Arno de Klerk

Arno de Klerk obtained his formal qualifications at the University of Pretoria (Pretoria, South Africa). He holds B. Eng., B. Eng. Hons. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering, as well as an M.Sc. degree in analytical chemistry. He also completed a BSc in Computer Science (non-degree purposes) at the University of South Africa.

After obtaining his B. Eng. Degree in 1991, he started his career in forensic science at Forensic Science Laboratory of the South African Police in Pretoria. Initially he worked as analyst and later became manager of their precious metals analysis group. In 1994 he moved to industry, joining Sasol as a process engineer in their Research and Development division based in Sasolburg, South Africa. After a year he took an internal transfer to their refining catalysis department, where he was responsible for catalysis research, as well as laboratory reactor and pilot plant design. He became a registered professional engineer in South Africa in 1999. In 2001 he was appointed as research manager of the Fischer-Tropsch Refinery Catalysis group, being responsible for catalysis research related to conversion processes for the refining of Fischer-Tropsch syncrude to fuels and chemicals. In this capacity he directed applied industrial research, as well as fundamental research in collaboration with various universities. In 2009 he relocated from South Africa to Edmonton, AB, Canada, becoming faculty in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta. He became a registered professional engineer in Alberta, Canada in 2011. At present he holds the position of the Nexen Professor of Catalytic Reaction Engineering.

Arno de Klerk served as committee member of the Northern (later Gauteng) branch of the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers since 1990 and in the capacity as branch secretary from 1994 to 2007. He is also a member of the American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry and the Chemical Institute of Canada.