Renowned chemist, Dr Parekh dies

Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter
NATIONAL University of Science and Technology (NUST) has lost one of its renowned chemist, a senior lecturer in the Applied Chemistry Department, Dr Chamaklal Thakorlal Parekh who died last Thursday.

In a statement on Friday, the tertiary institution said: “Today NUST mourns the loss of renowned chemist, Dr Chamaklal Thakorlal Parekh a senior lecturer in the Applied Chemistry Department who passed away yesterday, Thursday, 16 September 2021.”

The university said Dr  Parekh was a well-known chemistry scientist, known for the registering, together with Mr Donatus Dube, a patent on water filtration and purification: “A method of manufacture of ceramic-magnetite granules for water treatment”: Patent No. 21/2010, 2011, Zimbabwe.

The university  project received a grant from the then Ministry of Science and Technology to build a prototype of the filter.

NUST said: “A well-researched academic, Dr Parekh co-authored over 10 publications in the field of chemistry. He was appointed as a fulltime lecturer in the Department of Applied Chemistry in 1993 then later promoted to Senior Lectureship.”

Dr Parekh was appointed acting chairman of the same Department from September 1995 to December 1996. Between May 2009 and February 2010, he was appointed as acting Dean for a “varying period”.

The institution said his leadership qualities led to his appointment as substantive chairman for the Department of Applied Chemistry, a post he served between January 2011 to December 2013.

“At the time of his death, he was serving the university on a post-retirement contract.”