Sherrin John Isaac, a professional engineer, joined the CSIR in 1998, taking on diverse roles within the organisation. He has served as a development engineer, an information and communications Technology (ICT) researcher within an idea incubator, a research development research funding manager, human capital development manager and currently holds the position of Research Group Leader: Advanced Internet of Things (A-IoT).

Throughout this journey, he has actively participated in inter-disciplinary initiatives, stakeholder management, large-scale programme management, developing national strategic initiatives such as the ICT Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) Strategy and its subsequent roadmap, and contributed to the development of provincial broadband strategies and masterplans. He has represented the CSIR on eSkills Council working groups, engaged in Department of Science and Technology roadshows on the ICT RD&I Strategy, represented South Africa on the Namibia-South Africa Joint Commission on Science and Technology and acted as the national ICT point of contact for relations with Argentina, Brazil and Malaysia. Furthermore, he has served and continues to serve as the project leader and technical expert on various IoT projects, including the South African Minerals Extraction Research Development and Innovation Strategy (SAMERDI) Real-Time Information Management System, electronic monitoring system, mining product suite development and smart transactive microgrid.

A recurring theme across these diverse engagements has been the conceptualisation and launch of large mission-driven national initiatives aimed at enhancing South Africa’s innovation capacity through roles in research, management and leadership. In his current position as research group leader, he continues this ongoing theme by addressing a gap in the National System of Innovation. Specifically, he strives to bolster R&D leadership of practical A-IoT solutions and systems.

His primary focus is on developing a passionate and competent A-IoT team at the CSIR to address national challenges through the creation of A-IoT products and services. The team is actively engaged in a comprehensive spectrum of industrial IoT projects, spanning from operations technology in harsh environments to IT within platform systems. The group’s core IoT expertise encompass embedded electronics product development, edge intelligence, firmware, software, middleware, networks, as well as IoT operations and management.

Expertise: Internet of things