IN CONVERSATION WITH NRWDI CEO, RIEDEWAAN BAKARDIEN

Michael Gomes is a medical student and PhD candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is part of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform. He was recently awarded the 2026 South African Medical Research Council Institutional Clinician Researcher Development Programme scholarship to support his research into nanoparticle-based drug delivery…

Dr. Victor Mashindi is an electrochemist and nanomaterials researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand. He has a PhD in chemistry and works at the Molecular Sciences Institute in the School of Chemistry. His research focuses on nanomaterials and electrocatalysts for clean energy technologies. His expertise includes the synthesis of…

Dr. Charles Helm is a palaeontologist and ichnologist known for his work on Cretaceous dinosaur trackways and Triassic fish and marine reptiles. He led the successful designation of the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark and has authored nine books, including a children’s book on dinosaurs. Dr. Helm is a research…

Dr. Oumar serves as the Research, Application and Development Manager at the South African National Space Agency (SANSA), where he leads and drives the development of space-based decision support tools and analytics that address pressing socio-economic and environmental challenges. He is an established researcher with numerous peer-reviewed publications and has…

VOW is a campus-based community radio station operated broadcasting from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The station has a variety of music and talk show that reflect the life of the youth, students, politics and tackles social issues.