

Her research focusses on the development and application of operando spectroscopy techniques in catalysis and materials research, incl. fuel cells, batteries, photochemistry, as well as arts, with a focus on X-ray spectroscopy techniques.