Michael Claeys joins Breakthrough Energy’s Innovator Fellows program from C STAR in Cape Town, South Africa. Michael is a Full Professor at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and co-founder of three UCT spin-out companies. His research bridges cutting-edge academic work with real-world industrial applications, with a particular focus on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, developing novel catalytic materials and characterization under operando conditions. Through his multidisciplinary collaborations and strong industry partnerships, he has been recognized as an A-rated researcher by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. Together with Professor Nico Fischer, he co-founded C STAR.

C STAR is developing a highly efficient, scalable CO2-to-Fuel technology that converts captured CO2 and green H2 into drop-in hydrocarbon fuels. Designed for decentralized use, the technology targets emissions from hard-to-decarbonize sectors such as transportation and remote industry. With support from the Breakthrough Energy Fellowship, C STAR seeks to scale up their system to further develop and derisk it.

In 1998, Michael relocated from Germany to South Africa to join the University of Cape Town, where he continued his academic career. He holds both a Diplom-Ingenieur and a Doctorate (Dr.-Ing) in Chemical Engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, formerly known as the University of Karlsruhe.