After completing his Ph.D. in industrial chemistry in Nigeria, his home country, Dr. Ugochukwu Ewuzie worked as a laboratory scientist for a global energy company. Spending his days working on synthetic fuels and waste created by various refining processes, Ewuzie began to wonder not just how to reuse those waste byproducts but how to reuse them in a way that’s good for the environment. That’s where the road to Missouri S&T and his second Ph.D., this one in chemical engineering, began to pave itself in concrete—literally.

Concrete is made of water, sand, gravel and cement, which is the binder that holds the composite together. It also emits a lot of environmentally unfriendly CO2. Starting at minute levels, Ewuzie’s research is testing the feasibility of substituting up to 50 percent of the cement in concrete with other materials. Among those other materials is the ash left behind when the waste generated by converting gas into liquid is incinerated.

Ewuzie says he’s never doubted the stories about melting glaciers, but that climate change became personal for him following his mother’s death.

He and his family were trying to dry leaves, a Nigerian tradition and custom that produces food. In December, in the middle of Harmattan – a dry, dusty and usually cold period on the African west coast – and Ewuzie and his sibling discovered that it was too hot and humid for the leaves to dry. The dehumidifying process that normally completes itself “in the twinkle of an eye,” says Ewuzie, simply did not happen.

“That’s when it dawned on me that the climate is changing more than I ever imagined,” he says. “It’s necessary to do whatever we can do to reduce CO₂.”  

Working primarily in S&T’s Sustainable Materials Laboratory under Dr. Monday Okoronkwo, Ewuzie is exploring what happens – beyond a reduction in CO₂ emissions – when the standard formula for concrete is altered. Can a foundation made of concrete containing substituted cement support what rises above it? How much pressure can a more environmentally friendly mix of concrete withstand? And, because the implications of a few minutes more or less are enormous, how long does concrete with substituted cement take to set?

Ewuzie is mindful of the all-encompassing nature of his work: Altering the composition of concrete has the potential to impact many facets of daily life, from roads and runways to bridges, 3D printing and foundations for skyscrapers.

Ewuzie isn’t sure where the next phase of his career may lead. He is sure that he’d like to help bridge the gap between chemists in the labs and chemical engineers working at sites across the globe. And the programs and people at S&T, he says, comprise a support system toward achieving that goal that most Ph.D. students can only imagine.

“The Kummer I&E Fellows program has eased the financial burden of doctoral studies, which is especially important for those of us with families,” says Ewuzie, who is a married father of three. He says he worries less, and can focus more on his research, knowing his family is a few blocks from campus rather than on another continent.

“It has also allowed me to contribute valuable knowledge to the scientific community. The support is more than monetary – it’s an investment in our future and a bridge to our dreams.”

About Missouri S&T

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit  www.mst.edu.