Speakers

CSIR@80 | G-STIC Conference

8 - 10 October 2025

Confirmed State Officials and Representatives

Dr. Aunkh Chabala

Director of the Indigenous Knowledge-Based Technology Innovation Unit

South-African Department of Science, Technology and Innovation

Prof. Blade Nzimande

Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation

Government of South Africa

Chaona Sinalo Kumbani

Principal Economist at Ministry of Energy of Malawi

Ministry of Energy of Malawi

Dr. Karen Van Campenhout

Team lead Environment & Health

Department Environment, Flemish Government (DOMG)

Katekani Hlabathi

ICT Manager

State Security Agency

Likho Bottoman

Social Cohesion and Equity in Education

Department of Basic Education

Lydia Bosoga

Director Land and Soil Management currently Acting as Chief Director Natural Resources Management and Disaster Management

Department of Agriculture

Mpume Ntlokwana

Deputy Director for the Resource Audit Unit

Department of Agriculture – Directorate Land Use and Soil Management (South Africa)

Dr. Rashid Mbaziira

Executive Secretary

African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW)

Dr. Sean Phillips

Director General

Department of Water & Sanitation, Government of South Africa

Dr. Sibusisiwe Hlela

Director for Environmental and Sector Education Directorate

Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment

Wandile Sihlobo

Chief Economist

Agricultural Business Chamber (AgBiz)

Confirmed Speakers

Prof. Luiz Paulo Assad

Professor

University of Rio de Janeiro

Dr. Thulani Dlamini

CEO

CSIR

Tatiana Marrufo

Coordinator of the program on health and environment

National Institute of Health (INS) of Mozambique

Dr. Ousmane Ndiaye

Director General

African Center of Meteorogical Application for Development (ACMAD)

Prof. Izael De Silva

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation & UNESCO Chair on Climate Change Resilience and Sustainability

Strathmore University

Rashid Abdallah

Executive Director

African Energy Commission

Mamohloding Maahlo-Tihagale

Acting Executive: Stakeholder and Communications

Water Research Commission

Sylvain Tusanga

Executive Director

Lake Tanganyika Authority

Prof. Suzan Oelofse

Principal Researcher Sustainability Economics and Waste

CSIR

Dr. Vibha Dhawan

Director-General

TERI

Inge Neven

CEO

VITO

Dr. Paulo Gadelha

former President of Fiocruz

Coordinator of the Fiocruz Strategy for 2030 Agenda

Dietrich Van der Weken

General Manager G-STIC

VITO

Confirmed Top experts (alphabetically)

Prof. Sonja Venter

Program Director

Agricultural Research Council (ARC)

Sam Mulawa

Program Manager, Digital Financial Services

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) (Sierra Leone)

Luyolo Mabhali

Executive Manager: Future Production: Manufacturing

CSIR

Maarten Pelgrims

International Programme & Strategy Coordinator

VITO

Shannon Bernhardt

Environmental & Social Specialist

African Risk Capacity (ARC) (South Africa)

Dr. Mutsa Takundwa

Senior Researcher

CSIR

Dr. Jennifer Molwantwa

Chief Executive Officer

Water Research Commission

Caroline Cerruti

Lead Financial Sector Specialist, Southern Africa Region (South Africa)

World Bank

Dr. Ereck Chakauya

Network Manager of the African Union Development Agency NEPAD

Southern Africa Network for Biosciences (AUDA NEPAD SANBio)

Dr. Diego J. Rodriguez

Lead Water Economist

Eastern and Southern Africa Office, The World Bank

Heather Martin

Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance Principal

Global Parametrics / Celsius Pro Group

Dr. Janine Scholefield

Research Group Leader: Bioengineering and Integrated Genomics

CSIR

Dr. Nico Elema

Director

Centre for Collaboration in Africa, Stellenbosch University

Andries Mahlase

Executive Head of Operations

Land Bank Insurance Company (South Africa)

