Rate My Professor Dmitri Bessarabov

Professor Dmitri Bessarabov is a professor at North-West University in the Faculty of Engineering and serves as Director of the DST HySA Infrastructure Center of Competence. He joined the university in 2010 after being recruited from Canada. His academic background includes an M.Sc. in chemistry from Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia in 1991 and a Ph.D. in membrane technology for gas separation from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa in 1996, for which he received the SASOL Medal for the best Ph.D. in the field that year from the South African Chemical Institute. He completed postdoctoral research at Stellenbosch University on electro-catalytic membrane systems and electrochemical ozone generation. Prior to his appointment at North-West University, he held positions including senior lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch and research and leadership roles at Aker Kvaerner Chemetics and Ballard Power Systems in Canada, focusing on membrane technology and fuel cell components.

Bessarabov has over twenty years of experience in academic and industrial R&D in hydrogen energy, PEM fuel cells, electrolysers, membranes, and related electrochemical technologies. He leads the HySA Infrastructure program, managing teams, budgets, and projects on PEM electrolyser development, electrochemical hydrogen compression, hydrogen storage, and renewable hydrogen production. He is an NRF C-rated scientist and has authored or co-authored books including PEM Electrolysis for Hydrogen Production: Principles and Applications (2015, CRC Press) and PEM Water Electrolysis, Volumes 1 and 2 (2018, Academic Press). He also serves as principal investigator for the South Africa–Japan SATREPS research program on green hydrogen and ammonia. His professional email address is publicly listed on university engineering department pages.