SACI Award Speakers
Prof. Roger Hunter
Professor Senior Research Scholar University of Cape Town, South Africa - Gold Medal 2023
Professor Roger Hunter is a passionate synthetic organic chemist currently working as a Senior Research Scholar at the University of Cape Town (UCT), having retired from the Mally Chair at UCT at the end of 2019. He arrived in South Africa back in the heady days of 1983 as a Lecturer at Wits (Chemistry) following training at Imperial College, London and postdoctoral stints in Barcelona (Instituto Quimico de Sarria) and London (University College). His research interests lie rooted in organic synthesis methodology, and he has published around 150 papers in international journals. He won the SACI Gold Medal in 2023.
Prof. Kenneth Ikechukwu Ozoemena
Research Professor University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa - Gold Medal 2024
Kenneth Ozoemena is Research Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) where he heads the SARChI Chair (Tier 1) in Materials Electrochemistry and Materials Technologies (MEET). He is NRF’s A-rated Scientist and recipient of the Gold Medal of the South African Chemical Institute (SACI). He is a Fellow of the Academy of Science of South Africa, Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, member of the governing council and Vice-President of the African Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Electrochemistry Communications.
Prof Maya Makatini
Associate Professor at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa - Raikes Medal 2024
Prof Maya Makatini is an organic chemistry associate professor at the University of Witwatersrand and her current research interests include the design and synthesis of peptidomimetics that assist with the following: wound healing and disinfection of chronic wounds; the combating of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis infections by targeting the mycobacterium caseinolytic protease; and the diagnosis of arsenic poisoning in urine. She also focuses on chromatographic techniques such as Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry and its use as an early-stage biomarkers detection tool.
Prof. Liliana Mammino
Professor emeritus at the University of Venda, South Africa - Chemical Education Medal 2024
Liliana Mammino is currently a professor emeritus at the University of Venda (UNIVEN), where she has been since 1997. She has initiated and developed research capacity in computational chemistry at UNIVEN. Her teaching experience comprise undergraduate and postgraduate physical chemistry, first year general chemistry, and process technology courses. Her research interests comprise theoretical/computational chemistry (with particular interest in the study of biologically active molecules), chemistry education (with particular interest in conceptual understanding and in the roles of language), education for sustainable development, cross-disciplinarity between different chemistry areas, and multidisciplinarity among different disciplines. She has published extensively in all these areas.
