Engineering whizzkid Siyabulela Lethuxolo Xuza is a young man with a big future.
From the early days of experimenting with science in his mother’s kitchen in the poor community of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, to international science and engineering accolades, he is now a role model for South Africa’s aspiring scientists.
These days the darling of Nasa, who were so taken with him that they gave him a personal guided tour of their facilities, is the youngest member of the Africa 2.0 energy advisory panel.
The pan-African organisation comprises the continent’s brightest minds and is committed to seeking sustainable solutions to challenges faced by Africans.
In a March 2012 interview with US television network CBS, Xuza said that his current work is focusing on transforming homes into power plants “that capture the energy of the sun during the day and store some of it in fuel cells, for use at night”.