Leading the charge towards innovation – Valerie Naidoo

Abstract

Have you ever watched Star Wars and wondered about how a light sabre or a moisture vaporator might be manufactured and brought to market? Or mulled over the biological processes that treat wastewater so that it can be used for fertiliser or bioplastics? No? Well, fortunately for us and our sustainable living on this planet, there are people thinking about – and working towards – these sorts of solutions all the time. Current chair of the Water Institute of Southern Africa, Dr Valerie Naidoo, is one of them. “I love futuristic movies. They have all these innovation principles that get me thinking about what the next world might be and how we might live in it. What sorts of gadgets will we need and how would we do things differently?” Not content to simply wonder about these things, Valerie has made it her life’s work to unpack sustainable living practices and then make them a reality. Now working as the Executive Manager of Business Development and Innovations at the Water Research Commission (WRC), Valerie’s background is in the sciences.

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