By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
Dr Obuks Ejohwomu, son to HRM Luke Erede Ejohwomu JP KSJI, Ovie of Abraka Kingdom (of blessed memory), Abraka, Ethiope-East Local Government Area, Delta State, has been honoured with two prestigious International awards.
Dr. Ejohwomu, an Associate Professor with University of Manchester (a Russel Group University) scooped two prestigious awards this week from Professor Martin Schröder, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering for his notable contribution to the fight against COVID-19 pandemic and for his outstanding contribution to environmental sustainability.
Dr Ejohwomu has sustained his high-profile achievements over the years.
He is listed as one of Manchester’s heritage hero for the impact of the novel work he led during the COVID-19 pandemic testing 150,000 pieces of PPEs for Manchester City Council.
Earning a 25% revenue share (via Intellectual Property (IP) rights) for and EPSRC/NHS Foundation Trust funded collaborative work involved with the development of an innovative new COVID-19 PPE respirator Bubble PAPR that protects frontline workers.
His other recent achievements include his co-authoring efforts in the novel development of the first example of a mask assessment method during a pandemic.
The award recipient is the Principal and co-investigator of several funded research projects. Grants to a value of over GBP £403,406, with funders including Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, Association of Project Management (APM), Global Challenge Research Funds, Lloyds Register Foundation, NHS Foundation Trust, UKRI and Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship.
The awardee is Principal Investigator in the novel development of the first model to fully understand the UK platelet supply chain that is being tested by National Health Service Blood & Transfusion.
Lead editor Emerald’s Special Issue publication: Evidencing the productive value of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in AEC sector (IF = 1.6).
Assistant editor MDPI’s Special Issue: Digital Transformation within Circular Built Environment Research and Innovation (IF = 2.6).
Editorial Board Member of Emerald Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology (JEDT).
Academic editor Buildings – Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization Section for Buildings (IF = 2.6)
The Urhobo son received Teaching Excellence Award in 2021 and won the Outstanding Reviewer in the 2021 Emerald Literati Awards.
On the home front, Dr Ejohwomu through his SQUARE project is actively responding to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] Good Health & Well-being [SDG 3] and Sustainable Cities & Communities [SDG 11].
He aims to reduce the number of deaths from environmental pollution, including those from the impact of cities, by 2030.
SQUARE’s (Societal Value of Quality Low-Cost Air Urban Air Monitoring in Low Resource Environments) ultimate goal is to tackle the social, health, policy issues arising from poor air quality in low resource regions by using robust low-cost air quality monitors.
With grant from University of Manchester’s GCRF-QR Dr Ejohwomu have developed a new multidisciplinary consortium and published findings from our successful proof-of-concept in the field’s leading journals (Ejohwomu et al 2022a; Ejohwomu et al 2022b).
In further pursuit of SQUARE’s goal, Nigerian Institution of Environmental Engineers (a Division of NSE), Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Centre for Atmospheric Research – National Space Research and Development Agency, and NSE Manchester Branch in partnership with the SQUARE project team led by the University of Manchester jointly hosting a competition titled “A sustainable path to air pollution detection” in Lagos State 26 August 2022.
This competition builds on novel findings from two (2) uninterrupted years of measuring variants of harmful air pollutants (particulate matter (PMx,) Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), Ozone etc.) in Lagos State.
The competitors will be required to provide an answer to this vital question: How can available local materials, wastes, or low-cost materials be used to develop a sustainable air quality monitor?
The confirmation of the problems deterring the progress of the developing nations to meeting the SDGs has birthed this challenge organised by the SQUARE team. The challenge is the initial stage of a series of events aimed at proffering solutions to air pollution. The challenge will bring together innovative and dedicated great minds within Africa to develop low-cost air quality sensors.
See attached flyer and the following webpages for details about the competition and more
Reference:
1. Ejohwomu, O.A., Oladokun, M., Oshodi, O.S., Bukoye, O.T, Edwards, D.J., Emekwuru, N., Adegboyega, S., Adenuga, O., Adegboyega S, Uduku, O., Balogun, M., Alana, R., (2022), The Exposure of Workers at a Busy Road Node to PM2.5: Occupational Risk Characterisation and Mitigation Measures. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public health 2022, 19(8), 4636; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19084636
2. Ejohwomu, O., Oladokun, M., Bukoye, O., Oshodi, O.S., Emekwuru, N., Adegboyega, S., Adenuga, O., (2022) Modelling and Forecasting Temporal PM 2.5 Concentration Using Ensemble Machine Learning Methods. Buildings. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12010046
