Ronald Machaka is a Principal Researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a visiting associate professor at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), and a National Research Foundation (NRF) C-rated researcher. He is currently involved in the metallurgical and materials engineering field of research with a focus on the development of processes and near-net parts using low-cost titanium-based alloys, supported through the Titanium Centre of Excellence (TiCoC). In the TiCoC programme, Ronald leads projects on the fabrication of solid metal parts utilizing metal injection moulding (MIM) and additive manufacturing (AM). Some of Ronald’s recent interests include machine learning for predictive data analytics. He has supervised numerous doctoral and masters students in the metallurgical and materials engineering field. Before joining the CSIR, Ronald worked as a Materials Scientist at Element Six, Springs. His area of specialization was diamond grits and diamond crystallization. He studied at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) on an Andrew Mellon Foundation merit award where he submitted his PhD thesis by publication.
