UJ’s Melina Katende recognised with ‘Emerging Scholar Award’

Date: Mar 14, 2019 | News, Students Achievements

Melina Mutambaie Katende a former University of Johannesburg (UJ) student has been selected as a recipient of the Technology, Knowledge & Society Research Network Emerging Scholar Award along with four other recipients from the US, India, and Cyprus.

Melina’s paper was accepted to be presented at the 15th International Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society which was held at ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering in Barcelona, Spain on 11-12 March 2019.

Representing UJ, Melina was also appointed as chairperson in the themed panel sessions. This year, the conference themes focused on the Social Impact of AI: Policies and New Governance Models for Social Change.

Melina has studied at the University of Johannesburg since 2008. She completed her undergraduate degree, a BCom in IT Management as well as an Honours degree in Informatics. She completed her Master’s dissertation in 2018 under the supervision of Dr Shopee Dube at the Department of Applied Information Systems.

The award provides a strong professional development opportunity for early career academics—meeting experts in the field, interacting with colleagues from other parts of the world, and creating networks and lasting connections. Awardees are invited to attend the conference to present their work and play a critical organizational role in the conference by leading discussions, chairing parallel sessions, and providing assistance in session rooms.

Founded in 2005, the conference is brought together by a shared interest in the complex and subtle relationships between technology, knowledge, and society.

Melina was also shortlisted to present at the International Business Conference in Mauritius. Melina’s research paper on “IT Governance in Decentralised Autonomous Organisations” was well rated and selected for presentation at the third International Conference on the Internet, Cyber Security and Information Systems (ICICIS), University of Botswana Conference Centre Gaborone, Botswana.

While furthering her studies, Melina worked as an IT Business analyst and is well versed in the electronic payment and collections space. Her experience ranges from African remittance systems, KYC, fintech, payments to customs clearing and enterprise resource planning.