Meet our team
Prof Wikus van Niekerk
Acting Director
Prof Wikus van Niekerk
Prof Wikus van Niekerk is the Dean of Engineering at Stellenbosch University. He holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and an Executive MBA from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town.
He completed his PhD on the active control of transient noise transmission in 1994. After holding the Sasol Chair in Vehicle Engineering at the University of Pretoria he moved to Stellenbosch University in January 2000. At Stellenbosch he has been Head of the Mechanics Division, Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Institute for Thermodynamics and Mechanics. He was the founding Director of the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies and played a leading role to establish research, education and training programmes in renewable energy and influence funding and policy priorities on the national level. He has a keen interest in solar and ocean energy. As Dean of the Faculty of Engineering he is responsible for six ECSA accredited engineering programmes with 3 000 undergraduate and 1 000 postgraduate students.
Prof van Niekerk is a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South African and has been practising as a consultant to industry for 25 years. He is regularly consulted by industry on a variety of areas including renewable energy systems and technology; solar, wind and ocean energy; and energy policy and research strategy. He has published more than 35 articles in refereed international journals and presented many papers at international conferences.
Prof Van Niekerk is an honorary fellow of the South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering and a fellow of the South African Academy of Engineering and the Southern African Acoustics Institute. He is a member of the ASME and SESSA, and a Board Member of the South African Academy of Engineering and the Fraunhofer Chile Research Center for Solar Energy Technologies. He is also a Senior Advisor of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in Africa.
In 2014 Prof Van Niekerk received the SANEA Energy Award.
Prof Bernard Bekker
Associate Director / SARChI chair in Power Systems Simulation
Prof Bernard Bekker
Prof Bernard Bekker originally trained as an electronic engineer, working in banking as a systems and network analyst, before redirecting his career towards his two passions: green building and renewable energy. In 2017, after various roles within the solar PV and power electronics industries, he joined Stellenbosch University. His research focuses on power system planning and operation, specifically related to the increasing prevalence of grid-connected distributed storage and generation. He holds the NRF SARChI chair in Power Systems Simulation and is a registered professional engineer with ECSA.
Prof Craig McGregor
Associate Director
Associate Professor Craig McGregor
Prof McGregor obtained his PhD in Reactor Optimisation from the University of the Witwatersrand. He is an experienced Principal Process Engineer, and an award-winning patent holder and author. He worked at Sasol for over 20 years where he concentrated on developing and commercialising renewable, sustainable and solar thermal technologies in order to increase profitability and reduce waste. He also led the development of a solar thermal collector, the Stellio heliostat, a career highlight. He left industry to join Stellenbosch University as an Associate Professor in the thermofluids division of the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering. He also serves as Director of the Solar Thermal Research Group (STREG) in the department. At CRSES, his focus is mainly on green hydrogen technologies.
Associate Professor Neill Goosen
Director, ARUA
Dr Neill Goosen
Dr Neill Goosen completed all his studies at Stellenbosch University and holds a BEng., MSc.Eng. and PhD in Chemical Engineering. At CRSES, he has assumed the Directorship of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Centre of Excellence in Energy. ARUA is an alliance of 16 research-focussed African Universities that have realised the need to increase the quantity and quality of research emanating from the continent. Stellenbosch University hosts the Centre of Excellence in Energy, which aims to investigate how to best integrate renewable energy into African food systems and value chains in order to address the large climate impact of agriculture, and to increase yields and reduce post-harvest losses of agricultural produce. The Centre will do collaborative research with various African partner universities (both ARUA and non-ARUA universities), and also act as a platform to bring together multidisciplinary teams to address some of the most difficult energy-related developmental problems in Africa.
