Being elected President of the South African Chemical Institute (SACI) is both an honour and a responsibility for Nikoletta Bathori, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, who says her recent election “represents the trust of my peers and the opportunity to contribute to the advancement of chemistry in South Africa and beyond”.

SACI, formally established in 1912, is the professional body that represents all chemists across South Africa, with a history of over a century of promoting chemistry education, research, and public understanding. The president serves a two-year term and is responsible for providing strategic direction, strengthening partnerships, and supporting the professional growth of members.

The dependable academic, who values integrity and lifelong learning, intends to advance SACI’s ongoing evolution in response to the opportunities and challenges of the digital era. “Our focus will be on renewal, sustainability, recognition, representation, and international collaboration, ensuring that SACI continues to serve as a strong and relevant voice for the chemistry community.”

Bathori, who likes to take initiative, stay organised, and follow through on commitments, notes that the institute has already embarked on a comprehensive rebranding initiative aimed at modernising the Institute’s image and strengthening its connection with members and the public. “A key priority of my term will be ensuring the long-term sustainability of the South African Journal of Chemistry, which has proudly served our scientific community since 1918. We are committed to maintaining our accessibility to members while enhancing our international competitiveness. Preserving this important journal is not only about tradition but about safeguarding a cornerstone of South African scientific excellence.”

The institute will introduce two new SACI awards to celebrate excellence within its community and to recognise the outstanding contributions of its members. She says they will continue to strengthen SACI’s international footprint across the African continent by extending memoranda of understanding with other chemical societies and fostering deeper partnerships that promote collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the advancement of chemistry in Africa.

“Through these initiatives, my goal is to ensure that SACI remains a vibrant, forward-looking organisation — one that honours its legacy while embracing innovation, partnership, and inclusivity in the service of chemistry and society.”

The Hungarian-born scholar, who moved to South Africa for a postdoctoral fellowship about 20 years ago, has advanced through various leadership positions within SACI, gaining a broad understanding of its structure and culture. “This role is a wonderful opportunity to practice and refine my leadership skills while applying my knowledge of business management in a scientific context. I see this as a rare gift — a chance to give back to a community that has given me so much and to help guide its future direction.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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Staff members of the Faculty of Applied Science recently pulled out all the stops to show learners that chemistry is fun.

From making ice cream in less than five minutes to powering a clock with a fork and lemon the interactive demonstrations showed learners that chemistry is part of everyday life.

Their recent activities formed part of the International Year of Chemistry, a worldwide celebration of the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to society.

As part of their activities for the Year of Chemistry, staff in the faculty put together a jam-packed programme to show learners that a career in chemistry has much to offer.

Coordinator of the Chemistry Programme, Merrill Wicht said they invited Grade 9 and 10 learners from local schools to spend a day at the Cape Town campus and participate in some fun chemistry experiments.

Lecturers demonstrated how to build fruit batteries, using lemons and forks and also showed off their rocket-building skills. Using everything ingredients from vinegar to sweets, lecturers built a number of rockets, which were launched in the faculty’s quad, in full view of the learners.

Prof Luigi Nassimbeni, head of the Crystal Engineering Unit, wowed students when he created ice-cream in just under five-minutes. Mixing together cream, sugar and liquid nitrogen, Prof Nassimbeni made tons of ice-cream, which was enjoyed by the awe-struck learners.

GAME: A student enjoys a science game that focuses on the periodic table

Students were also shown that chemistry and music talents go hand in hand when student Emeline Nizeyimana rapped the periodic table. Wicht said the event proved to be a huge success.

“The idea was to expose them to a career in chemistry and also to give them access to our labs,” she said.

She said they are looking at making the school visit a permanent feature on their year calendar.

By: Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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Third-year Chemistry students battled it out for the coveted Idol title at this year’s Science Idols.

The competition is an annual event hosted by the Chemistry Department and sees third-year students’ present research projects that they completed during their in-service training.

The event ran over three days and saw 40 students present their projects to a panel of internal and external judges. At the end of each day, a number of students were eliminated, with only 10 going through to the final round, held at the Bellville campus.

This year Chemistry student Ncumisa Matu’s research project won over the judges, earning her the Science Idol title. Ncumisa spent the year working on an innovative project that investigated the degradation of products of different grades of olive oil used for soap making.

Ncumisa attributes her success to hard work, perseverance and a love for chemistry.

“I love chemistry because it’s challenging and gives me the opportunity to exercise my thinking abilities,” she says.

Student Jessica Heynes took second place for her project that explored sample preparations for determining the silicon content of beach sand, while Emile Nizeyimana, who researched elements of re-used cooking oil, was awarded third place.

Head of the Chemistry Programme, Merrill Wicht, says she was impressed with this year’s projects.

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

A generous donation of over R2 million will ensure that Chemical Engineering and Chemistry students secure internships within the industry.

With the current economic situation, many companies have been unable to carry the financial cost of student internship positions.

As a result, many students have been battling to find internships, which are a key component of all courses at CPUT.

But thanks to the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (CHIETA), students are now assured of internships.

Manager of Co-operative Education, Fundiswa Nofemela, says the funds will allow CPUT to place students in the workplace, as well as cover the cost of their monthly stipends.

