Faculty Staff

He has made over 30 contributed and invited presentations at international conferences. He has received many honours, amongst them the Lesotho Lions Clubs International prize for best performance in Physics in 1991, National Science Prize for his active role in promotion of Science and Technology in 2006. In 2007 he was elected TWAS Young Affiliate. In 2008 he was selected to participate as 1 of 43 leading “Young Scientists” from around the world at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, China.

In 2008 he was selected to participate as 1 of 10 young and upcoming scientists from around the world at the 5th Annual Meeting of Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum’s Future Leaders programme, Kyoto, Japan. He is one of the founding members of the Global Young Academy. He is a member of Board of Directors of Lesotho Electricity Company (Pty) Ltd.

Moreover, he collaborates on research projects and teaching programs with a number of regional universities and three American universities. His current teaching load and passion address soft skills for scientists, such as, critical thinking, written & oral communication, and entrepreneurship in order to contribute to a decent standard of living for all.

B.Sc. (Physics Honours) from Ranchi University, Ranchi, India.

Prof. Narayan’s teaching activities span a wide range of undergraduate Physics (quantum- and classical-mechanics, solid state and modern physics, etc) and his prime research interests have been in the broad area of Materials Science.

He obtained his Ph.D. (Physics) in 2000 from GB Pant University, India with a UFUP fellowship for investigations on swift heavy-ions irradiation induced structural modifications of solids, at Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi, India. After Ph.D., he carried out Post-Doctoral research at Superconductivity Group, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi with a Senior Research Associateship awarded by the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India.

As a Materials Scientist, his focussed area of research interest is nanoscience and nanotechnology. His current research is centred around nanomaterials for wastewater treatment under sunlight. Starting with swift heavy ion irradiation induced effects, superconductivity, various nanocomposite materials and solar energy utilization, he has been constantly involved in multi-disciplinary research.

He joined NUL in 2003 as a Lecturer, and since then he has been the in-charge of the X-ray Diffraction Lab. He had been instrumental in establishing the NUL Innovation Hub and Energy Research Centre; and also in mounting the M.Sc. (Sustainable Energy) programme as a member of Advisory Board.

Memberships of professional bodies:

1.   Associate Member: Institute of Nanotechnology (IoN), UK since February 2013.

2.   Member: National University of Lesotho Research & Innovations Committee (NULRIC) since 2016.

3.   Lifetime Member: Scientific & Technical Research Association (STRA) from May 2018.

4.  Assistant Editor: Materials International since January 2020.

Other Memberships:

5.   Represented the Department of Physics & Electronics in Faculty of Science & Technology Accreditation Committee (FoSTAC) (2012 to 2016).

6.   Appointed Member of the Faculty Planning Sub-Committee on Semesterization (since 2014).

7.   Member of Advisory Board for Master’s Programme in Sustainable Energy at NUL (2017-18).

8.   Group-leader of the Materials Science & Nanotechnology Research Group (within Department of Physics & Electronics) (since August 2015).

9.    One of the Founding Members of Phutha-Lichaba Savings & Credit Cooperative Society (PSCCS) & Acumen Consuls.

10.   Nominated Ambassador & Member of the Panel of Judges/Advisers of South African Start-up Awards: SASA.

11.   Nominated Member in the Panel of Judges for the NUL-UNDP-Vodacom Hackathon under NULISTICE2020.

Contacts

+266 5221 3521 / +266 5953 5977

Profiles:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/himanshu.narayan.9/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/himanshu-narayan-b4080151/

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Himanshu_Narayan

Google Scholar:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PmmWZGsAAAAJ&hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/himanshunarayan

His research interests include: assessment of conventional and pumped storage hydropower’s benefits to transmission systems, renewable energy integration strategies (using hydro), simulation and optimization models for operational improvements. He also works on Digital signal processing for communications, speech and image processing, Wireless communications, Wireless ad-hoc networks (vehicular ad-hoc and mobile ad-hoc networks), Emerging Cellular and new network architectures for 5G.

–        Completed his BEng in Electronics Engineering at the National University of Lesotho (NUL).

–        At the University of Cape Town (UCT) in the Electrical Engineering department (in conjunction with iThemba LABS), he completed his MSc which focused on applying concepts of computer vision, image processing and control theory to solve a medical image processing problem involving prostate cancer.

