Dr Tobias Bischof-Niemz is the Centre Manager: Energy at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria, where he leads the establishment of an integrated energy research centre and a growing team of scientists and engineers. Before joining the CSIR, he was with South Africa's electric utility Eskom in the Energy Planning Unit, where he was part of the team that developed the long-term power-capacity expansion plan (Integrated Resource Plan - IRP) for South Africa.