Technical Director Bio

1-year Postgraduate Masters (MSc), Cranfield University, United Kingdom, 2009 - 2010

Awarded full funding by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office - Chevening Scholar 2009.

Masters thesis: Cryogenic liquid propellant rocket engine design (full-flow staged combustion), Reaction Engines Ltd, UK.  Supervised by Dr R.C. Parkinson MBE (internal), Mark Hempsell and Alan Bond (external).

Group project: Active debris removal mission concept design and mission cost estimate - the first published estimate of cost/kg to remove space junk. Responsible for electric and chemical propulsion orbital mechanics work package.

Extracurricular: IET Innovation Award Finalist 2011, Design/build/test/flight of a Mars-analogue stratospheric microbial sampling experiment incorporating NASA biological contamination control protocols. Two flight campaigns from Esrange Space Centre, Swedish Arctic.

Extracurricular: NASA Science Award. Concurrent engineering study for a human-rated spacecraft and mission design, Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme (IRS) Germany. Responsible for the manned spacecraft environmental control and life support system design work package.

1-year Postgraduate Honours (BScHon), University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2008  

Awarded full funding by the National Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Completed in part at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna Russia.

Research project: Application of numerical methods in cosmological physics.

3-year Bachelors (BSc, part-time), University of South Africa, South Africa, 2003 - 2005 

Completed part-time while working full-time in the petrochemical industry.

4-year Bachelors (BScEng), University of Natal, South Africa, 1999 - 2002

Accredited by IChemE UK.

Awarded full funding by Sasol Ltd.

Final year focus on bio-chemical engineering.

Three industry placements at Sasol Ltd petrochemical plants.

1. 'Beverage container with active temperature control', Clayton Alexander, Rahul Mulinti, Daren John LEITH, Mikko Juhani TIMPERI, Christopher Thomas WAKEHAM, Rob Lawson-Shanks, Edward Sebert Maurice SHELTON, Lolan NAICKER, WO publication number 2024191976A1, filed 12 March 2024, assigned to Ember Technologies Inc.
2. 'Cup', Clayton Alexander,Daren John Leith, Mikko Juhani Timperi, Fenton Lane Stith, Jacob William Emmert, Rahul Mulinti, Edward Sebert Maurice Shelton, Lolan NAICKER, Simon David James,  publication number USD1035358S, filed 19 September 2022, assigned to Ember Technologies Inc.
3. 'A heater module comprising a thick film heating element', J.L. Chun-Chiu, L. Naicker, WO publication number 2022117983A1, filed 03 December 2020, assigned to Dyson Technology Ltd. A design feature allowing mass production yield improvement through electrical resistance trimming of off-spec parts.
4. ’Biopolymer Particle Preparation’, L. Naicker, D. Mattia, J. Scott, WO patent publication number 2021198688, filed 31 March 2021, assigned to Naturbeads Ltd. Production quality and yield improvement based on thermal manipulation of an intermediate product.
5. 'Biopolymer particles and their preparation', A.R. Wilson, D. Mattia, L. Naicker , WO patent publication number 2023052744A1, filed 23 September 2023, assigned to Naturbeads Ltd. A method of dissolving cellulose that avoids the use of a co-solvent considered harmful in cosmetic products. 
6. 'A heater’, L. Naicker, I. Guerreiro, WO patent publication number 2018206911, filed 10 May 2015, assigned to Dyson Technology Ltd. A manufacturing approach for joining components with dissimilar thermal expansion properties for a high thermal cycling application.
7. ’A hand held appliance’, I. Guerreiro, S. Saunders, E. Shelton, L. Naicker, K. Crawford, WO patent publication number 2018130832, filed 12 January 2017, assigned to Dyson Technology Ltd. A high thermal power density core-technology for a consumer electronics product.

