?Mienke Knipe, a doctoral student in transport economics at Stellenbosch 肆客足球, has recently been awarded the prestigious Lee Schipper Memorial Scholarship for Sustainable Transport and Energy Efficiency for her research on electrifying minibus taxis. She is one of only three researchers globally — and the only one in Africa — to receive this award.
Since 2013, the Lee Schipper Memorial Scholarship has carried forward Lee Schipper's legacy of enriching international policy dialogue on sustainable transport and energy efficiency. Schipper, a physicist, researcher, musician, and co-founder of EMBARQ (today, the Urban Mobility programme of the World Resources Institute (WRI)'s Ross Center for Sustainable Cities), inspired and shaped the thinking of a generation of students and professionals. The Volvo Research and Educational Foundation (VREF) supports the scholarship, which provides funding and mentoring advice to promising young researchers.
Knipe's research aims to identify a practical approach to implementing electric minibus taxis in South Africa. She is designing an electrification financial viability model informed by vehicle tracking data of minibus taxis in Cape Town. Knipe is working with minibus taxi owners to determine their willingness to transition to electric vehicles as well as practical requirements for such a transition. She will develop a holistic framework for evaluating electric vehicle integration in the country.
In response to this international acclaim, Knipe says she feels “deeply honoured and grateful to be selected as one of only three recipients of this global award, chosen from among thousands of applicants. It is both humbling and encouraging to have my research recognised in this way.
“This award affirms the importance of not just conducting research on the minibus taxi industry, but working in partnership with the industry to co-develop sustainable solutions that are both practical and embraced by operators themselves.
“It offers an invaluable opportunity to collaborate with leading experts in sustainable transport, including Prof Thinus Booysen and Dr Brendan Pretorius from SU, as well as colleagues from the World Bank, WRI, and the VREF," adds Knipe.
She says the scholarship will enable her to present her work at a prestigious international forum — the Transforming Transportation conference in Washington, D.C. — in March 2026. It will also provide critical funding to support the publication of her research in a peer-reviewed academic journal, enhancing both its visibility and impact.
Knipe recently completed the World Bank's Africa Fellowship as a transport economist. ?
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