Malik Maaza

Malik Maaza (born 1963), also written as Mâaza, is an African physicist and UNESCO Chair in Nanosciences and Nanotechnology. He has made significant contributions to the field of physics, particularly in nanosciences and nanotechnology. Maaza has received several prestigious awards, including the Order of Mapungubwe and the Spirit of Abdus Salam Award, and recognition from the World Cultural Council for his contributions to education and research in physics.

Early life and education
Malik Maaza was born in Algeria in 1963. He attained a bachelor's degree in solid-state physics from the University of Oran in 1987. He pursued a master's degree in photonics at Paris VI (today's Pierre and Marie Curie University) in 1988, followed by a PhD in neutron optics at in 1991 at the same institute.

Career
After working across universities in Europe and Asia, Maaza joined University of the Witwatersrand in 1997 as a senior lecturer and later led the Advanced Nano-Materials and Nano-Scale Physics Lab. He co-found the African Laser Centre and South African Nanotechnology Initiative that was launched in 2001 and spearheaded the Nanosciences African Network.

Maaza is a professor at the University of South Africa since 2013, and member of iThemba LABS since 2005, a scientific research centre known as the National Accelerator Centre, and specialises in the use of particle accelerators. He is the UNESCO Africa Chair in nanoscience and nanotechnology since 2013.

Maaza was appointed a member of the National Council for Scientific Research and Technology in 2021. He is an editor for the Scientific African journal.

Research
Maaza specialises in nanomaterials research, exploring their manipulation and properties at the nanoscale. His research spans photonics and nano-scale materials science, targeting diverse applications like selective solar absorbers, nanofluids for enhanced heat transfer in solar power, and renewable energy technologies.

His focus extends to advanced materials, including nanocomposites and biogenic-based materials, aiming to uncover their applications and characteristics. Investigating nanophotonics and photo-active nanomaterials, Maaza examines their optical properties for potential use in photonics and light-based technologies. Additionally, he pioneers smart coatings, seeking functionalities surpassing traditional coatings, potentially involving stimuli-responsive or specialised properties. His extensive publications were cited 26,655 time as of November 2023, and his h-index is 95.

Awards and honours
Maaza was nominated as a Fellow of several academics including the African Academy of Sciences in 2009 and the Royal Society of Chemistry. He received the African Union's Kwame Nkrumah Award in 2018,  National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)'s GreenMatter Award in 2018, on 8 November 2018, he received the José Vasconcelos World Award of Education by the World Cultural Council, International Commission for Optics's Galileo Galilei award in 2019, and he also received the UNESCO's Spirit of Abdus Salam Award in 2022.

In 2019, he received the Silver Order of Mapungubwe, a South African civilian honour awarded by the President of South Africa.