Nicholas Featherstone completed his BSc.Eng with first-class honours in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa in 2021. After this, he began an MSc (also at UCT) in 2022 under the supervision of Professor Eric van Steen on the direct hydrogenation of CO2 into liquid fuels over iron-based catalysts. He upgraded his project to a PhD at the beginning of 2023 and submitted his PhD for examination at the end of 2025. He started as a postdoctoral researcher in the LCT under Professor Mark Saeys at the beginning of 2026.
His current research focuses on the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over cobalt-based catalysts for the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). His work falls part of the e-SAF project being co-ordinated at the LCT and also includes process modelling for SAF production