Dr Munyaradzi Justice Chihota
Senior Engineer
Dr Munyaradzi Justice Chihota
Dr Chihota received his B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Cape Town, in 2011, 2015, and 2019, respectively. From 2019 to 2020, he worked as a Research Engineer with the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies (CRSES), Stellenbosch, South Africa. Since 2020, he has been a Post-doctoral Fellow with the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at Stellenbosch University, His research interests include distribution network planning using probabilistic techniques, load modelling and customer characterization, distributed energy resource integration, and autonomous control of inverter-based energy resources. Dr Chihota serves on the working group and committee of the South African Bureau of Standards for the SANS 507 standard, which deals with the design of low voltage networks in South Africa. He is also a member of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers in the Load Research Chapter.
Dr Richmore Kaseke
Project Manager & Senior Research Engineer
Dr Richmore Kaseke
Dr Richmore Kaseke holds a PhD in Physics from University of Fort Hare. He was a founding member of the Measurement and Verification (M&V) Team at the University of Fort Hare in 2005 and worked as an M&V Team Technician since then. He was later promoted in 2007 to M&V Team Senior Engineer, a position he held till 2012. The role included assessment of the feasibility of Energy Management Opportunities (EMO’s), develop and plan methodologies for project assessment. He was then appointed from 2012 to 2020 as Measurement and Verification Researcher in the Fort Hare Institute of Technology. He has over 14 years of experience in Eskom IDM’s Measurement and Verification of energy savings (energy audits) in residential, commercial and industrial energy use sectors. He has over eight years of human capital and project management experience. He is now holding the position of Senior Research Engineer (Project Manager) at CRSES. A Certified Energy Manager and Certified Measurement and Verification Professional, Dr Kaseke is a seasoned energy professional with great enthusiasm and unquenchable thirst to achieve successful design, implementation, commissioning and performance evaluation of energy projects.
Monique le Roux
Chief Engineer
Monique le Roux
Monique le Roux started her career with Eskom in Network Operations and was responsible for grid management before being appointed as a Senior Engineer in Network Planning, where she was responsible for the planning and grid connection of new renewable energy plants on the Eskom network. Monique also worked in the private sector for several years, where she oversaw the grid planning and grid connection of over 1GW of new-generation plant, before joining the CSIR in 2020. Her research at the CSIR was focused on national grid planning and grid stability with the introduction of large-scale renewable energy. She also worked closely with various municipalities and government entities to ensure future energy security in South Africa. She holds a BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Stellenbosch University, a MSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cape Town and is a registered professional engineer. She joined the CRSES in 2023 as a Chief Engineer.
Donald Fitzgerald
Research Engineer
Donald Fitzgerald
Don holds a BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the latter of which focused on the design of a supersonic turbine running in the first stage of a liquid-propellant rocket engine turbopump. He began working for the CRSES in 2017 as part of an NRF-DST internship programme, after which he was hired by the Centre as a research engineer focusing on solar PV, radiometric data collection and various smaller consulting based projects. Don also acts as a supervisor for final year Mechanical Engineering students and interns at the CRSES.
Storm Morison
Research Engineer
Storm Morison
Storm obtained a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Stellenbosch University, where her postgraduate research focused on wastewater treatment, renewable energy, resource recovery, and integrated waste management. Her strong interest in the applications of process design, modeling, and optimization has led her to develop innovative solutions for a range of engineering problems, with a particular passion for the renewable energy sector and bolstering energy security in South Africa. Her expertise in this field has enabled her to contribute to several high-profile projects, including the design and optimization of large-scale energy systems.
Simnikiwe Gulwa
Junior Research Engineer
Simnikiwe Gulwa
Simnikiwe is a junior engineer at CRSES. He holds a National Diploma in Electrical Engineering (light current) from Nelson Mandela University as well as a Chemical Engineering Diploma from the University of Johannesburg. He currently coordinates the schools programme at CRSES.
Lavheleslani Maluleke
Junior Engineer
Lavheleslani Maluleke
Lavhelesani Maluleke holds a BEng degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stellenbosch University and a National Diploma In Mechanical Engineering from Cape Peninsula University of Technology. His focus at CRSES is low temperature solar thermal technologies.
