Meet our team
Prof Cristina Trois
Director
Prof Cristina Trois
Prof. Cristina Trois is a director at the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies (CRSES), Stellenbosch University. She is also the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI)/National Research Foundation (NRF) South African Research Chair in Waste and Climate Change (Tier 1) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, since 2018. Full Professor in Environmental Engineering, she served as Dean of the School of Engineering at UKZN from 2012 to 2018, and Head of Department/Chair of Civil Engineering, Land Surveying and Construction Management from 2008 to 2012. Since January 2022, she serves as Acting Director of the (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) WASH R&D Centre at UKZN.
She holds a degree in Environmental Engineering (summa cum laude) and a PhD in Geo and Environmental Engineering from the University of Cagliari, Italy. Prof. Trois is a C1-rated researcher (Internationally recognized) with the National Research Foundation (NRF) and a Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of Italy.
Her main fields of expertise are: Environmental and Civil Engineering, Waste Management and Climate Change, Sustainable Cities, Waste and Resources Management, Bioenergy, Green and bio-Hydrogen, Waste to Energy, Biogas, Water/Wastewater Engineering, Systems Modelling and Decision-support tools, Renewable Energy from waste and GHGs control from zero waste in Africa and developing countries, Circular Economy.
She developed and coordinated the Master Programme in Environmental Engineering (2001-2011) and the first Master Programme in Waste and Resources Management in South Africa (2018 to date). She has graduated over 120 postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Prof Trois is author of over 130 peer-reviewed publications in ISI-rated journals, conference proceedings, including chapters in books and mono-series. Series Editor for Springer (Nature) for the Series “Waste as a Resource”, Co-editor of the book “Waste Management in Developing Countries” for Springer (Nature), she is in the editorial/review panel of several leading ISI Scientific Journals and actively collaborates with recognised national and international Institutions.
Chair of the joint secretariat for the Southern Africa Region of the UN-IPLA Programme (International Partnership for advancing waste management services of local authorities) and the IWWG (International Waste Working Group), she is Fellow of the Global Engineering Dean’s Council and active member of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies. She is also co-PI in two communities of practice funded by the NRF and the Presidential Commission for Climate Change: CoP Waste and Resources Management (Waste to Value) with UCT, UWC and UKZN and CoP “Climate Change Research in Collaboration with Society” with UCT and WITS.
Prof. Trois has over 25 years of international experience in Environmental Sanitary Engineering and has been the principal investigator as well as the project coordinator of many multi-million Rand feasibility and RDI waste and resources management projects in South Africa, Africa and around the world. She is the developer of the WROSETM Model (Waste to Resource Optimisation and Scenario Evaluation), an innovative Decision-Support Tool for local authorities and industry, and advisor for the Just Energy and Decarbonisation Transition, waste and climate change, waste to energy projects to the South African Government and international governmental agencies.
First woman to become full Professor and Dean of Engineering in the history of UKZN, in 2019 she was bestowed the title of Dame of the Italian Republic (Order of the Star of Italy) by the President of the Italian Republic for her outstanding contribution to the development of research and human capital in Africa. Fellow of the South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE) since 2015, she was inducted as Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) in 2019. In 2016, she was the first runner up in the Distinguished Women in Science Awards by the DSI. As a dedicated scholar and researcher of international standing, in 2022, UKZN honoured her as Fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
As global engineering leader, Prof. Trois is the co-founder of the RISE (Rising to the Top) Women Leadership Academy, under the aegis of the Global Secretariat of the International Federation of the Engineering Education Societies (IFEES) and the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC).
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.
Francois Rozon
Senior Engineer/ Manager
Francois Rozon
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.
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.
Warrick Pierce
Principal Engineer
Warrick Pierce
Warrick is a qualified mechanical engineer and an energy economist with over a decade’s experience in energy consulting and research. He has focused on the electricity supply industry, specifically in South Africa but also in other African countries. His previous roles have included energy economist, lead energy systems modeller, technical lead, technical transaction advisor, and academic supervisor. He has experience in both the private and public sectors. The latter includes an eight-month secondment to the South African IPP Office and various electricity supply studies for local municipalities and the government. He is currently a Principal Engineer for the CRSES.
Christina Auret
Senior Engineer
Christina Cauret
Christina Auret spent several years working as a system engineer at a coal-fired power station. She also has experience in spatiotemporal modelling of renewable power plants and energy systems modelling. She holds a BEng and MEng in Mechatronic engineering from Stellenbosch University.
Josh Dippenaar
Senior Engineer
Josh Dippenaar
Josh is a mechanical engineer with a Master’s Degree in engineering management and is currently undertaking a PhD in electrical engineering, all from Stellenbosch University. Josh’s professional focus lies in renewable energy, electricity markets, and generator grid integration. He provided technical support to over 100 electric utilities and regulators across Africa to integrate rooftop solar into their grids for the past 6 years. He is currently a senior engineer at the CRSES.
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.
