Personal Information

Dr. Vincent I. Okudoh was born in Ogidi, Anambra State, Nigeria and attended the Merchants of Light School, Oba whose motto is to 'show the light'. He did his Bachelors degree at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA). After his degree in 1990, he was posted for his National Youth Service (NYSC) to the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi as a Junior lecturer. From 1991 to 1996, he worked for two multinational pharmaceutical companies (WYETH/Delpitano and REGENT Pharmaceuticals) as a Medical Representative and Sales Executive respectively before going abroad to join the academia. In 1997, he enrolled as a Masters student of Industrial Microbiology at then University of Natal (now University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. To sustain his studies, he taught in several high schools (Shiyane in Rorkes Drift; New Hanover, Mpolweni and Indala in Richmond) in the province as a Physical Science and Mathematics teacher and finally completed his PhD in 2011. Up till 2012, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UKZN and a member of the African Energy, Food and Water Research (AEFWR) group where he initiated a study on the quantification of cassava biomass as potential feedstock for biogas production. He joined the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) as a Lecturer in 2013 and was promoted to a Senior Lecturer in 2017 within the Department of Biotechnology. In 2015, he published a book titled “Biogas Production in Africa: Benefit Potentials of Cassava Biomass” and also contributed to a technical report “The State of Waste to Energy Research in South Africa: A Review” published by Department of Energy (DoE) through the Renewable Energy Centre for Research and Development (RECORD). He has published many articles in top-rated peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. A certificate holder in anaerobic digestion from Cranfield University UK, Dr Okudoh currently has his own Waste2Energy Lab (W2EL). He has supervised/supervises a number of postgraduate students (PhDs and Masters) and holds an NRF Thuthuka and THRIP award grants. He is a member of the Golden Key International Honor Society for top global academic achievers and belong to many professional organizations such as; American Society for Microbiology [ASM], Society for Industrial Microbiologists & Biotechnology (SIMB) and South African Society for Microbiologists (SASM). He is currently the Chairperson of CPUT academic research group (CARG) and a co-PI with the Bio-resource Engineering Research Group (BioERG).