Dr Bridget Kanini Mutuma

Dr. Bridget Kanini Mutuma is a research scientist in the Department of Chemistry, University of Nairobi, Kenya. She is an affiliate of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS, Cohort 6), a fellow of the Africa Science Leadership Program (ASLP, 2021), and a fellow of the Africa Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE, 2022). She has a BSc. degree in Analytical Chemistry from Kenyatta University (Kenya, 2009), an MSc. degree in Material Science and Engineering from Kangwon National University (South Korea, 2013), and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa, 2016). Dr. Mutuma has extensive postdoctoral experience in nanomaterials, sensor technology, and energy storage systems. Her research interest is in the development of multifunctional hybrid nanostructures as well as plastic waste-derived carbon nanomaterials for use in sensors, heterogeneous catalysis, energy storage, and conversion systems. She is presently supervising several postgraduate students in the field of material chemistry, and she has mentored numerous postgraduate students. Her research has been published in over 32 peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. Dr. Mutuma is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), the Materials Research Society of Kenya (MRSK), and the Kenya Chemical Society (KCS), among others. As a result of her research achievements, she has received several awards and fellowships, including the US-Africa Frontiers Fellowship (USA, 2024), the CAPES-PRINT fellowship (Brazil, 2023), the ACS PITTCON travel grant (USA, 2020), the MEXT research fellowship (Japan, 2019), the Penny Huddle Memorial Award (University of Witwatersrand, 2015), and the Korean Government Scholarship Award (South Korea, 2010), among others. Dr. Mutuma aspires to enhance dynamic and interdisciplinary research in nanotechnology by fostering innovation and sustainable infrastructure development in Africa.