Apollo Buregyeya is fast becoming a phenomenon in Uganda’s civil engineering scene for his innovations, thinking outside the box and re-engineering engineering to give it a Ugandan/African reality. Buregyeya graduated with a PhD in Civil Engineering -with specific interest in concrete and cement materials, from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, in December 2022. He previously graduated with a B.Sc. and M.Sc., both in Civil Engineering, of Makerere University.
Dr. Buregyeya is currently a lecturer at the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Makerere University, and doubles as the chief executive officer of Eco Concrete Ltd, a local firm focused on developing sustainable construction practices. The Infrastructure Magazine caught up with him to talk about his career, research interests and innovations:
First off, what initially sparked your interest in pursuing a career in engineering, and how did your education at Makerere University equip you for the path you have taken?
My elder brother, Dr. Daniel Byamukama, who is currently the Head of HIV Prevention at the Uganda Aids Commission chose for me the course combination at my A ‘level (Advanced School Certificate). I joined Makerere College School for senior five from Ntare School (in Mbarara, Western Uganda) and I was bent on taking Physics, Chemistry and Biology to become a medical doctor. Life is much easier when you have a big brother as a role model and mentor. Daniel was already in his first year as a student of medicine at Makerere University Medical School.
I paid him a visit and found he was from having lunch at University Hall, Makerere Campus. That day, they had served beef for lunch. He had spent morning hours cutting through a cadaver. The lunch meat he ate that day gave him a brief traumatic episode as it reminded him of the cadaver tissue he had been cutting through earlier in the day. I doubt he still remembers this episode, but it made me switch biology for mathematics at A-level. My brother transitioned well and graduated to successfully practice medicine. I ended up becoming a civil engineer.
Makerere University provided the basic engineering training. It gave me a qualification that enabled me access advanced training, first in Egypt and later in South Africa, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Also, my assignment as a lecturer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, perhaps unwittingly, gives me access to sharp-witted students who I have worked with to develop alternative cements.
What is the role of Eco Concrete Ltd that you founded in this?
Eco Concrete Ltd, and later, the Engineering Student Scholarship Program (ESSP) of the Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers (UIPE), have been able to support over 30 engineering students to develop advanced proficiency in development and testing of alternative binders/cements.
We have two families of cements we have developed, a hybrid Portland cement that relies on calcined clay and limestone as base materials, and a geopolymer cement that has zero Portland cement in it. The geopolymer cement is low energy and reduces the carbon footprint of the traditional Portland cement by over 80%. Because the embodied energy in both cement families is low, the cost of producing these cements is lower than the cost of producing traditional Portland cements.
Tell us about your specific area of expertise within the field of engineering, and what led you to focus on cement development?
So, for my PhD studies, I focused on how the different traditional cements that we know as Portland cements react with water and common volcanic rocks from the East African Rift Valley system to make a strong and durable concrete product. I studied the composition of these materials and how they would influence the chemical and microscopic behaviour of cements when used in concrete, and how this chemistry and microstructure would end up influencing both strength and durability of concrete.
The need to utilise local materials in the manufacture of cement, unique composition of our local materials, environmental concerns of traditional Portland cement (the cement and concrete industry now accounts for over 8% of all global carbon emissions), the high cost of cement and the fact that it is affected by inflationary dynamics since the industry heavily depends on importation of clinker (a processed material that is 95% cement), and scarcity of local competence, all these reasons make it easy for me to specialise in cement studies and the development of alternative binders.
What are some of the challenges you have faced in your research and innovation work in Uganda?
First, the environment does not support innovation. One must improvise to access good laboratories that are able to give reliable results for the different concrete binder systems we have been developing. We chose to study our different binder systems, their microstructure, reaction mechanisms, and how they behave over a long period of time, so that we are confident when we release them to the market. The Directorate of Geological Surveys and Mines under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda, has been instrumental in supporting us with export permits. We have been able to export our recipes to laboratories in Belgium for advanced analysis. But this, of course, comes at a heavy cost. Eco Concrete Ltd, a partner company on this journey has always been ready to finance these expenses.
Then, the fact that we do not have a clear public agency that would support and accelerate application of innovations in the construction space scares away partnerships. We have received support from the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD), and Innowwide-EU Horizon Fund to support business development. We are on course to develop some of our hybrid and geopolymer cement products to bankable stage. We hope to succeed with UNBS for product certification.
Lastly, alternative cements will need skilled applicators. Most engineers have been trained on traditional cements and that is all they know. The new binders react differently and so they need to be cured differently. For the last 5 years, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Makerere University has been producing at least 10 students whose final year projects have been on different applications and properties of alternative cements. Research in alternative cements is now common at all universities offering engineering courses in Uganda.
In your view, how is your work on concrete and cement materials contributing to engineering and the overall infrastructure development economy?
The alternative binders are currently being piloted by Eco Concrete Ltd in partnership with Built to Impact (BtI) of the Netherlands in some of their concrete blocks production sites. The team recently received a grant from Eureka-innowwide for pilot production of a concrete house using the geopolymer cement binder system in Rubanda District, Western Uganda. Geopolymer technology relies mainly on the abundant volcanic ashes of Kabale and Kisoro.
The deposits of these materials in western Uganda are enough to build ninety cities the size of New York. We shall invite you to cover this project during its implementation, mid next month. Because these binder systems are pan-African (low energy, adaptive, relying on locally sourced materials, and affordable) and greener, their accelerated application will have a significant impact on our infrastructure and overall economy – in Uganda and the region.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes for the future of cement production and use in Uganda? Is there any ongoing research about which you are particularly excited?
We are now focused on accelerating application of the tested alternative cement systems. The localisation of knowledge and technology are important if construction materials are to be decolonised, and if infrastructure development is to give a good yield from public investments. So, the next phases of research will focus on supporting standards development so that scaling production of the alternative cement products is possible.
Beyond cement, how do you see engineering playing a role in addressing Uganda’s broader infrastructure needs?
I think, engineering follows commerce. We still need to develop patriotic policies that empower development of the local engineering industry, and the skills required for its advancement. Skills are more developed through access to work, not from university education. So, patriotic policies that enable our engineers to access work are very urgent. The process of infrastructure development is supposed to cause local industry development, too. Patriotic policies enable retention of money in the economy. As a result, the economy grows, and we end up having more money to challenge our engineers to build better infrastructure.
What advice would you give to aspiring Ugandan engineers who wish to follow in your footsteps and contribute to innovative engineering solutions?
Start by reading my book, The Big We: A Blueprint for Sustainable Growth of the Local Construction Industry. It is available on Amazon and also at Aristoc Bookshop in Kampala. Secondly, read widely, find mentors and the right company of friends (tall trees are found in a forest), and train in critical thinking skills.
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