Riddhi Maharaj

She obtained a B.Sc Honours in 2013, M.Sc in Chemical Engineering in 2016, and is currently pursuing her M.Phil in Space Studies part-time, all through the University of Cape Town. Her current area of research is focused on the sustainable in-situ production of silicon (for photovoltaic production) and oxygen using lunar regolith, for future lunar settlements. She has supervised thesis projects in this area, and is a published co-author of a journal article in this area. Other areas of research include chemical catalysis for bio-based plasticizers, reactor design modeling and metal additive manufacturing. She has worked in the advanced space manufacturing industry, for NewSpace Systems, where she lead R&D projects on the additive manufacturing of low-cost, high-frequency RF components, which resulted in a published journal article, and several presented this work at several AeSSA conferences. Currently, she works as a product development engineer in a drug discovery company, M2Bio Sciences, focused on developing natural biocuetical health products and sustainable eco-friendly packaging.