Olivier Rogier

Technical Project Manager

Belgian Red Cross - Flanders

Dr. Nick Rahier

Postdoctoral Research Associate in Anthropology

Social and Cultural Anthropology, KU Leuven; Centre for Anthropological Research on Affect and Materiality (CARAM), UGhent University

Dr. Sofie Ignoul

Business & Relationship developer Electrical Storage

VITO

Dr. Marie Smith

Senior Researcher

CSIR

Dr. Stijn Vranckx

Senior Researcher

VITO

Jo Dean

Board member & Spokesperson

South African Energy Storage Association (SAESA)

Amy Pieterse

Senior Researcher

CSIR

Dr. Hamid Y. Hassen

Researcher

VITO

Prof. Ben Bladergroen

Coordinator National Flagship Programme on Energy Storage & Head Energy Storage Innovation Laboratory

University of Western Cape, South Africa

Refiloe Mokoena

Senior Researcher

CSIR

Prof. Ludo Diels

Senior Advisor to VITO

Antwerp University

Dr. Nuno Ibra Remane

Executive Director

DIMSUR

Dr. Jeroen Büscher

Roadmap Responsible Optimal Management of Electrical energy Storage

VITO/EnergyVille

Dr. Rachel Chikwamba

Group Executive CSIR Advanced Chemistry and Life Sciences

CSIR

Dr. Ben Durham

Chief Director: Bio‑Innovation

Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, South Africa

Dr. Aloys Mosima Osano

Senior Lecturer, Chemistry

Maasai Mara University

Dr. Lieve Fransen

Senior Policy Advisor Social Infrastructure Investment

PlusValue

Dr. Jane Malony

Executive Director

Paper Manufacturers Association, South Africa

Prof. Yan Lin

Professor, Emerging Solid Waste High-Value Recycling Research Center

Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Dr. Luiz Augusto Galvão

Senior Researcher

Fiocruz

Dr. Tshepo Mangoele

Founder & CEO Lignin-Organic Ltd.

Lignin-Organic Ltd., South Africa

Musarrat Safi

Scientist Mineralogy

Council for Geoscience

Dr. Charles Akataobi Michael

Senior Technical Officer

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC)

Prof. Zhengxiao Guo

Joint-faculty Chair Professor of Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering

University of Hong Kong

Nico Kroese

Manager within the Research Dept of SAWS, responsible for overseeing remote sensing and numerical weather prediction research activities

South African Weather Service (SAWS)

Prof. Paulo Lotufo

Professor of Public Health

University of São Paulo, Brazil

Dr. Yingchuan Zhang

Researcher

University of Hong Kong

Doris Wangari

Senior Programme Officer, Science Innovation, Translation & Entrepreneurship (SITE)

Science for Africa Foundation (SFA Foundation)

Mphahlela Thaba

Impact Area Manager, Technology for Special Operations

CSIR

Dr. Robin J. White

Technology Innovation Manager & Senior Lead Scientist for H2 & CO2

Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)

Thandi Mgwebi

Group Executive Business Advancement

National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF)

Dr. Mike Masiapato

CEO and Commissioner

Border Management Authority

Leen Govaerts

Director Water & Energy Transition

VITO

Nicole Arbour

Executive Director

Belmont Forum

Dr. Mthobisi Clyde Zondi

CEO and Executive Chair

Sandock Austral Group Holdings

Cyrus Karingithi

Geothermal Development Director

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI)

Anshuman

Director Water Resources

TERI

Samson Bel-Aube Nougbodohoue

Head of Energy Information System & Statistics Division at African Energy Commission

The African Energy Commission (AFREC)

Dr. Mamela Luthuli

CEO

TakeNoteIT (Pty) Ltd

Qasir Iqbal

Researcher, Geothermal Energy and Energy Conservation Technology Research Center

Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Prof. Usha Iyer-Raniga

Principal Researcher

RMIT University, Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction

Neil Cole

Financing Manager

Just Energy Transition (JET) project

Dr. Moses Khanyile

Director

Defence Artificial Intelligence Research Unit (DAIRU)

