Academic Qualifications:
- Doctor of Philosophy (2017) – Materials Science, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom,
- Master of Science (2009) - Advanced Engineering Materials, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.
- Bachelor of Mineral Sciences (2005) - Metallurgy, University of Zambia, Zambia.
Dr. Kaonda started her primary education at Kapombo primary school in Kapombo district, in 1985 and then moved to a number of primary schools before finally moving to Valley View primary school in Kitwe, where she did her grade 5, 6 and 7 from 1989 to 1991. Thereafter she went to Hellen Kaunda in Kitwe for her junior secondary school then went to St Theresa Girls Secondary School in Kasama, where she completed her senior secondary school. After completing her senior secondary education in 1996 Dr. Kaonda applied for admission in the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Zambia with the view of pursuing an engineering course as she enjoyed science and mathematics. She was accepted in the School of Natural Sciences in 1999. In her second year Dr. Kaonda moved to the school of mines, Department of Metallurgy and Mineral Processing. She completed her Bachelor of Mineral Sciences programme in 2005.
Her first appointment was at Konkola Copper Mines (Konkola and thereafter Napundwe division), where she worked as Assistant Senior Metallurgical Engineer from October 2005 to November 2006. Whilst working for KCM, she was approached by the Head of Department for Metallurgy and Mineral Processing, to consider applying for a staff development fellowship. She was eventually appointed as a staff development fellow in 2007 to teach physical metallurgy.
In 2008 Dr. Kaonda was awarded the commonwealth scholarship to study for an MSc (Eng) in Advanced Engineering Materials at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. She completed her Program in 2009 and graduated with a distinction. Upon her return from studies she was appointed as the first female lecturer in the School of Mines. In 2011 she was appointed as Assistant Dean for undergraduates, a post she held until she left to pursue her Ph.D studies in Material Sciences at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, in September 2012 under the Commonwealth Scholarship. She completed her Ph.D in August 2017 (she worked on ‘Prediction of the recrystallized grain size distribution after deformation for Nb Free and Nb Model steel’). She is currently back at the University of Zambia, where she is working as a Lecturer as well as the Assistant Dean for research.
Membership to professional bodies:
- The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
- The Engineering Institution of Zambia
- The Institute of Materials, Mining and Metallurgy
