Pan Africa Chemistry Network Congress 2024

Susan Bourne is the Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Cape Town, and an Associate Editor of CrystEngComm. Her PhD, obtained at the University of Cape Town, was a study of organic inclusion compounds undertaken under the supervision of Luigi Nassimbeni. After a postdoctoral period in Texas, USA, she joined the Chemistry Department at the University of Cape Town and rose through the ranks to become full Professor in 2008. Her research interests include the application of physicochemical methods to inclusion compounds and crystal engineering of metal-organic materials, all with the aim of correlating solid state structure with physical properties and reactivity. She has served as Head of Department, Deputy Dean, and as interim Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Cape Town. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. In 2019 she was the recipient of the IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering award. In 2023 she was elected to the executive committee of the International Union of Crystallography.

Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Director of the Molecular Nanotechnology Lab. President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) from 2022-23.
Member of the World Economic Forum. Since 2012, Prof García-Martínez has contributed to the identification of the World Economic Forum's Top Ten Emerging Technologies and its annual report, which is presented to government and global business leaders in Davos.
His contributions to nanotechnology have unlocked the potential of heterogeneous catalysts for the conversion of bulky molecules by introducing controlled intracrystalline mesopositivity. This technology is now widely used in academic laboratories and chemical companies around the world, saving hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 per year by reducing the amount of waste and coke that would otherwise be burned to produce green gas emissions in key industrial processes ranging from biomass conversion to catalytic cracking. He is also a renowned entrepreneur. As founder of Rive Technology, the company that commercialises his catalysts, he started, grew, and recently sold this business to Grace, the largest catalyst manufacturer.
His contributions to catalysis, energy, and chemistry have been recognised with some of the most prestigious awards, including 1) Young Global Leader, 2009 - World Economic Forum, 2) Innovator of the Year, 2007 - MIT, 3) Member of the Round Table of Top Entrepreneurs, 2008 - European Commission, 4) Emerging Researcher Award, 2015 and Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success, 2018 - American Chemical Society, 5) Premio Rey Jaime I, 2014, 6) Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2024 and Fellow of the American Chemical Society, 2021, and the International Science Council 2023, and 7) Member of the Council of Emerging Technologies - World Economic Forum, 8) National Research Award, 2023.

Prof. Clare P. Grey is a Royal Society Research Professor, Geoffrey Moorhouse-Gibson Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Pembroke College Cambridge. She received a BA and D. Phil. (1991) in Chemistry from the University of Oxford. She joined the faculty at Stony Brook University (SBU) as an Assistant (1994), Associate (1997) and then Full Professor (2001-2015).  She moved to Cambridge in 2009, maintaining an adjunct position at SBU.  She was Director of the Northeastern Chemical Energy Storage Centre, a US Department of Energy, Energy Frontier Research Centre, (2009-2010) and then Associate Director (2011-2014). She is currently Director of the EPSRC Centre for Advanced Materials for Integrated Energy Systems (CAM-IES). She is Co-founder of Nyobolt, a battery fast charging company. Her current research interests include the use of solid-state NMR and diffraction-based methods to determine structure-function relationships in materials for energy storage, conversion and carbon capture.  Recent honours and awards include the Hughes Medal, Royal Society (2020), the Körber European Science Prize (2021) and the ACS Central Science Disruptors & Innovators Prize (2022).

Prof. Josphat Matasyoh is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at Egerton University. He did his PhD studies at the University of Tuebingen in Germany from 1992 to 1996 and postdoctoral studies at the University of Goettingen and Technical University of Berlin between 2009 and 2011 sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He was the Humboldt Ambassador Scientist in Kenya from 2016 to 2021. His research interests include the isolation of bioactive molecules from plants and tropical fungi. He has published over 90 publications in peer-reviewed journals, supervised over 30 postgraduate students and is involved in several local and international research collaborations.

Robert Mokaya received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Nairobi in 1988 and was awarded his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1992. Following a Research Fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was awarded an EPSRC Advanced Fellowship in 1996. Mokaya joined the School of Chemistry at the University of Nottingham as a lecturer in Materials Chemistry in 2000 and progressed to Professor of Materials Chemistry (2008) and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Global Engagement (2019 - 2024). He recently started the role of Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sheffield.
Robert is President-Elect of the Royal Society of Chemistry for the period 2024 – 2026 and will be President in 2026 to 2028. He is a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holder (2017- 2022), was appointed OBE in 2022 for services to the Chemical Sciences and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2023.
His research interests are on the design, synthesis and characterisation of new forms of sustainable porous materials and the study of their structure-property relations. The research involves exploring fundamentally new synthesis methods that are simpler, cheaper, and more efficient and offer valorisation routes to materials with optimised properties for targeted sustainable energy applications.

Prof. Rufus Sha’Ato is a Professor of Chemistry at Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (formerly Federal University of Agriculture), Makurdi, Nigeria. He holds a B.Sc. from Ahmadu Bello University, as well as an M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Ibadan. Prof. Sha’Ato's expertise spans analytical and environmental chemistry, with a focus on the fate and transport of chemical pollutants, waste management, and sustainable environmental practices. His extensive research includes the physical chemistry of pollutant transformation and adsorption, solid waste management, and low-tech water treatment systems. Prof. Sha’Ato leads a team in developing green agrochemical technologies, such as slow-release formulations of herbicides using nanomaterials. His work aims to protect soil and water resources and assess human exposure risks, contributing to environmental sustainability and public health. Prof. Sha’Ato has supervised over 30 Ph.D. and 40 M.Sc. students, and has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles. He is an active executive member and the current President of the Chemical Society of Nigeria. Additionally, he coordinates the African Network for the Chemical Analysis of Pesticides. Prof. Sha’Ato’s dedication to chemistry and environmental management, coupled with his involvement in public relations and curriculum development, highlights his multifaceted contributions to science and education.