General Info
Professional Track
- Science
Country
South AfricaAreas of Expertise
- Health Sciences and Technology
- Educational Technology and E-Learning
- Biotechnology
Professional Interests
- Vaccine and drug development
- Developing educational content through web and mobile applications
- Drug delivery systems
Age
34The Top Three Things I Would Like to Learn or Experience During my Mentorship
- Learn about how to develop technologies and innovations from idea to prototype.
- How to manage technologies and the associated technologists to create an impactful and sustainable start-up.
- Get acquainted with the process of translating research findings to the commercial space.
Ideal Company Type
My ideal host company interrogates the validity of ideas and deals with the systematic processes of evaluating and developing ideas into viable and impactful businesses. It is a multinational technology and innovation company with established systems and processes for developing technologies and innovations from a variety of fields – a multidisciplinary and trans-discipline approach to problem solving with a culture that embraces idea generation. It understands what resources are required for an innovation to succeed. The company balances managing the talent, the innovations, and the value chain of developing the ideas.
Additional Technical Skills
Designing and conducting molecular assays; recombinant DNA technology; laser technology; drug delivery platforms.
What are three adjectives that best describe you in the work place?
- Independent thinker
- Goal orientated
- Inquisitive
What impact will your mentorship have on your career and professional path?
The mentorship would provide the building blocks to the realization of my vision which is to enable the development of technologies and innovations sourced from grassroot civilians. My organisation and company would create solutions to some of the most pressing challenges in the continent. Being in possession of the technical skills, what I need is the road map to managing and sourcing the resources required to advance innovations. My organisation already has attracted interest beyond South Africa and the mentorship would assist me in planning adequately for scaling the business and organisation.
After participating in the TechWomen program, how will you leverage your mentorship experience to make an impact in your home country?
After TechWomen my organisation will scale beyond the country. I also believe that the experience in the host company will add to my credentials enabling me to get more access to potential donors and collaborators. The value of the program will be realized in my organisation raising more funds, impacting more lives and commercializing technologies. The culture of innovating and entrepreneurship in South Africa is low. This is against the growing demand for job among the young population of the country. I need to change the narrative from job seeking to job creation through technology and innovation.
Work History
Years of Full-time Work Experience
9Primary Professional Focus
- Educational technology
- Managing technical employees
- Overseeing the delivery of technology products
Current/Most Recent Job
- Title and Company: Co-founder, Nka'Thuto EduPropeller
- Direct Reports: 2
- Type:
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Dates: January 1, 2017 –
-
Responsibilities:
Oversee the overall running of the organisation; implement the companies long-term and short terms plans aligned with the organisation's objectives, vision and mission; ensure operations and activities of the organisation produce desired outcomes and are in line with the overall mandate of the organisation; monitor and evaluate programs; review organisational reports both financial and non-financial; stakeholder identification, sourcing and management; sourcing funds; content creation and content formulation for activities and programs; catalog tech-based solutions, business cases and oversee the development of prototypes and business cases; monitor the tracking of alumni; market and create visibility for the impact of the organisation
Job #2
- Title and Company: Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand
- Type: Full-time
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Dates: January 15, 2016 –
-
Responsibilities:
Coordinate Biomedical Engineering and Molecular biology courses; transfer knowledge through lecturing undergraduate students and supervising postgraduate students in their respective research projects; carry out project design, management and implementation; conduct scientific research which includes experimental design, data collection and the communication of research findings through research reports, oral and poster presentations and peer reviewed publications; increase the level of awareness and participation of the public in research, science and technology; participate in committees and the life of the academy to enable the linkage between academics, students and community
Education History
Highest Level of Education Completed
Master'sInstitution #1
- Institution: University of the Witwatersrand
- Degree Awarded: Ph.D
- Major: Molecular Medicine
- Minor: Vaccine Development
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Completion Date: December 1, 2021
Institution #2
- Institution: University of the Witwatersrand
- Degree Awarded: Master's
- Major: Biophotonics
- Minor: Molecular Medicine
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Completion Date: July 1, 2015
Institution #3
- Institution: Tshwane University of Technology
- Degree Awarded: Bachelor's
- Major: Biotechnology
- Minor: Microbiology
- Location: Pretoria, South Africa
- Completion Date: July 1, 2012
