MSc Chemistry students awarded travel grants to attend an international workshop at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Two Msc chemistry students (Royford Muchui Mugambi (left side) and Ismael Kithinji Kinoti (right side) have been awarded travel grants to attend an international workshop to be held at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on 5^th – 6^th October, 2022. The workshop is sponsored by the Swedish Government under the International Networks Grant for the Sustainable Development Goals (DGs 2021-02691). The travel grants will support a return ticket flight, accommodation and local transport in Tanzania. The project is being implemented by a consortium of several institutions which include Meru University of Science & Technology (Kenya), Uppsala University (Sweden), University of Lagos (Nigeria), Makerere University (Uganda) and University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania).

The workshop theme is ‘sustainable construction for sub-Sahara Africa’. The students are conducting research on sustainable cement-based materials. The workshop comes at a time when the challenges related to climate change and global warming are evident in Kenya in form of floods and drought and in other different forms and parts of the globe. the building sector is responsible for the greatest portion of these global warming problems, with building materials accounting for over 40 % of the raw materials extracted annually. Sustainability in building and construction is now a top priority in many countries that aim to achieve net carbon targets by 2030 and SDG’s. Besides environmental protection, green buildings have the potential to significantly reduce the cost of building operations over time. The global trend is moving towards sustainability and hence, sustainable building materials have prime importance in the construction industry. One important aspect of green construction is the choice by contractors to use greener cement as well as other sustainable building materials that promote low-carbon construction and adopt technologies with an inherent low carbon footprint. This workshop is aimed at discussing the alternative binders for blocks used in residential buildings in Sub-Saharan Africa, which can lead to opportunities for reduced climate footprint, lower costs and increased employment opportunities.

For more information on sustainable construction materials and technologies, contact: materialsproject@must.ac.ke