Grants Beneficiaries

Professor Julius Mwakondo Mwabora earned a B.Sc. (Physics major) and M.Sc. in Physics from the University of Nairobi (UoN) in 1990 and 1993, respectively. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1999. He joined the Department of Physics at the UoN in 1992 as a Graduate Assistant, was promoted Tutorial Fellow in 1994, to Lecturer in 2000, to Senior Lecturer in 2003, to Associate Professor in 2009, and to Full Professor in 2014. He was Chairman, Department of Physics, UoN from 2013 to 2019. He has acted severally as Dean, School of Physical Sciences, UoN from 2014 -2019.  The Prof. Mwabora is currently the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF) Coordinator and contact person at the University of Nairobi.

Prof. Mwabora’s stints as a visiting researcher at Graduate and Postdoctoral levels at the Institute of Energy Conversion, University of Delaware, USA under the Fulbright programme (1997-1998),  Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden (2001 and 2002) under the International Science Programmes, and Heterogeneous Material System Section (SE2), Hahn-Meitner-Institute (Now Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy  Berlin), Germany (2005 and 2009) under DAAD Fellowship exposed him to international collaboration and  multidisplinary nature of materials science, solar cells research and Energy. His current research interests are Dye sensitized solar cells, Nanomaterials for Energy and Environment, Thin Films, Materials, and Energy.

Prof. Mwabora has many years of research, teaching experience and expert advice experience to government of Kenya. To date he has supervised Eight Ph.D. and Eleven M.Sc. student theses to completion, published over forty scientific articles in peer reviewed journals. As of 2020, Google Scholar reports over 1200 citations to his work. He has given numerous invited talks and involved in Education, Science, Technology and Innovation policy issues.

Professor Mwabora is a Member of many professional bodies including Kenya National Academy of Sciences (Currently Member, Hon. Assistant Secretary, Chemical and Physical Sciences and Council Member), Physics Society of Kenya, European Physical Society, and Materials Science for Solar Energy Network for Eastern and Southern Africa, Kenya DAAD Scholars Association, UoN Alumni Association, Institute of Physics, Fulbright Alumni-Kenya Chapter, African Materials Science Society. He is currently serving as a member, Board of Governors for Coast Institute of Technology, Kenya.

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Luís Cristóvão (PhD), Principal Investigator of the project, is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Natural Resources, Zambeze University, Mozambique. His key knowledge and expertise include renewable energy and natural resource management. He has managed several grants to support his work either as PI or co-PI. Recently, he is studying water-food security-energy-biodiversity nexus in changing climate. He has published extensively (over 40 articles) in several esteemed international journals. He is currently teaching materials engineering and energy related courses. He has supervised 12 post-graduates students.

Mr. Ernesto holds a degree in Forest Sciences and a Masters in Forest Management from Brazil. He has participated in various courses on management and business incubation models.  He currently serves as the Director of the Business Incubation Centre of the Instituto Superior Politécnico de Manica. Prior to this appointment, he served as a trainee assistant of a Forestry Engineering course at the Institute from 2009 and later promoted to Director of the course. In this role he coordinated two projects financed by the Mozambique National Research Fund.

In his spare time he likes to play football with friends and watch English, German, Spanish and Portuguese football championships. He also likes to read, watch movies and listen to good music.

Emílio António is an assistant lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Natural Science, Mathematics and Statistics of the University of Rovuma, Mozambique. He holds a Master on Mathematics Education and is a   PhD Student in Energy and Environment since 2020, at the Faculty of Science and Mathematics of the Pedagogical University of Maputo, Mozambique. He also holds Multimedia Design Project course. He is currently serving as the academic chair of the Department of Open and Distance Education of the University of Rovuma, Nampula. He also served as a Monitoring and Evaluation assistant of the project of VISTA/USAID in Zambezia, Mozambique, in 2018 and 2019. He was involved at the data analysis of the Pro – Savana Project in Nampula, evaluating farmers’ preferences between technology methods and local habits techniques to agriculture, in 2017. He is an accomplished scholar with track record in research and training as demonstrated by his supervision and mentorship of graduate students. He is a member of the editorial board of Suwelani Journal of University of Rovuma. He has made contribution in research in mathematics with over 3 research publications in refereed journals and 2 oral presentations in international conferences in Mozambique, at Pedagogical University and UniRovuma while it was UP-Nampula. He is a team leader of the Research Group on Optimization and Efficiency (POPE), of the UniRovuma. He participated in the classes without frontiers project, integrated in the municipal education program “Porto de Futuro”, in collaboration with the University of Porto, Portugal in 2022. He participated on several workshops in Europe like (1) Professional management and leadership and (2) Conflict management, in Porto, Portugal.  As a person, he is highly motivated individual possessing high levels of initiative and drive, good communication and interpersonal skills. He is a team player and has been involved in drafting research projects with international partners.

