Alumnus Develops System to Extract Water from Beneath Moon’s Surface

Chemical engineering alumnus, Mr Lolan Naicker has won top honours in the international Aqualunar Challenge for developing a system to extract water from the moon’s frozen rocks and dust.

Naicker, with colleague Dr Ciarán Callaghan, earned first place in the UK Space Agency-funded competition aimed at finding sustainable water purification solutions to support future lunar habitation.

Naicker entered the £1.2 million Aqualunar Challenge through his UK-based company, Naicker Scientific Ltd, which he founded in 2021. The competition was run by Challenge Works – part of Nesta – in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency and Impact Canada. The challenge focused on extracting and purifying water from beneath the moon’s surface to support NASA’s Artemis programme and other future lunar missions.

Naicker’s childhood fascination with space exploration initially seemed out of reach in South Africa. He chose to study Chemical Engineering at the former University of Natal (now UKZN) for its breadth, career opportunities and the availability of bursaries, receiving one from SASOL. The demanding nature of the programme left little room for extracurricular activities, but Naicker found that it provided a world-class education. The curriculum’s structured progression – from broad fundamentals to more focused engineering applications – allowed him to develop a multidisciplinary skillset, which he still draws on today.

After graduating, Naicker joined a Sasol petrochemical plant in Sasolburg, where he launched a career that would eventually intersect with the space industry. He completed a part-time undergraduate degree in physics at Unisa, followed by postgraduate studies in theoretical physics and space engineering at the University of Cape Town and Cranfield University in the United Kingdom. His career path took him through a range of sectors, including the nuclear industry, STEM education, consumer electronics, cosmetics and eventually aerospace.

Driven by a desire for greater autonomy and cross-sector innovation, Naicker founded his own company, despite the uncertainty of relying on a single short-term consulting contract and with a family and mortgage to support. Three years later, Naicker Scientific Ltd is thriving. The boutique tech firm develops its own products and undertakes interdisciplinary consulting projects often overlooked by larger companies.

‘I don’t know why the recipe for what the company does works, but it does,’ said Naicker, reflecting on the challenge of building a business from consultancy to product development. The Aqualunar Challenge provided an opportunity to revisit his undergraduate daydreams of processing plants on other planets.

Competing against larger, more established teams, Naicker focused on developing his idea into a detailed and credible solution, confident that even if he didn’t win, it would be worth pursuing. He succeeded, winning £150 000 for his pioneering SonoChem System.

The SonoChem System is an acoustic water purification process designed for the moon’s hostile, frigid, airless, low-gravity environment. It transforms icy lunar regolith into potable water with minimal energy. The system uses microwaves to defrost ice and ultrasound to generate millions of microbubbles in the meltwater. The extreme conditions inside these bubbles create free radicals, highly reactive atoms that break down contaminants, resulting in clean drinking water for astronauts.

Beyond lunar missions, the technology shows promise for harsh environments on Earth and other planetary bodies. Naicker also identified standalone components of the SonoChem System that can be commercialised for both terrestrial and space applications.

Building on this momentum, Naicker is now developing spin-off technologies for specific clients. These include systems for thermal management of high-power space electronics and hardware for an in-space technology demonstration mission scheduled for launch later this year.

Entrepreneurship has pushed Naicker out of his comfort zone while energising his innate love of challenge. The Aqualunar win has brought new contracts and collaboration opportunities, marking a growth phase for Naicker Scientific Ltd that includes recruitment and further development.

A father of three young children, Naicker devotes his free time to family life. He encourages students and young professionals to follow their own paths, even if unconventional, and not to be discouraged by rigid definitions of success.

‘Don’t be afraid to venture into the unknown, to create your own definition of who you want to be, and your own definition of what success means to you,’ said Naicker.

Words: Christine Cuénod

Photographs: Max Alexander/Aqualunar Challenge