Meet Professor Elisha Didam Markus who is a highly driven individual with lots of industry experience and exceptional skills and expertise in Electrical engineering and advanced research methodology. His main research interests include but not limited to: Robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoTs), Smart networks, control systems and assistive mobility.

He started his career in the Telecommunications industry in January 2001 as a Network/Switching Engineer, where he participated in maintenance, commissioning, and decommissioning of Engineering projects such as Network Switches, Transmission networks, etc.

While working in the industry, he enrolled for a master’s degree program in Electrical/Electronic Engineering on a part-time basis. After spending nine years as a Network Engineer, he joined Babcock University Nigeria in 2009 as a lecturer for about two years before pursuing his doctoral studies at Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria. He completed his Doctoral study focusing on Industrial Robotics and artificial intelligence in 2016 and later joined Rhodes University, where he completed his postgraduate diploma in higher education (PGDipHE) for academic developers.

Prof. Markus is currently leading several research projects such as: Cooperative control of multiple robotic systems, assistive mobility systems, smart networks, IoTs and wireless communications. His other research interests include nonlinear control, assistive mobility, Differential Flatness, Telecommunications, and emerging technologies. His research has attracted funding of over R3 Million in the last five years and has since signed memoranda of agreement between the university and industry to fund projects in smart networks.

He has also partnered with the University of Paris Saclay, France and The Smart Networks Collaboration Initiative with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), where they coordinate activities on smart networks at CUT. The project is envisioned to develop efficient and secure networks for future smart systems such as smart cities, smart grid, and smart water grid. The collaboration has resulted in developing human capacity and the next generation of technologists and scientists.

Furthermore, Prof. Markus has received several awards including the NRF Thuthuka award, early career and mid-career faculty research awards, Vice Chancellor early career research awards and Vice-Chancellor Innovation awards. He has also recently received NRF C2 rating (see other NRF-rated researchers at CUT) from 2025-2030.

He is currently the interim chair of the university artificial intelligence hub and serves as a member of the following faculty committees: research and innovation, internationalization, community engagement, and Centre for Sustainable Smart Cities. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers (SMIEEE), member South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (MSAIEE) and is registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA).

Prof. Markus has successfully supervised 14 master’s and 3 Doctoral students, shaping research focusing on robotics, artificial intelligence, and smart systems. He is a frequent external examiner of master’s and Doctoral dissertations in his field and a member of board of examiners for such programs at the University of Mauritius and Eduvos in South Africa.

He has authored about 100 publications comprising peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings. He is also a regularly reviewer of many high-impact journals including Robotics and autonomous systems, Elsevier - Journal of the Franklin Institute, IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, various MDPI journals, etc. He also reviews Robotic conferences such as: IFAC, PRASA-RobMech, IROS, IFAC, MDPI, etc. In 2019, he was Editor and Technical Chair for IEEE Robmech-PRASA-SAUPEC Conference held at the Central University of Technology. He has also served as the Robotics and Mechatronics (RobMech) track chair of RAPDASAconference for many years as well as TPCs for conferences locally and internationally. His scholarly work is currently registered on Google Scholar, Web of Science, with some of my articles widely cited in the Robotics and AI fields.