–        At the Laser Research Institute (Stellenbosch University), in close relations with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), he completed his PhD in Atomic & Laser Physics focusing on demonstration (and control) of the first trapped Ytterbium ion qubits in Africa.

Research interests include:

1.      Image processing & Computer vision,

2.      Machine Learning &  Data Science,

3.      Adaptive Control & State Estimation,

4.      RF Systems & Power Law Noise Modelling,

5.      Ion Trapping & Quantum Computing,

6.      Quantum Measurement & Feedback Control,

7.      Quantum Foundations & Interpretations,

8.      Econophysics & Quantum Economics.

Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=I_hyY2kAAAAJ

Lecturing:

Currently teaching the following courses in the department of Physics and Electronics;

1.      P2500 Mechanics & Mechanical Properties of Matter,

2.      P2508 Introduction to Electronics,

3.      P441 Electromagnetic Theory II,

4.      P443 Solid State Physics.

Studies on agents that modulate carcinogen-induced genotoxicity in genotoxicity assay systems provide end points that can be used to assess the anti-mutagenic properties of putative chemopreventive compounds. Antioxidant properties of medicinal plants because antioxidants decrease mutagenesis, and thus carcinogenesis by decreasing oxidative DNA damage and by decreasing cell division. Much of the protective effect of fruits and vegetables has been attributed to phytochemicals.

The current pilot scale biofuel project on sewage water microalgae lead by him is about to be completed. The facility will generate a good deal of ideas in action to be implemented using our resources in Lesotho. His research interests are in Applied Microbiology in Agriculture, Environment, Biofuel, Wastewater treatment and Health, Biological control (pre-and postharvest fruit crop diseases), rhizosphere soil microorganisms, biological nitrogen fixation, microbial waste treatment, water quality and food safety.

Her research expertizeinclude, synthesis and characterization ofphthalocyanines and porphyrines for application in chemical sensors and biosensors.

She has successfully supervised undergraduate and post-graduate students and collaborated with researchers locally and internationally. She has published more than ten peer reviewed publications. She has externalized some MSc and PhD Theses and peer reviewed journal publications and proposals for research grants.

She has held several administrative positions including Coordinator of Pre-entry science programme, Deputy Dean and acting Dean (FOST).  She is currently the chairperson of NUL admission committee.

She is a member of African Laser Center (ALC),She is a member of Lesotho Chemical Management Committee and a member of Stockholm Convention’s Persistent Organic Pollutants Committee (PORC) representing SADC region and Africa.  She is a chairperson of Women in Science Engineering and Technology (WISET), Lesotho Chapter.

I hold membership of numerous professional societies: SACI, SEANAC, ChromSA, SAAMS, just to mention a few. I am founding President of the Chemical Society of Lesotho. I serve(d) in  numerous committees/boards in and outside of the University including LSI, Smart Partnership Hub, OPCW National Authority, and the 13th NUL Council. I have presented over 50 papers in conferences/symposia and published close to 50 articles in international and regional journals (see my GoogleScholar account on: https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?hl=en&user=fc7Kz9oAAAAJ&view_op=list_works.

His current research interest centres on developing analytical methods based on fluorescence spectroscopy to be used as a rapid and simple tool for monitoring faecal pollution of water resources.

Dr Moshoeshoe has conducted research on the development of simple methods for the determination of water pollutants, including biomarkers which can be used for the determination and/or tracing of water pollution.

In addition, Dr Moshoeshoe is a fellow of the Organisation of Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and has participated in the proficiency tests. He is also a member of the African Network of Analytical Chemists (SEANAC) and the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SUSANA).

Research Interests: Materials Engineering/Science & Social Sciences

His teaching and research interest areas are in Environmental Management & Planning; Political Ecology; Development Geography; Political Geography; Rural Development and Planning; Public Participation; and Higher Education Management. He has published widely in these areas.

His latest publications are, interalia, Restructuring at the National University of Lesotho (2019); The National University of Lesotho and its Impacts on Street Vending Enterprises in the Roma Region (2019); Universal Old Age Pension and its Spatial Impacts on Livelihoods in Lesotho (2019); Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Lesotho: Prospects and Challenges (2019).

Short Bio 

Dr Thamae has more than 5 years’ experience in tertiary education and has co-supervised and graduated 1 PhD, 1 Masters, and 3 Honours students. She has published more than 10 articles in ISI journals and also acts as a reviewer in several scientific journals, as well as reviewing applications for several funding organizations. She is a member of South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP),