Nozipho Nonsikelelo Gumbi
Nozipho Gumbi is a PhD student in the fields of nano-science and nanotechnology at Unisa, where she is also a Grow Your Own Timber candidate. The Grow Your Own Timber project enables the recruitment of young postgraduate academics into the university structures. Gumbi obtained an MSc in nano-science with distinction from the University of Johannesburg.
In June Gumbi represented South Africa in the 2016 FameLab International Finals at the Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK, after winning the South African leg of the competition at the Going Global Conference in Cape Town. Gumbi finished in the top 10 of the 27 finalists, each from a different country. Her pitch at the Science Festival was about carbon nanomaterials and their use in water filtration. She explained how recent technological advances in controlling the structure of carbon nanomaterials could be applied in water filtration, especially for the removal of undesirable micro-pollutants via membrane nanofiltration.
Gumbi is passionate about contributing to economic, social and environmental development through her research. She has won several prestigious awards, including Best Speaker Award in the 2014 NanoAfrica Conference. She has done several radio and television interviews, on Metro FM, Ukhozi FM, Ligwalagwala FM, Channel Africa and eNCA. This year she was recognised by the Mail & Guardian in its 200 Young South Africans supplement.
She is advancing her PhD through Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.