Yishu Qiu

Associate Researcher, Geothermal Energy and Energy Conservation Technology Research Center

Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Dr. Jeremy Gibberd

Chief Researcher

CSIR

Dr. Ruchi Gupta

Senior R&D Energy and Climate Strategy

VITO

Sandile Ndlovu

Executive Chair

Aerospace and Defence Industry Association (AMD)

Frederik Ragé

Chief Operational Officer

Turbulent Hydro

Dr. Taahira Goga

Researcher Smart Places

CSIR

Ayanda Sithole

Education and project management leader

VVOB

Malese Ndlovu

Portfolio Manager

Technology Innovation Agency

Dr. Luyanda Ndlela

Researcher

CSIR

Aubrey Muswema

Researcher Smart Places

CSIR

Lien Bakelants

Project manager 

Nazka Mapps

Edwin Magidimisha

Research Group Leader, Digital Optronics Research - PhD Candidate, Remote Sensing

CSIR

Dr. Rembu Magoba

Water Centre Manager

CSIR

Llewellyn van Wyk

Private sector consultant

Prof. Heila Lotz-Sisitka 

Distinguished professor Environmental Learning Research Centre

Rhodes University 

Sujo Mulamattathil

Managing Director

Threeframes/Sparcx

Dr. Mark Napier

Research Group Leader Housing and Urban Studies

CSIR

Wetu Memela

Project Coordinator

Planact

Prof. Alexander Turra

Professor and UNESCO Chair on Ocean Sustainability

University of São Paulo, Brazil

Marc Sherratt

Managing Director

Marc Sherratt Sustainability Architects (MSSA)

Dr. Dores Cirne

Researcher & Project Lead Circular Water Technologies

VITO

Dr. Wim Degrave

Coordinator Program for Technological Development of Health Products

Fiocruz

Dr. Koen De Ridder

Principal Researcher

VITO

Dr. Jacob Bossaer

CEO

BOSAQ

Dr. Juliet Hermes

Professor and oceanographer

University of Cape Town, South Africa

Peta de Jager

Independent Researcher

Dr. Yohannes Aemro

Researcher

VITO/EnergyVille

Grietus Mulder

Researcher

VITO

Prof. Ida Breed

Independent Principal Researcher

University of Pretoria

Shukuru Tweve

Good Food for Cities (GF4C) Country Program Coordinator &Coffee Cocoa Country Representative

RIKOLTO

Dr. Lorren Haywood

Senior Researcher, Sustainability Economics and Waste

CSIR

Dr. Jente Broeckx

International business development and project manager

VITO

Dr. Ghaneshree Moonsamy

Principal Researcher

CSIR

Dr. Karen Surridge

Project Manager Renewables and Cleaner Fossil Fuels

SANEDI

Stijn Vermoote

Head User Outreach and Engagement Section

European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)

Dr. Priyen Pillay

Senior Researcher

CSIR

Dr. Mohau Mateyisi

Senior researcher

CSIR

Anieke Swanepoel

Researcher

CSIR

Prof. Grant Stentiford

Chief Scientist

Centre of Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), UK

Ian Shynkarenko

Agricultural Risk Manager, International Business Development

VITO

Dr. Maya Mathew

Principal Researcher

CSIR

Prof. Moses Cho

Chief Researcher

CSIR

Roman Shynkarenko

Agricultural Risk Manager, International agricultural insurance and disaster risk management expert

AgroInsurance International Pty Ltd (Australia)

Dr. Vincent Ojijo

Principal Researcher and Research Group Leader: Advanced Polymer Composites

CSIR

Paul Campling

International Business Development

Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek (VITO)

Fangming Jiang

Scientific Coordinator

Laboratory of Advanced Energy Systems, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)

Dr. Danielly Magalhães

Senior Project Director, Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education

