College of Science, Engineering & Technology
Nano PhD student outshines in Pakistan
Born and bred in Botswana, Force Tefo Thema, a nanotechnology PhD fellow, began his academic journey when he was awarded a scholarship to further his studies at Unisa in 2013. Currently based at the iThemba-LABs Research Institution in Cape Town and awaiting his graduation in Spring 2016, he has represented the university and made it proud at home and abroad.
Force Tefo Thema was awarded a shield by Dr Shahid Siddiqui (Vice-Chancellor: Allama Iqbal Open University) in the presence of Dr Zafar Ilyas (Chairman: Physics Department) during the second International Energy and Environment Conference, Islamabad, Pakistan.
His international journey began when Thema was a winner in his discipline at Unisa’s Annual Research and Innovation Student Showcase in 2013. The winners got the opportunity to go to India and China, which gave him international confidence as a scientist.
In 2016, Thema was afforded the opportunity by the UNESCO-Unisa Africa Chair in Nanosciences and Nanotechnology to do his fellowship at the National Centre for Physics (NCP) in Islamabad, Pakistan, for three months. “Unisa has exposed me to the international arena; I admire the university with all of my heart,” he said.
As part of the fellowship, Thema was given tasks such as presenting his research work at international conferences, attending workshops, mentoring MPhil students who were interested in Green Chemistry, and supervising five students from Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, and two from the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir-Muzaffarabad.
The bulk of the work that he did at Experimental Physics, NCP, was on the pelletron accelerator, inclusive of thorough theoretical and practical work. Then at the NCP Nanoscience Laboratory, he focused on practical work, “where much green chemistry synthesis was carried out”.
Thema received an award at the Allama Iqbal Open University Second International Energy and Science Conference held in April 2016, after presenting on Green-synthesised oxide/graphene for dye solar cells: Physical and chemical properties, which addressed key matters such as getting energy from resources that can be depleted at any time. In addition, to thank Thema for his hard work and the contributions that he made during his three-month stay in Pakistan, he was presented with three other shields and a gift.
“I enjoyed my stay in Pakistan and we have come up with long-term collaborations insofar as the UNESCO-Unisa Africa Chair, Pakistan, and the BRICS countries are concerned,” said Thema.
Thema has published over 22 articles in Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) peer-reviewed journals, one publication in conference proceedings, two publications in peer-reviewed books, and one book chapter. At PhD level, that gives him the edge and reinforces his belief that he truly is a scientific individual. “Unisa has given me training that is desirable and has made me not only nationally but also internationally competitive,” he said.
Now nearing his PhD destination, Thema is grateful for the exposure that he received from Unisa in his journey, for the supervision of Professor Malik Maaza, incumbent of the UNESCO-Unisa Africa Chair in Nanosciences and Nanotechnology, and to Professor Mokhotjwa Dhlamini of the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology for his research study. He is now ready to rise up and change lives in relation to energy, water and basic commodities for the human existence.
*By Mpho Moloele
Publish date: 2016-09-07 00:00:00.0
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