Sedzani Ratsibi
Project Commercialisation Manager
Sedzani Ratsibi
Sedzani holds a Bachelor‘s degree in administration from the University of Venda and an MBA from the Regent Business school. She has certificates in project administration and compliance management from Getsmarter UCT and strategic management and knowledge management from UNISA. She recently completed a programme in advanced strategic management from UNISA School of Business Leadership. She has shadowed the ICT senior manager for the past five years, gaining a good understanding of cross-functional business activities such as IT business analysis, IT reporting and facilitation of IT risk assessments, maintaining IT risk register and risk reporting.
Elmien Lovell
Administrative & Financial Officer
Elmien Lovell
Elmien graduated at Cape Peninsula University of Technology with BTECH: Business Admin and after that PGDIP in Labour Law at University of the Western Cape. She successfully completed her MPhil in Labour Law in August 2022 at University of the Western Cape. She has been with Stellenbosch University for almost 17 years, currently working as the Senior Administrative and Financial Officer for CRSES. Prior to that, she worked in the private sector.
Sandelize Heydenrycht
Receptionist & Administrative Assistant
Sandelize Heydenrycht
Sandelize has been with the centre for 10 years and holds a National Diploma in Management Assistant from Boland College Stellenbosch. Further studies include completed certification in NQF level 3 & NQF level 4 Certificates in AAT Accounting Technician and she is currently completing level 5. She is our receptionist and assistant to the Director and Associate Director of CRSES.
Tshilidzi Charmain Ligege
Assistant Project Administrative Officer
Tshilidzi Charmain Ligege
Tshilidzi holds a Bachelor of Science Hons in Biochemistry and Microbiology from University of Venda as well as a Post graduate Diploma in Project Management from Regent Business School. She previously worked as a Research Assistant at University of Venda and as a Research Technologist at South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). At CRSES her focus is project management at a technology deployment site in Limpopo.
Inge-Rae Scholtz
Communications, Marketing and Events Coordinator
Inge-Rae Scholtz
Inge-Rae Scholtz is a Communications, Marketing and Events Coordinator at Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies. She holds a National Secretarial Diploma (Law) from Boland College and has completed the AAT Certificate: Accounting Technician levels 3 and 4. She aims to further her studies in the near future.
Fhatuwani Mulaudzi
Assistant Marketing and Communications Officer
Fhatuwani Mulaudzi
Fhatuwani Mulaudzi is an Assistant Marketing and Communications Officer at the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies, Stellenbosch University. She has previously worked at a Radio station, News channel, a government department, and an Online news site. She holds a Baccalaureus Technologiae in Journalism, from the Tshwane University of Technology.
Dr. Jafaru Egieya
Postdoctoral Fellow – ARUA
Dr. Jafaru Egieya
Jafaru has a doctorate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, with research expertise bordering on the Supply Chain Optimization of Alternative Energy generation. He also possesses a Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering both obtained from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He has over five years of experience working as a Scientific Officer with the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, Abuja FCT, Nigeria, and has previous stints working as a Business Development Analyst at a light manufacturing firm in Nigeria. His current research focuses on assessing the trade-offs and synergies in the water-energy-food nexus within the African context.
Yumna Parker
Centre Manager of the ARUA Centre of Excellence in Energy
Yumna Parker
Yumna holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Earth Science as well as a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development Management and Planning from Stellenbosch University. The latter research concerned energy-water nexus models using System Dynamics Modelling techniques.
Jainy Thomas
Project Manager
Jainy Thomas
Jainy Thomas holds a B. Eng. Electronic and communication Engineering from Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli, India. She also holds certificates in Program in Project Management and Advanced Program in Project Management from the University of Pretoria that are PMBOK and PMI certified, as well as a Financial Management Business certificate. She has over 15 years work experience at Eskom specialising in the project management of power projects (Transmission Asset Management & Execution) as a Senior Engineer. She specialises in stakeholder management, quality management and logistics. At CRSES she will be focusing on the Department of Science and Innovation’s project relevant to the deployment of Green Hydrogen Technologies.
