Prof Harro von Blottnitz

Director

I am a settled and experienced academic and a registered professional engineer. Circular materials flows, driven by renewable energy designed with systems intelligence excite me. I have made sustained research and teaching contributions over the past 25 years on multiple challenges of sustainable development in developing countries, with a focus on resource flows. My interests span topics in systems thinking and industrial ecology, energy systems, biofuels (biogas, biodiesel and bio-ethanol), waste management, municipal infrastructure and sustainable consumption. Since joining the University of Cape Town in 1998, 68 Masters and 11 PhD students have completed their theses under my supervision. Most of the 76 peer-reviewed papers or book chapters bearing my name have been co-authored with these students. I have taught widely in the undergraduate curriculum and have introduced sustainable development into the curriculum at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. I increasingly regard myself as an experienced systems thinker and regular interdisciplinarian. Since 2019 I direct UCT’s Energy Systems Research Group. In 2021, I was elected a Fellow of the South African Academy of Engineering.

Qualifications:

BSc (Eng) Chemical, UCT (1990)
BSc (Hons) Operations Research, UNISA (1993)
MSc (Eng), UCT (1994)
Doctorate in Engineering (Dr.-Ing), RWTH Aachen (1999)

Google Scholar link: https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=AgB0t3MAAAAJ&hl=en