Mthulisi (Mike) completed a BSc (Hons) in Textile Chemistry, at the National University of Science and Technology (in Bulawayo), having majored in fibrous materials and textile materials in the latter stages of his studies, and completing a year in industry. After completing an MSc training programme at the University of Leeds, Mthulisi graduated in 2013 with an MSc in Polymers and Surface Coatings Science and Technology. This involved a research collaboration with Pyroguard Ltd, under the supervision of Prof James Guthrie, to synthesise and characterise intumescent hydrogel matrices.  He was awarded a PhD in (Polymer) Chemistry by the University of Leeds, in 2017 on research into biodegradable materials created by the ring opening polymerisations of α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides and O-carboxyanhydrides, under the supervision of Dr Paul Thornton and the co-supervision of Prof James Guthrie. Mike joined the Heise Group in 2017 as a postdoctoral researcher on a fully funded industry project under the AMBER research Centre. 

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