?Prof. Wesaal Khan has been appointed as the new director of the Stellenbosch 肆客足球 Water Institute (SUWI) from January 2025.
Prof. Khan is an established researcher in SU's Department of Microbiology, leading a multidisciplinary research program focused on advancing sustainable water treatment technologies and combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Her team's work spans four interconnected domains: biocontrol strategies for pathogen elimination, solar-driven water disinfection innovations, AMR pathogen dynamics, and molecular monitoring advancements, enabling more accurate quantitative microbial risk assessments.
She follows in the footsteps of the inaugural director, Prof. Gideon Wolfaardt, who managed SUWI since 2014. SUWI was established in 2010 to undertake multi-disciplinary research in response to South Africa's water-related challenges.
Prof. Khan says SUWI will continue to fulfill its mandate to undertake fundamental and goal-directed multidisciplinary research, in collaboration with other tertiary institutions, industry and government, to solve water-related challenges, and to provide technology transfer and develop human capital resources in the water industry.
Prof. Bertie Fielding, Dean of the Faculty of Science, says the appointment of Prof. Khan is a significant achievement for SUWI: “With her academic standing in the water sector both in South Africa and abroad, she will not only ensure continuity in SUWI's partnerships but also elevate its national and global standing and relevance."
Over the years SUWI completed several projects related to water treatment technologies for safe water supply in rural areas in Africa, developing an early warning system for public and environmental health, as well as developing a wastewater-based tool to monitor community-wide substance abuse.
Ongoing projects are focused on building water governance capacity in southern Africa, promoting water, energy and food security, developing innovative technologies to monitor groundwater contamination and contaminants of emerging concern in the effluent of wastewater treatment plants.
In this regard, SUWI's researchers and staff work with national and international partners such as, amongst others, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany, the Gates Foundation, the European Union, Rand Water, and AgriColleges International.