Columbia University

Carlo Mol

Project Manager Energy Technology

VITO/EnergyVille

Dr. Nthabiseng Motete

Executive Cluster Manager: Advanced Agriculture and Food

CSIR

José Luís Moutinho

Chief Business and Network Developer

OceanQuest

Dr. Jabu Mtsweni

Chief researcher & Information and Cybersecurity Research Centre Manager

CSIR

Kay Tuschen

Head of Climate Resilience Solutions

Celsius Pro Group

Katrien Van Hooydonk

Project Lead Strategic Partnerships and Internationalisation Water4All

VITO

Dr. Coralie Van Reenen

Research Group Leader

CSIR

Dr. Nick Rahier

Postdoctoral Research Associate in Anthropology

Social and Cultural Anthropology, KU Leuven; Centre for Anthropological Research on Affect and Materiality (CARAM), UGhent University

Meet Nick Rahier during this session

Health

Advancing environmental health in Africa: the role of biological and air quality monitoring

October 9, 2025 -

Grietus Mulder

Researcher

VITO

Meet Grietus Mulder during these sessions

Circular Economy

Unlocking circularity in renewable energy solutions

October 9, 2025 -

Water

Energy

Climate

Decentralised Water-Energy solutions for local sustainability – experiences and best practices

October 9, 2025 -

Prof. Alexander Turra

Professor and UNESCO Chair on Ocean Sustainability

University of São Paulo, Brazil

Meet Alexander Turra during these sessions

Health

Blue One Health, Climate, Health and Sustainability: integrating ocean and coastal systems into the 2030 Agenda

October 9, 2025 -

Health

Health and the 2030 Agenda: strengthening global cooperation for health and sustainable development

October 8, 2025 -

Mphahlela Thaba

Impact Area Manager, Technology for Special Operations

CSIR

Meet Mphahlela Thaba during these sessions

Safety & Security

Building national resilience through home-grown technological innovations for safety and security

October 8, 2025 -

Safety & Security

Building national resilience through home-grown technological innovations for safety and security

October 8, 2025 -

Dr. Sofie Ignoul

Business & Relationship developer Electrical Storage

VITO

Meet Sofie Ignoul during these sessions

Energy

Energy storage as an enabler to the South African energy transition

October 9, 2025 -

Energy

Energy storage as an enabler to the South African energy transition

October 9, 2025 -

Ian Shynkarenko

Agricultural Risk Manager, International Business Development

VITO

Meet Ian Shynkarenko during these sessions

Food & Agriculture

Climate

Technology applications in agricultural insurance and disaster risk management for climate risks and natural catastrophes

October 9, 2025 -

Food & Agriculture

Climate

Technology applications in agricultural insurance and disaster risk management for climate risks and natural catastrophes

October 9, 2025 -

Dr. Jente Broeckx

International business development and project manager

VITO

Meet Jente Broeckx during these sessions

Food & Agriculture

Health

Climate

Early warning systems and extreme climate impacts

October 9, 2025 -

Food & Agriculture

Health

Climate

Early warning systems and extreme climate impacts

October 9, 2025 -

Prof. Suzan Oelofse

Principal Researcher Sustainability Economics and Waste

CSIR

Meet Suzan Oelofse during these sessions

Circular Economy

Unlocking circularity in renewable energy solutions

October 9, 2025 -

Circular Economy

Circular economy: creating liveable, resilient, circular cities

October 9, 2025 -

Circular Economy

Circular economy: creating liveable, resilient, circular cities

October 9, 2025 -

Dr. Nthabiseng Motete

Executive Cluster Manager: Advanced Agriculture and Food

CSIR

Meet Nthabiseng Motete during these sessions

Climate

Food & Agriculture

Circular Economy

Bioeconomy and sustainable development: preparing for G20 and COP30

October 8, 2025 -

Food & Agriculture

Strengthened agricultural productivity and resilient food systems

October 8, 2025 -

Dr. Jabu Mtsweni

Chief researcher & Information and Cybersecurity Research Centre Manager

CSIR

Meet Jabu Mtsweni during these sessions

Safety & Security

Leveraging technology and innovation for strategic safety, security, and resilience in South Africa

October 8, 2025 -

Safety & Security

Leveraging technology and innovation for strategic safety, security, and resilience in South Africa

