Dr Kaven Naidoo is the CSIR Group Executive: Business Excellence and Integration, effective 1 September 2022.
Dr Naidoo joined the CSIR in 1999 as an aeronautical engineer within the Defence Aeronautics Programme in the then Defencetek Operating Unit. He subsequently participated in and led various projects for the Department of Defence, industry and the CSIR in the area of computational and experimental aerodynamics. Kaven attained the position of principal researcher before being appointed as the Competency Area Manager for CSIR Aeronautics Systems in 2013 and has held various leadership roles in the organisation over the years.
He has led several national-level efforts in aerospace on behalf of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation and has facilitated several dialogues on empowering the growth of the sector in the region and on the continent. He has also served on the International Forum for Aviation Research, an alliance of the leaders of the world’s premier aeronautics institutes including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the German Aerospace Centre, the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency and other national aerospace laboratories across the globe in a collaboration to address the world’s most pressing aviation challenges.
In 2020, Kaven was appointed as Divisional Operations Manager for CSIR Advanced Production and Security.
He holds a PhD in aeronautical engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and has completed the Executive National Security Programme with the Department of Defence.
