General Directors

Rachida Chemini is Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene in Algiers (Algeria). She joined the university in March 2012. She worked for the oil and gas Sonatrach Company between February 2006 and March 2012, where she contributed to downstream activity projects, such as study of linear programming applied to refining, distribution and petrochemicals. She joined the Algerian Institute of Petroleum (IAP Boumerdes) between April 1993 and February 2006 as a lecturer. Rachida Chemini completed her PhD at the National Polytechnic Institute in Toulouse (France) and her undergraduate studies at the National Polytechnic School of Algiers (Algeria). Her research interests lie in the area of petroleum industry and water treatment. Rachida Chemini has published numerous articles and participated in several conference with communications.

Sidy Ba, ING., PhD holds a doctorate in chemical engineering obtained from the University of Sherbrooke, QC, Canada. His scientific interests include the design of enzymatic membrane bioreactors for the elimination of micropollutants in wastewater, insolubilization and characterization of oxidase polyphenol for environmental applications and the use of membrane technologies for water treatment. Dr Sidy Ba is active in the fields related to global environmental issues and their implications for public health, sustainable supply of drinking water and sanitation as well as economic development at the village. He is a teacher-researcher in the department of Rural Engineering, Waters & Forests of the Rural Polytechnic Institute in Katibougou, Mali and International Consultant with the UNDP. In addition to his professional activities, he is also involved in humanitarian aid as a founding member and in charge of operations of the NGO Nine Villages Inc. intervening in the rural commune of Ouroube-Doude, Mopti, Mali.

Dr Malinga is a Senior Lecturer and a researcher at the Department of Chemicals Sciences, University of Johannesburg. The main focus of the Dr Malinga’s research is in nanotechnology and water research. Specifically she develops new reactive membranes which are embedded with materials such as dendrimers, hyperbranched polymers, bimetallic nanoparticles and enzymes. Dr Malinga has authored/co-authored a total number of 33 publications and two book chapters. She is currently supervising and co-supervising 12 postgraduate students at Masters and PhD level and has graduated 16 MSc students. Her h-index is 13 according to Google scholar. In 2018, Dr Malinga was awarded the DST- Distinguished Young Woman Scientists award in Physical and Engineering Sciences (2nd runner up), due to her outstanding contribution to building South Africa’s scientific research knowledge base.

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Jim Barry is a faculty member at the research university, California Institute of Technology (Caltech) teaching Fine Arts. He has 25 years teaching graphics and website construction while traveling in Africa. He maintains websites for .the African Membrane Society (AMSIC) site and several African Lycees. Jim Barry received Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara in Cultural Anthropology and Black Studies. Jim Barry continues to produce and exhibit art focused on Science, Africa, and our environment.

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Ayman Elgendi, Professor, is Vice Dean of the Institute and head of Chemical Engineering Department in Canal High Institute of Engineering and Technology. He has experience in membrane fabrication and application through projects and training in which he participated in a good number of projects. He has 40 international publication articles from 2007 to 2022 in desalination, membrane technology and membrane preparation. He has 8 granted patents from Egyptian Academy of Science & Technology. He has published a book entitled: Ternary phase diagram construction and membrane morphology evaluation, LAB LAMBERT academic publishing, Germany ISBN: 978-3-659-57611-9 (2014). Furthermore, He has published a Chapter 3 in Desalination Updates book, ISBN 978-953-51-2189-3, edited by Robert Y. Ning chapter entitled "Phase Diagram and Membrane Desalination."

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Dr Heidi Richards is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand,  in Johannesburg, South Africa. Before joining WITS in 2016, Dr Richards worked in various positions within the water sector. Her years of experience positioned her favorably at WITS, where she is currently teaching and supervising postgraduate students across two departments. She is presently supervising 6 PhD and 4 MSc students and her research projects aim to innovate and add value to communities and the broader society, rather than focusing on fundamental research. To this end, her research focus is primarily on developing novel materials or methods for monitoring or remediation of organic and trace metal pollutants, using predominantly polymer membrane systems. Dr Richards has a number of publications in peer-reviewed journals and is the deputy director of the Centre of Water Research and Development at WITS.

Saad Alami Younssi received his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry and Analytic Chemistry in 1994 at the Montpellier 2 University, France. He is a Professor at the Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco. Between 2006 and 2013, he held the position of Vice Dean in charge of pedagogy at the Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Mohammedia. In 2014, he has been elected the Director of the Laboratory of Materials Membranes and Environment at the Hassan II University of Casablanca and he has been the Vice President of Moroccan Analytical Chemistry for Sustainable Development Association. In January 2018, He has been elected President of the Moroccan Membrane and Desalination Society. His research interests include elaboration and characterization of inorganic and composite microfiltration, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration membranes as well as transfer salts through microporous membranes. He has published more than 70 articles in SCOPUS-indexed journals (H index Scopus 26, H index Google Scolar28).

NorEddine GHAFFOUR is a Professor at KAUST. He has over 27 years of experience Noreddine Ghaffour in the field of drinking water treatment technologies, and has specialized in the area of membrane and thermal desalination processes. Over the years, he has made major contributions becoming an internationally recognized expert in desalination technologies and its related fields. He obtained his PhD from Montpellier University, France, in 1995. He is the author of over 450 journal and conference publications, several patents and chapters in textbooks. He is a frequent keynote speaker in international conferences, seminars and workshops. He is a Co-Editor of the Desalination journal. He also has experience in scaling-up innovative desalination processes and start-ups.

Dr Molelekwa is a Researcher at Tshwane University of Technology in the Department of Environmental Health, South Africa. His research niche areas are membrane technology and the production of briquettes from waste biomass, as an alternative energy source particularly for low income earners. Dr Molelekwa holds ND Public Health; NHD Public Health; B-Tech Environmental Health (Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa); MSc Environmental Management (University of the Free State, South Africa) and PhD Chemical Engineering (KU Leuven. Belgium). Dr Molelekwa has extensive experience in environmental health and management field (fifteen years). He has been involved in Hazardous Waste Management Training Programmes for the UNEP-Basel Convention in 21-English Speaking African Countries. Dr Molelekwa has developed an Environmental Management Policy and Implementation Plans for various municipalities in South Africa. He conducted research projects in South Africa and abroad. He has supervised research projects for post graduate students (i.e., Msc and B-Tech.). He also wrote book chapters which are published by reputable publishers. He has also published his research work in peer reviewed journals and presented at conferences. Dr Molelekwa has one patent to his name.

Boukary Sawadogo is a lecturer in water and sanitation at the 2iE Institute (International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering) located in Burkina Faso. He holds a PhD at 2iE institute and the University of Montpellier on 2018. His thesis work was focused on the application of membrane technologies for the treatment of industrial wastewater under Sahelian climatic conditions. He is a member of the Laboratory of Water, Hydro-Systems and Agriculture (LEHSA) where his research activities focus on the characterization of water pollution and the wastewater treatment for reclamation and resource recovery.