He is currently the Senior Professor of Physical Chemistry in the University of Witwatersrand .

During his career life, Professor Scurrell was the Senior Manager for the Applied Research Department, Chemical Laboratory Manager and Chemistry Manager of the Anglo American Research Company . He was also the Research & Development Manager for the Division of Energy and prior to that the Catalysis Divisional Head for the Chemical Engineering Division of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research ( CSIR ). Professor Scurrell was also a Professor of Chemical Engineering in the Technical University of Denmark and the Dean for the Faculty of Science in the University of Witwatersrand . Before that, he was the Department Head of the Catalysis Research Center of British Gas in UK and an Engineer & a Research Fellow for the Imperial Chemical Industries and the University of Scotland in UK . He was also a NATO Research Fellow for the University of Wisconsin in the USA and a Professor of Conversion & Storage Energy at the CNR-TAE Institute in Italy .

Professor Scurrell has PhD, Masters and Bachelors degrees in Chemistry . He is a Chartered Chemist and a Fellow of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry . He was the Chairman of the National Catalysis Society, an active member of the National Chemical Institute and the American Chemical Society . He was the Editor of the Catalysis Today publication, the National Representative for IUPAC Commission on Surface Chemistry & Colloids including Catalysis and the National Representative for International Association of Catalysis Societies ( IACS ). He has over 115 publications in the field of catalysis & materials processing.