• 'Nitrous oxide monopropellant thrusters - Reloaded', A. Baker, M. Heywood, L. Naicker, J. Coleman, G. Martin, Space Propulsion 2024 Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, 20-23 May 2024.
• 'ISRU hydrogen engine for sustainable planetary exploration', A. Baker, L. Naicker, Space Propulsion 2024 Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, 20-23 May 2024.
• 'High temperature superconducting magnets: Enabling technology for enhanced spacecraft electric propulsion', A. Baker, L. Naicker, P. Dembo, T. Clayson, M. Stokes, D. Salmon, Space Propulsion 2022 Conference, Estoril, Portugal, 9-12 May 2022.
• ‘An overview of development model testing for the LEROS 4 high thrust apogee engine’, L. Naicker, R. Wall and D. Perigo, Space Propulsion 2014 Conference, Cologne, Germany, 19-22 May 2014, No. 2969298. [Presentation slides]
• ‘Material and geometry trade-off of the LEROS 4 1100 N high thrust apogee engine’, M. Poucet, L. Naicker, I. Coxhill and J. Hammond, Space Propulsion 2014 Conference, Cologne, Germany, 19-22 May 2014, No. 2969411.
• ‘A high flow rate apogee engine solenoid valve for the next generation of ESA planetary missions’, M. Houston, P. Smith, L. Naicker, D. Perigo and R. Wall, Space Propulsion 2014 Conference, Cologne, Germany, 19-22 May 2014, No. 2962486.
• ‘Progress towards a 1.1kN apogee engine for interplanetary propulsion’, L. Naicker, A. Baker, I. Coxhill, J. Hammond, M. Houston, D. Perigo, N. Solway and R. Wall, Space Propulsion 2012 Conference, Bordeaux, France, 7-10 May 2012, No. 2394092. 
• ‘Cranfield Astrobiological Stratospheric Sampling Experiment (CASS•E): Overall performance of the experiment during flight and particle collection filter analysis’, C.M. Juanes-Vallejo, V.V. Grama, I. Katramados, L. Naicker, C.C. Rato, C. Rix, E. Sanchez-Camilo, M. Patel and D.C. Cullen, 62nd International Astronautical Congress 2011, Cape Town, South Africa, 3-7 October 2011, No. IAC-11-11878.
• ‘CASS-E : Cranfield Astrobiological Stratospheric Sampling Experiment’, L. Naicker, V.V. Grama, C.M. Juanes-Vallejo, I. Katramados, C. Rato, C. Rix, E. Sanchez and D. Cullen, 61st International Astronautical Congress 2010, Prague, Czech Republic, 27 September - 1 October 2010, No. IAC-10-6674. 
• 'Examination of dust in AVR pipe components', H. Barnert, A. Buckaemsky, G. Caspary, R. Enge, J. Fachinger, A. Koster, A. Kummer, M. Makumbe, L. Naicker and M. Seubert, 4th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology, Washington DC, USA, 28 September - 1 October 2008, No. HTR2008-58033.
• 'PBMR Confinement Analysis during Helium Pressure Boundary Breaks', J. Fontanet, L.E. Herranz, A. Ramlakan and L. Naicker, 4th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology, Washington DC, USA, 28 September - 1 October 2008, No. HTR2008-58051. 
• ‘PBMR Safety Analysis : Aerosol Modelling for Generation IV Nuclear Plants', L. Naicker and A. Ramlakan, European Aerosol Conference 2007, Salzburg, Austria, 9-14 September 2007, No. T12A035.

• 'Towards a Global Baseline for Astronomy Development', L. Naicker and K. Govender, Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal, IAU Division XII Commission 55, Issue 7, Page 14-17.
• 'Modelling of HTR confinement behaviour during accidents involving breach of the helium pressure boundary', J. Fontanet, L.E. Herranz, A. Ramlakan, and L. Naicker, Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations, 4 June 2009, Volume 2009, No. 687634. 

• 'Snapshot: Having a blast!', L. Naicker, The Chemical Engineer (TCE) Magazine, Volume 870/71, IChemE, December 2013.
• 'HTGR confinement response to loss of coolant accidents', J. Fontanet, L.E. Herranz, A. Ramlakan and L. Naicker, Nuclear Espana, Volume 297, Page 31-36, 2009

• 'Reaction Engines Ltd SOMA engine: A reusable rocket engine design', L. Naicker, Cranfield University, MSc Thesis, 2010.  Supervised by Dr R.C. Parkinson MBE (internal), Mark Hempsell and Alan Bond (external).
• ’Debris Removal Low Earth Orbit: Orbits’, L. Naicker, Cranfield University, MSc Group Design Project Report, 2010. Responsible for electric and chemical propulsion orbital mechanics work package.
• 'Space Station Design Workshop 2010: Final Report', Concurrent engineering mission study for a human-rated spacecraft and mission design. Responsible for the environmental control and life support system work package. Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme (IRS) Germany, 2010. Principal Investigator Dr Paul Abell. Supervised by Dr E. Messerschmid.
• 'A cost estimate for debris removal in Low Earth Orbit', L. Naicker and A. Ratcliffe, Presentation at the 1st European workshop on Active Debris Removal, CNES, Paris, 2010. 

• ’Signal Fire Series Episode 6 - On Science, Engineering and Life’, Keshni Naicker Washington, podcast, January 2021. 
• ’Space Propulsion - Moog Sees Higher-thrust Liquid Propellant Engine as Right Fit for Mars Missions’, Debra Werner, www.spacenews.com, 15 July 2013.
• 'Liquid Apogee Engine', Wikipedia article, 15 November 2014