Dr Boitumelo Ramatsetse is currently a Commissioner in the National Planning Commission (NPC). He also serves as the Chairperson of the Strategy Task Team in the NPC. By academic profession, he is a Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at Stellenbosch University as well as a Research and Innovation (RnI) Associate at the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (FEBE), Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in South Africa. He has over ten years of teaching and research experience at higher education institutions with vast knowledge in areas of engineering, design, risk analysis, problem solving, project management, manufacturing, innovation, and leadership. He holds a Doctor of Engineering (D-Eng), Master of Technology (M-Tech) degree in Industrial Engineering, Bachelor of Technology (B-Tech), National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from TUT as well as Certificate in Project Management from University of South Africa (UNISA).

He is an associate member of Southern African Institute of Industrial Engineers (SAIIE), member of Southern African Institute of Mechanical Engineers (SAIMechE) as well as Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM). He has served at the National Research Foundation (NRF) funding committee for the year 2017, 2021 and he was also the member of the Local Organising Committee for the CIRP (The International Academy for Production Engineering) design conference 2020 held in South Africa. He is currently a Y-Rated NRF researcher with over 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers and four book chapters. To date, he has successfully filed three patents in South Africa and China. He has been invited to present on innovation and advanced manufacturing initiatives in countries such as Tanzania (Dar es Salaam), Mozambique (Maputo), Germany (Ingenieurbüro Wolfgang Bauer-IWB), UK (London Imperial College), Mexico (Monterrey), China (Beihang, Tsinghua and Tongji University) where he established business and research collaborations.

He has been actively involved in numerous interdisciplinary research projects in collaboration with research institutions, industries, and government organisations. Through his efforts, he has attracted over R1 182 800 worth of seed-funding for technology development and commercialisation. He has received over 20 awards and recognitions for his efforts, which includes, winner 2020/2021 NSTF-South32 TW-Kambule Emerging Researcher award, finalist 2020/2021 NSTF-South32 Innovation Award: Corporate Organisation, 2021 Mail and Guardian 200 most influential Young South Africans, semi-finalist Accenture Rising Star Awards 2021, third place winner GAP Innovation Competition 2020, the most efficient PhD candidate, winner Intellectual Property Competition 2020, finalist for the Standard Bank Rising Star Awards 2017, best poster award IEOM conference 2018, Gibela Research Chair Contribution Award 2018, National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO) Patent Award 2017, NRF Freestanding and Innovation Doctoral Fellowships 2016, highest number of publications award 2016, finalist Step-Up Technology Innovation Competition 2013, winner Sasol Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Baja Competition 2011 etc. His research interests include innovation, maintenance engineering, life cycle management, reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS), production systems, machine design, ranging from theory to design implementation.