The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), United Kingdom (UK) in support of Cardiff University, UK institutional Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) activities has awarded Dr. Joseph Mwiti, the HEFCW-GCRF Fellowship Award on Circular-Cement: local resources for affordable and sustainable infrastructures in Kenya. The award is meant to support the development of further research collaborations, joint publications and funding proposals between Meru University of Science & Technology and Cardiff University. The envisaged project will be implemented in collaboration with Dr. Riccardo Maddalena and Dr. Eshrar Latif both from Cardiff University, UK.

The award has been granted for:

1. Capacity and capability building in the UK and Kenya;
2. Challenge-led interdisciplinary and collaborative research activity in low carbon cements for sustainable building and construction;
3. Research networking and knowledge sharing.

The award is a major boost towards promoting the development of eco-friendly cements using Kenyan local cementitious materials with the potential to promote sustainable low-carbon cements leading to (i) enhanced physical infrastructure development, (ii) establishment of County industries, (iii) creating employment opportunities and stimulating micro-economic development.

The primary materials of interest in this project include but not limited to; agro-wastes, industrial wastes and local natural resources among others. Ultimately, the award will focus on the developing sustainable durable low-carbon building materials, specially designed for wet/rainy and dry environments, by using local and natural materials, in line with the UN sustainable Goals 12 and 13. The experimental designed mixes will be potentially economically viable and affordable, minimizing the transportation distance from the point of cement production to the end user, whilst using only locally available pozzolanic materials. A Kenya-based life cycle analysis will be central to evaluate the sustainability of low-carbon materials and their impact onto the environment and human health. The award align to the strategy of (i) Cardiff University School of Engineering to develop sustainable construction materials that will improve the durability, the safety and to reduce maintenance costs; (iii) Welsh School of Architecture strategy, to develop low-carbon built environment in the UK as well.

For more details on the innovative cements please refer to: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mjwEPuUAAAAJ&hl=en