Kalambuka is Associate Professor and Thematic Head of Nuclear and Radiation Physics at the Department of Physics, University of Nairobi, Kenya where he has worked since 1995. He is Founder (2006 -) and Leader of Applied Radiometrics and Spectroscopy Research Group which focuses on:

(i) Applied nuclear and radiation/health physics with emphasis on

(a) Nuclear forensics and attribution development methodologies in support of nuclear security;

(b) Analysis and modelling of nuclear traces and their impact dynamics in complex ecosystems; (c) Radiometric beam and dose quality assurance in nuclear based imaging & radiation medicine.

(ii) Method development in nuclear and laser based spectroscopy for trace (atomic, molecular, radiogenic, isotopic) microanalysis and spectral imaging/microscopy utilizing advanced chemometrics and machine/deep learning.

(iii) Diagnostics and quantitative analytical modelling of radiative surface discharges and ablation laser plasmas.

Prof Kalambuka holds BSc (Hons) and MSc degrees in Physics from the University of Nairobi (1992; 1996) and a Doctorate (Magna cum Laude) from Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany (2004). He has supervised 30 MSc and 6 PhD students in his area of specialization. Prof Kalambuka has diverse international research collaborations. His research portfolio includes 44 peer review 10 non-peer review publications and presentations at international (93) and national (8) conferences. As either principal or co-principal investigator in various research projects he has so far attracted US$ 1,550,778 (Ksh 174 million) from various grant bodies during the last 15 years.

Prof Kalambuka is a member of many professional and learned societies(Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM), International Nuclear Security Education Network (INSEN), International Radiation Physics Society, Health Physics Society (HPS), African Spectral Imaging Network (AFSIN), Eastern African Association for Radiation Protection (EAARP (Co-Founder,1997)), Physics Society of Kenya (PSK) and is a regular reviewer of a number of international peer review journals (X-Ray Spectrometry (John Wiley & Sons), Analytica Chimica Acta (Elsevier),  RSC Advances (Royal Society of Chemistry), Fuel (Elsevier), Pedosphere (Elsevier), Scientific Reports (Nature), Analytical Methods (Royal Society of Chemistry), Heliyon (Elsevier), Analyst (Royal Society of Chemistry), Microchemical Journal (Elsevier), Geoderma (Elsevier), Sensors (MDPI). Prof Kalambuka was inaugural member of WAYS, and later, among those who in 2007 courtesy of UNESCO and ICSU founded WAYS-Africa in 2007 in Pretoria, South Africa. The World Academy (now Association) of Young Scientists is a non-profit science network – the largest grassroots, collaborative global scientific community for young scientists. He served as Vice Chair for Africa (2007-2010).

Prof Musembi is an Associate Professor of Solid-State Physics at the University of Nairobi based at the Department of Physics. He earned his B.Sc., MSc and PhD in Physics at the University of Nairobi from 1993 – 2009. During his postgraduate studies for MSc and PhD, he did sandwich research at the University of Dar es Salaam and Hahn Meitner Institute (Later renamed Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Research, Germany), respectively. He had a short stint for post-doctoral at Angstrӧm Laboratory (Uppsalla University) Sweden, and at Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. His research interest is in fabrication and characterization of p-n junction devices including Solar cells and Light emitting diodes. Other areas of research are materials characterization, Computational method, Programming methods and application of Computer Algebra System in Physics. He is a member of the following professional organizations: Kenya Physical Society, European Physical Society (EPS), Materials Science and Solar Energy Network for Eastern and Southern Africa (MSSEESA), African Network for Solar Energy (ANSOLE), and Member of Kenya National Academy of Science (MKNAS

