Media statement by Nomonde Mbadi, Executive Director: Corporate Affairs

Young research scientist, Sabelo Khuzwayo, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to do his masters degree at any university in the United States in 2009. He will be informed later this year which university he will be joining.

Khuzwayo, who is currently doing a BTech degree in Biotechnology at the Durban University of Technology, will pursue his further studies in molecular biology with emphasis on genetic engineering. He is also armed with a National Diploma in Biotechnology from DUT.

“This opportunity means a lot to me because it will make a significant impact to my career. Apart from my individual career development, it is part of plans to return to South Africa and share the acquired skills and knowledge through universities or even independent teaching programmes,” says Khuzwayo.

He is currently working for LIFElab Bioprocessing Platform, which is a biotechnology incubator that assists budding entrepreneurs in developing solutions for their bioprocess technologies. This organisation operates under the auspices of the Department of Science and Technology. His role in this organisation is to help these budding entrepreneurs in conducting research and designing experiments. Part of his work is assisting small Biotech companies to develop their businesses from concept to a valuable product that can be commercialized. “We conduct scientific research to discover new things,” he comments.

As part of his internship he previously worked at Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for close to two years. Here he conducted research in fermentation process development.

For comment, please contact Sabelo Khuzwayo on 0739229203.