Professor Cristina Trois
Professor Cristina Trois is a professor of environmental engineering and the dean of the school of engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). She holds a PhD in environmental and geo-engineering from the University of Cagliari, Italy.
Her main research objective is to develop effective solutions to environmental problems and promote sustainable development. Her research focus has evolved from the control, management and treatment of landfill emissions to the development of zero-waste models to assist local authorities in decision-making about the effective and innovative use of waste as a resource. Her research outputs were used as a feasibility framework for the first landfill-gas-to-electricity Clean Development Mechanism project in Africa, sponsored by the World Bank, which allows the Durban municipality to produce 10 MW of electricity from waste.
An important milestone for Trois was the creation, with two colleagues, of the Centre for Research in Environmental, Coastal and Hydrological Engineering at UKZN in 2001.
She has established a strong multidisciplinary research group at UKZN, and is currently supervising 10 PhD and eight MSc engineering students, and mentoring two postdoctoral fellows. She has successfully supervised 11 PhDs and 34 MSc students. Seven of the local MSc engineering students graduated cum laude. Trois has also supervised five exchange students from Cambridge, Imperial College and Dresden universities.
With an NRF C2 rating, Trois is the author of over 80 peer-reviewed publications (42 in top international peer-reviewed journals), four book chapters and 42 peer-reviewed conference papers. She is on the editorial panel of the Waste Management Journal and the Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, as well as being a reviewer for several international and local journals and conferences.
A professional engineer, registered with the Engineering Council of Italy since 1998, Trois is a Fellow of the South African Academy of Engineers and the Royal Society of South Africa. She is an active member of the Global Engineering Deans Council, the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa, and is on the managing board of the International Waste Working Group. She plays crucial roles in various international waste, resource management and sustainable development bodies and projects.
Trois has broken glass ceilings many times, including when she became the first woman professor and then the first dean of engineering at UKZN. She has also initiated the university’s “Engineering is a Girl Thing”, a programme to attract more female students into engineering and science.