October 8, 2025 -

Dr. Ousmane Ndiaye

Director General

African Center of Meteorogical Application for Development (ACMAD)

Meet Ousmane Ndiaye during this session

Food & Agriculture

Health

Climate

Early warning systems and extreme climate impacts

October 9, 2025 -

Prof. Luiz Paulo Assad

Professor

University of Rio de Janeiro

Dr Luiz Paulo Assad holds a degree in Oceanography from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (1996), a master's degree in Physical Oceanography from the University of São Paulo (2000) and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute of Graduate Studies and Engineering Research (2006). He is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Meteorology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and also a permanent professor in the Graduate Program in Meteorology of the aforementioned department.

Researcher and technical coordinator of the Environmental Modelling Centre of the Laboratory of Computational Methods in Engineering (COPPE) and collaborating professor in the Civil Engineering Program at COPPE. He has experience in the area of Physical Oceanography, with an emphasis on computational ocean modelling, working mainly on the following topics: global and regional computational ocean modelling, climate modelling, ocean-atmosphere interaction processes, characterization and analysis of meteorological, oceanographic and environmental data, Renewable Marine Resources and sustainability.

Meet Luiz Paulo Assad during these sessions

Health

Blue One Health, Climate, Health and Sustainability: integrating ocean and coastal systems into the 2030 Agenda

October 9, 2025 -

Health

Building climate-resilient health systems: equity, innovation, and the 2030 Agenda

October 8, 2025 -

Paul Campling

International Business Development

Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek (VITO)

Dr. Paul Campling is a hydrologist, specialised in the domain of land and water management and policy assessment. He is currently International Business Development Manager at VITO (Flemish Institute for Technological Research) coordinating the acquisition and management of European environmental projects. Previously he worked as a Project Manager at the European Environment Agency (Copenhagen) coordinating the IRENA project to develop and report on agri-environmental indicators for the European Union. He also spent 5 years in Nigeria working on a research project concerned with water resources development, for which he completed his PhD. In the last 25 years he has managed several environmental projects addressing different environmental concerns for the European Space Agency (flood monitoring), DG Eurostat (landscape indicators), the Joint Research Centre (permanent grasslands, nitrogen balances), and DG ENV (cost benefit analysis of the Water Framework Directive, alternative water supplies, market-based instruments for reducing air pollution, soil organic matter – best practices and tradeoffs). Paul was coordinator of the Pavitra Ganga project in India that demonstrated improved solutions for waste water treatment, resource recovery (energy and materials) and smart water management (sensors and ICT). Paul is an expert in European environmental policy. Paul originates from the United Kingdom but is now also a Belgian national.

Dr. Paulo Gadelha

former President of Fiocruz

Coordinator of the Fiocruz Strategy for 2030 Agenda

Dr Paulo Gadelha (M.D.) is a senior Brazilian researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), who is actively involved in debates on the 2030 Agenda and its implications for public health. He was a member of the UN 10-Member Group of High-Level Representatives from 2016 to 2020, and president of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in Brazil from 2009 to 2016. He currently coordinates the implementation of the Fiocruz Strategy for the 2030 Agenda (EFA 2030/Fiocruz), actively contributing to federal planning and facilitating the territorialisation of the SDGs at local level.

Meet Paulo Gadelha during these sessions

Health

Blue One Health, Climate, Health and Sustainability: integrating ocean and coastal systems into the 2030 Agenda

October 9, 2025 -

A Decade of Impact: Celebrating 10 years of G-STIC

October 8, 2025 -

Health

Health and the 2030 Agenda: strengthening global cooperation for health and sustainable development

October 8, 2025 -

Inge Neven

CEO

VITO

Meet Inge Neven during these sessions

Water

Water at the core of Africa’s pathway towards resilience: inspiring innovations that tackle actual and future challenges

October 8, 2025 -

High Level Opening Session

October 8, 2025 -

A Decade of Impact: Celebrating 10 years of G-STIC

October 8, 2025 -