Rodney Genga is an Associate Professor of Material Science and Manufacturing Engineering, with over 15 years of research experience focused on advancing Africa’s sustainable manufacturing future. His work lies at the intersection of materials science, industrial applications, and digital innovation, with specialisation in the development and optimisation of cemented carbides, cermets, high entropy carbides, and strong metallic alloys for the automotive, aerospace, and mining industries.

Prof. Genga’s research integrates advanced synthesis methods, including additive manufacturing and laser surface modification with data-driven models to engineer next-generation industrial tools. His notable contribution, the Machining Property Led Tailored Design (MPLTD) model, leverages over a decade of machining performance data to predict tool behaviour and reverse engineer high performance cutting materials. His research supports circular manufacturing by addressing raw material criticality through composition manipulation, sustainable processing, and end of life cycle optimisation. He currently collaborates with top international institutes such as BAM (Germany), RCMT and HiLASE (Czech Republic), and IKTS Fraunhofer. He serves as President of the Microscopy Society of Southern Africa and co-founder of the Africa Inclusive Microscopy Network, which has trained over 4,000 postgraduate researchers from across the continent.

As the inaugural Assistant Dean for Strategic Projects in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at Wits, Prof. Genga has led the design and coordination of strategic interdisciplinary research clusters (Just Energy Transition, Water Resource Management, and Digital transformation), strengthened global partnerships through initiatives like AFRETEC, General Electric Next Engineers Program, and CIDTA Summer School program, and facilitated faculty innovation and entrepreneurship programming. In his capacity as Director of the Academic Development Unit, Prof. Genga has transformed teaching, learning and student support by implementing data-informed, inclusive systems that address academic, eco-social and psycho-social needs, impacting thousands of engineering and built environment students annually. He is also the recipient of the Wits Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award, the university’s highest honour for teaching excellence.

Prof. Genga’s work embodies a unique blend of research excellence, strategic leadership, and inclusive education, positioning him as a driving force in shaping Africa’s transition into a digitally enabled and industrially empowered future.