Professor Onyewuchi Akaranta obtained a Ph.D degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt in 1995; M.Sc in Polymer Science and Technology from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1982, and B.Sc degree in Chemistry in 1978 from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is a fellow, Polymer Institute of Nigeria (fPIN); member, Chemical Society of Nigeria (mCSN); member, Oil and Colour Chemists’ Association (mOCCA) of United Kingdom; member, West African Research and Innovation Management Association (mWARIMA) and Donald Ekong Professor of Oilfield Chemistry. In 2003, Professor Akaranta was listed in the 7th Edition of Marquis Who is Who in Science and Engineering, He has passion for promoting commercial application of research results. He is the Director, Science Institute and Coordinator of the two World Bank Africa Centres of Excellence in UniPort: (1) Centre for Oilfield Chemicals Research (CEFOR) and (2) Centre for Public Health and Toxicological Research (PUTOR). In 2015, he became the Coordinator of the Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE Port Harcourt) on Education for Sustainable Development. The Global RCE Network is coordinated by the Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, United Nations University (IAS-UNU), Tokyo, Japan. He was Director, Centre for Research Management (2010-2015); Project Manager, World Bank STEP-B Project (2008-2013); Director, Exchange and Linkage Programmes Unit (2006-2010); Head, Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry (1999-2001) and has served in several other committees within and outside UniPort. Professor Akaranta possesses over thirty (30) years’ experience in research on agro wastes value addition for converting them into green industrial chemicals like adhesives, ion exchange resins, paint additives, natural anti-corrosion agents. He has over 100 journal articles thus, making tremendous contributions in the area of Materials Chemistry and development of multifunctional eco-friendly oilfield chemicals hence, creating pathways from wastes to wealth. Professor Akaranta is the coordinator of the 24-month Project on, “Strengthening Institutional Infrastructure for an Innovation Ecosystem (UP-ECOSIN) funded by the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF) Research Award or Institutional Innovation Capacity Building Program Grants. UP-ECOSIN seeks to promote commercialization of research results and encompasses the economic, social, political, organizational, and institutional elements that influence the development and diffusion of innovations in the Nigerian University System.

Prof. Mananze is an Assistant Professor at the School of Rural Development, Eduardo Mondlane University. He holds a management position as deputy dean for research and extension affairs. He is the leader of the research group on Remote Sensing of Agriculture and Natural Resources which focus on: (i) retrieval of biophysical and biochemical crop indicators from earth observation satellites; (ii) crop type mapping; (iii) crop monitoring. Prof. Mananze holds BSc in Forestry Engineering from the Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique), MSc in Natural Resources Conservation and Management from Evora University (Portugal) and Doctorate in Surveying from Porto University (Portugal). Mananze is author of 5 peer review publications. As either principal or co-principal investigator in various research projects he has so far attracted about US$ 750,000 from national and international grant bodies in the last 7 years.

Dr. Thomas Kivevele, Principal Investigator (PI) of the project holds a doctorate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa, majoring in Thermal Energy Engineering. His doctorate dissertation was on air source heat pump drying technology. He also holds a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, majoring in bioenergy from the same University and the B.Sc. in Electro-Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  He is a recipient of Fulbright post-doctoral scholarship for three months from September to November, 2018 to conduct research at Baylor University in Waco – Texas, United States. The Fulbright African Senior Research Scholar Program (ASRSP) was funded by the United States Department of State and administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. Dr. Kivevele is a graduate member of Tanzania Engineers Registration Board (ERB) since 2007. He is also a principal investigator and co-principal investigator of four projects funded by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Erasmus+ of the European Union. Additionally, Dr. Kivevele is a head for research and innovation of the African center of excellence in Water Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy Futures (WISE Futures) located at NM-AIST and is funded by the World Bank. He is currently working as a Senior Lecturer at NM-AIST teaching energy related courses.  Dr. Kivevele has been conducting groundbreaking and diverse research for the past 10 years in the field of drying technologies, solar applications and biofuels and has published extensively (over 28 articles) in several esteemed international journals. Dr. Kivevele has been using his expertise in drying technologies to make major contributions in reducing postharvest loss and environmental remediation due to overuse of biomass (fuelwood) for drying applications. He is now exploring reliable solar-powered systems integrated with energy storage for drying heat sensitive biomaterials to facilitate drying even when it is cloudy, rainy, or night. He is also leading a project funded by COSTECH to develop alternative and environmentally benign technology to cure tobacco, which presently consume the highest percentage of fuelwoods in the country. The skills acquired from these projects will be invaluable in developing the dryer for this project with excellent thermal and drying performance.

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Dr. Yusufu Abeid Chande Jande completed PhD at Hanyang University in 2015, Mechanical Engineering Department in Ansan, South Korea and MSc and BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.  He is currently lecturing in the Department of Materials and Energy Science and Engineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (www.nm-aist.ac.tz); and also the Deputy Centre Leader of Water Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy Futures (WISE-Futures) centre (www.wisefutures.ac.tz).  Yusufu is interested in doing research on energy, capacitive deionization for desalination and CO₂ capture, and rapid prototyping specifically in producing uniformly porous and graded porous structures using selective laser sintering (SLS) and producing composite materials from porous structures manufactured using SLS. Please click here for publications.

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