Andrea Dell’Orto
Research Engineer
Andrea Dell'Orto
Andrea holds a BSc and MSc in Environmental Engineering from the University of Cagliari, Italy, and is currently pursuing a PhD in engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), focusing on the biological production of methane and hydrogen from municipal food waste. With over four years of experience as a research assistant and grant manager for the SARChI Chair in Waste and Climate Change at UKZN, Andrea has worked with various national and international stakeholders, including SANEDI, Durban Solid Waste, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), The Ocean Cleanup, and the World Bank. He is passionate about renewable and waste-to-energy options as innovative solutions to overcome waste management challenges and increase the energy sector’s sustainability.
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
Lavhelesani 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.
Johannes de Bruyn
Junior Engineer
Johannes de Bruyn
Johannes completed his Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering at Stellenbosch University, specializing in power system modelling and analysis using DIgSILENT PowerFactory.
Liam Snyman
Junior Engineer
Liam Snyman
Liam Snyman completed both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering at Stellenbosch University. He developed an interest in Renewable Energy Systems and Technologies, focusing his Postgraduate research on developing a cost-effective, ceramic-based structured material for Solar Thermal Energy storage applications. He started as an intern at CRSES, and he is now a Junior Engineer who applies his problem-solving skills in the fields of large-scale energy system design, optimization, planning, and modeling at the Centre.
Theunis Oosthuizen
Junior Engineer
Theunis Oosthuizen
Theunis Oosthuizen completed his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Stellenbosch University, where he developed an optimised geospatial model for renewable resource allocation. His research focused on determining the optimal placement and sizing of wind and solar farms to minimise the use of peaking stations and demand response initiatives. He has expertise in power system analysis, renewable energy integration, geospatial modelling, and machine learning. As a Junior Engineer at the Centre, he contributes to energy system planning, grid modelling, and sustainable energy projects.
Dr. John Edison Sempiira
Post-doc Fellow in Engineering: ARUA-Centre of Excellence for Energy/Chemical Engineering Depart (Bioresource Research Group)
Dr. John Edison Sempiira
Dr. John Sempiira Edison holds PhD and Msc. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering, from University of Georgia, in Athens- USA, and Bsc. in Agricultural Engineering from Makerere university Kampala-Uganda. He has over eight (8) years of research experience working in the “Nexus of Food and Energy” research space, with focus on sustainable food and agricultural systems, particularly, renewable energy utilization in food systems. John has demonstrated expertise in areas of, process engineering, bioconversion for value-addition and resource recovery, product preservation and processing, Design and Human Ergonomics, and Development Engineering. In his early career, Dr. Sempiira has served as a lecturer at Makerere University, a consultant with United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization for the South Sudan, Country Programme, and a research and development Engineer with the 3p innovations lab at University of Georgia. He is an active member of the American society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) as well as, a member of the Engineers for Change (E4C) Organization.
Dr. Sempiira’s is involved in research on organic waste (food waste and paper sludge) volarization for resource recovery and new product development. He is also engaged with social impact projects to test developed new products/technology within the hands of end-users, to improve product market readiness.
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
Administrative Officer
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.
Keziah Maher
Short Course Administrative Officer
Keziah Maher
Keziah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities degree, as well as an Honours degree in Sociology from Stellenbosch University. She joined the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies in November 2023 as the Short Course Administrative Officer.
Fhatuwani Mulaudzi
Marketing and Communications Officer
Fhatuwani Mulaudzi
Fhatuwani Mulaudzi is a 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 PGDip Marketing from Stellenbosch University, a Baccalaureus Technologiae in Journalism, and a National Diploma in Journalism from the Tshwane University of Technology.
Sydwell Tenza
Intern
Sydwell Tenza
Sydwell Tenza is an intern at CRSES and is currently in pursuit of an MSc in Sustainable Agriculture degree at Stellenbosch University (2024-2025), focusing on optimising plant production to improve its productivity sustainably and persistently. His research integrates sustainability and indigenous knowledge systems, aligning with multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2024/2025, he represented Stellenbosch University in an international, collaborative and interdisciplinary Sustainable Development Project to address global sustainability challenges. Sydwell Tenza completed his BSc in Agriculture: Pasture Science (Cum Laude, Honours equivalent) in 2019 at the University of Fort Hare (2016-2019), with a strong research background in Livestock and Plant production. Between 2018 and 2022, he held roles within the field of study as a researcher, senior tutor, co-supervisor, and assistant lecturer. In addition, contributed as a practical vacation facilitator, assistant to technicians, assistant in community engagement, and agricultural extension support.
Beyond academia, his commitment to sustainable development is evident in his involvement with various impactful initiatives. Which includes the BRECCs program, Invest Fossil Free campaign, Eco-Maties, UNASA, Cape Winelands Botanical Society, and Greenpeace, among others. Through these platforms, he advocates for sustainability, aligned to circular economy principles, climate resilience, renewable energy, and just energy transition.