“The companies have always been willing to take students, but could not pay them. Out of this funding, we will cover the placement of 70 students,” she says.

Nofemela, who worked closely with the various departments in securing the funding, says this is a huge boost for the Work Integrated Learning programme, as a portion of the funds will be used to roll out a customized training programme for industry mentors.

“We identified a need to train industry supervisors who work closely with students. The training will equip them to be more effective in mentoring our students. We need to be sure of the training our students are getting in the workplace,” she says.

The training is a first for CPUT and will also play a major role in helping CPUT to strengthen ties with the industry.

Head of the Chemistry Department, Dr Bhekumusa Ximba also welcomed the funding.

Dr Ximba says students are required to spend a year in industry, during which they must complete a number of tasks, including a research project.

He says the funding will go a long way to ensure that students meet the requirements of their course.

By: Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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With South African universities tasked to produce more PhD graduates, one researcher is doing her bit to contribute to the pool of highly skilled graduates.

Dr Nikoletta Bathori is the brain behind the Early Explorer Project, an innovative programme that exposes undergraduate Chemistry students to research and provides them with an opportunity to work alongside skilled academics in a laboratory.

The aim, says Bathori, is to “catch students early”, and stir their interest in a career in research.

A researcher at CPUT’s Crystal Engineering Unit, Bathori says the project was born after she visited Georgetown University in the United States. The university promotes science by opening its laboratories to high school students for holidays.

“I came back and thought of how to apply it to CPUT. I looked at second-year students and how they could contribute to science projects,” says Bathori.

In 2013, the Early Explorer Project was born and has proved an overwhelming success.

“Last year I had three students and all three did exceptionally good and now they are planning to do Masters and Doctoral degrees. One of the students got the Dean's medal and two of them won the Science Idols,” she says.

BTech student Nigel Sharara was among the project’s first recruits and is a testament to its success.

Nigel says thanks to the programme, he was exposed to a range of research techniques and equipment, and by the time he reached the BTech level was light years ahead of his class.

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

Takunda Gwanzura was curious whether he could replicate his success in creating an organic solar cell for his BTech in Chemistry.

So, for his Masters of Applied Science in Chemistry he went into a completely different direction, creating a biosensor for detecting kidney disease.

He hit upon the idea of creating a test similar to a home pregnancy test, using urine or saliva. “The whole point of a biosensor is to make something that is cheap, efficient and reliable.

The pregnancy test has been one of the most successful biosensors to ever enter the market because it fulfils those three qualities.”

“I wanted to prove to myself that I have the ability to replicate novelty and innovation, that it didn’t just happen serendipitously,” said Gwanzura.

The 25-year-old started working towards his Masters in Chemistry in 2016 and now graduates summa cum laude with the thesis “Fabrication of a gold nano-rod metal-organic framework biosensor for kidney disease”.

When he was coming up with the project focus he pointed out to his supervisor Prof Mangaka Matoetoe that he wanted to do something useful that could aid society. This was as an Ebola outbreak in West Africa was dominating headlines and he read about a scientist creating a biosensor for screening for the disease.

Around this time he got the news that his own brother was experiencing kidney problems and his research showed him that many people realise they have a problem only when they are already in need of dialysis and/or a new kidney.

“If it was just detected earlier it could have been solved. So I was thinking, as a scientist that is my role, to make sure people don’t die and live longer lives,” said Gwanzura.

A person with a kidney disease will experience a dip in the naturally occurring protein Epidermal Growth Factor, which makes it a good biomarker to target. So what Gwanzura needed was a way to sense a decrease in the protein. “People normally have between 60 and 80 nanomolar concentration but when anything starts happening to the kidney the concentration starts to decrease.People at stage five who need dialysis have as low as 2nm concentration.”

His supervisor suggested using nanoparticles and trial and error led him to settling on gold nanoparticles which change colours at certain concentrations.

“Our signal is a colour change so we don’t bother people with figures of concentration.”

The gold nano-particles are on an electrode which is placed inside a metal-organic framework and Gwanzura has created a working prototype.

Next, they would have to do clinical trials to test the efficacy of the Chronic Kidney Disease Biosensor. “Yes, I have to work on the name … My vision when I started was to synergise with CPUT expertise so maybe I need to speak to some of the marketing people.”

Written by Theresa Smith
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The intricacies of Chemistry and its unlimited potential drive the academic success of the Faculty of Applied Science Dean’s medallist.

Clarise Theron is so absorbed in science that she has enrolled for a Chemical Biology degree after completing her Analytical Chemistry diploma at CPUT.

Theron says that once you unlock the science of chemistry, it will be a fascinating, rewarding, and enjoyable discipline.

“Unpacking the different layers of the subject and drawing links between the different modules is what I enjoy most. Drawing links between modules and studying the calculations involved with the subject is my passion,” she says.

Theron also credited her lecturer, Dr Shirley Le Roux, for giving her the confidence to seek a purposeful career in her field of interest. Theron says students who want to replicate her academic success (distinctions in all subjects with special awards) should focus on their journey.

“Remember that it is normal for your path to look different from someone else’s. University is a good time to develop interpersonal skills and grow. Do not be afraid or ashamed to ask for help,” she says.

“I feel proud knowing that the hard work paid off.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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