The academic excellence of Professor Krishna Bisetty who currently leads the Computational and Bio-Analytical Research Group at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and holds a flagship project at the Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) was celebrated during his inaugural lecture on Friday, 1 October on Microsoft Teams.

Various DUT academics, DVCs and executives gathered to commemorate the milestone in the life of Prof Bisetty, namely Prof Moyo: Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Engagement, Prof Nokuthula Sibiya: Deputy Vice Chancellor: Teaching and Learning and the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Prof Suren Singh. Facilitating the webinar was Prof Magandhren Govender, a full Professor in Mathematics at DUT.

In his inaugural lecture, titled: Computation Modelling: A chemist perspective, Prof Bisetty showcased a glimpse of his cutting-edge research in trying to understand the synergy between experimental and computational approaches in addressing the design and mechanism of electrochemical sensing of specific nano biosensors, and identifying the contributing factors to enhance the sensing capabilities, with applications in the food and health sectors.

“It is an important day for us because it marks the day that Prof Bisetty has reached the Professorial level within the University. He has come a long way, and how much research he has done and how much time he has spent mentoring others. My role is to thank all of you who have joined us and I would like to also acknowledge all the dignitaries in the room. DUT started rolling out the strategy, which is called ENVISION2030, in this strategy we have four perspectives which we really value as they guide us as to which direction the University should be taking. Within those four perspectives we have Stewardship which is about this event as well because we are showcasing the work that Prof Bisetty has contributed to the University and to the field of Chemistry as well,” said Prof Moyo.

Introducing Prof Bisetty was the respective Executive Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences: Prof Suren Singh.

“On behalf of the Faculty and University, I wish to express my sincere gratitude for placing us on a global setting and steering us to such a higher level of catalysis in your research endeavours, I must also acknowledge the support from your wife and son as we all know that achieving success at this level is not easy,” he said.

Speaking at his inaugural lecture, Prof Bisetty shared that as part of the Human Capacity Development, he has trained six Post-Doctoral Fellows in the field of Computational Sciences and graduated nine PhD student. He relayed that he was a supervisor to seven and co-supervised two PhD students. Interestingly, he added that all nine rising stars have been appointed as academics at a tertiary institution, both locally and abroad.

Prof Bisetty gave a brief background to Computation Chemistry, the search projects, and the Innovation and Technology readiness level.

“In order to meet global challenges we look at the most powerful tools that were created by human ingenuity. Chemistry is made up of analytical, physical, inorganic, and organic chemistry. In Computer Chemistry, we use computers to predict molecular structure and activity relations. We do this to explain things, to find unknowns and to test theories. Computational modelling is practised on a multiple scale because it is cost saving, provides insights of the models obtained at an optimistic level which are difficult to obtain from experiments alone,” he said

Prof Sibiya closed off the event with a vote of thanks and acknowledged everybody who was present at the prestigious event.

Pictured: Professor Krishna Bisetty

Nikiwe Sukazi