Africa Oxford Initiative Fellow hosted at the Oxford Robotics Institute

The Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx) is a cross-university platform that facilitates equitable and sustainable collaborations between researchers at African institutions and those at the University of Oxford. Now in its tenth year, the initiative offers a number of fellowships and grants, including the AfOx Visiting Fellow Programme. The fellowship consists of a one-year programme, inclusive of a two-month in-person visit.

This year, one of the fellowships has been awarded to Dr Chioniso Kuchwa-Dube, Head of Mechatronics Engineering in the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa. Dr Kuchwa-Dube, who is undertaking the fellowship in partnership with the Wits Chancellor's Female Academic Leaders Fellowship (FALF), is being hosted at the Oxford Robotics Institute by Professor Nick Hawes until the end of June. 

Dr Kuchwa-Dube’s work focuses on designing and building mechatronics and robotic systems, with a specific focus on systems that drive workplace safety and increase productivity in sectors such as mining, manufacturing, and precision agriculture. Talking about her areas of interest, Dr Kuchwa-Dube is passionate about “designing sustainable systems, which take into account the circularity of the robot itself”, as well as developing low-cost systems that can be leveraged by small to medium enterprises (SMEs) across Africa.

Since arriving in May, she has been hosted by Prof. Nick Hawes and has been spending time with the Goal-Oriented Long-Lived Systems (GOALS) research group, as well as connecting with colleagues across the ORI and University of Oxford more generally. Of her experience so far, Dr Kuchwa-Dube says: “It has been great to see how the ORI is set up and learn more about their research ecosystem, understand everyone’s area of expertise and explore potential research synergies.”

With her remaining time in Oxford, Dr Kuchwa-Dube plans to continue building her network and long-term partnerships, including exploring a range of potential joint projects covering themes such as sustainable and circular mechatronic design and wearable smart devices for mining safety.

She also has a keen interest in strengthening the education, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship ecosystem for mechatronics and robotics across Africa. Dr Kuchwa-Dube leads the development of a Mechatronics and Robotics Hub at Wits and hopes to share key takeaways from her trip to inspire the programme and foster a supportive environment for robotics start-ups.

“In particular, it has been interesting to engage with the engineering team at the ORI and to understand how they integrate different systems with the various robotic platforms. At Wits, this integration aspect lies with the researcher, so it's been enlightening to see what a different set-up may bring to a research institution”, she adds.  

Dr Kuchwa-Dube will be returning to South Africa at the end of June. If you’d like to reach out to her to discuss any potential research synergies, she can be reached here.