Dr Sulaiman Saleem Patel is an alumnus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), where he completed his B.Sc.Eng. (Electronic Engineering) Summa Cum Laude in 2015 and his Ph.D in 2018. At the time, Sulaiman was recognized as UKZN’s youngest-ever PhD graduate in Electronic Engineering.

Dr Patel is currently a lecturer in Electronic Engineering at the UKZN, and is actively involved in working with both undergraduate and postgraduate students. His research has won awards at international conferences, and been televised on SABC as recently as 2024. Dr Patel’s contributions to Science and Technology were publicised when he was listed amongst the Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans in 2020.

Presently, Dr Patel is actively involved in a number of academic projects and industry collaborations. He is an Associate Member of the UKZN Sustainable Transportation Research Group; and also has ongoing research collaborations in Digital Transformation for the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector. Dr Patel is also an expert peer reviewer for a variety of international journals and conferences.

Dr Patel is a member of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) and is actively involved in supporting the SAIEE Student Chapter at UKZN. He is also registered as a Candidate Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa.