Wolfram Schmidt’s Post

This is so important. For the world it is inevitable to rethink processes the sheer dimensions of which obviously have been responsible for ubiquitous pollution and carbon emissions. Small scale and informal processing is not always ideal considering established Western working standards, but it would be a lie to say that large scale has done anything better at all to the people who work in the mining sector so far. Local and circular innovation can stem from small scale, artisanal and informal businesses, and the implementation can be much faster and less bureaucratic. And after all, it is the only way to create local livelihoods and avoid the leeching of values to international players.

Don't forget to be there!

Went to the Jamestown Off the Street School again yesterday with colleagues and friends who shared the last few days in Ghana with me. Went to the Accra Mall to buy some "chemicals" from the supermarket to do some scientific experiments in the school in the afternoon. These kids are an amazing inspiration and a reminder that we should put every effort to support their aspiration to learn and grow. They don't have biases, they don't live a wasteful life, they don't feel a need to kill each other. They absorb every piece of knowledge they can get, yet, we spend so little in giving them the chance they deserve to unfold their talents. They'd deserve so much better. Policies, investments and technologies so far have failed to solve our major human challenges in the world, and I do not think that someone seriously believes outside his or her dreams that a novel technology will fall from the sky that will make everything undone that we have messed up. Without a global mindset and behaviour change, no sustainability goals can ever be achieved and no peaceful living will be possible on a congested planet. Maybe the most reasonable way, and surely the cheapest way of creating a more sustainable future to our human race is investing into education of the children of our world. Kolawole Olonade Nimot Muili MSc, FNSE, PMP® Joseph Mwiti Bright Asante, Ph.D Akosua Nyansaland Akuffo-Ensaw

Let me share a few impressions of our past two days, where we did a workshop with Koforidua Technical University and Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung in a joint project supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Among others we had external experts like Kolawole Olonade from University of Lagos, Joseph Mwiti from Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST), Nimot Muili MSc, FNSE, PMP® from Arup and kwekumichael commeh from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. on the first photo you see Dr.-Ing. Richard Arthur, whom I met in Cape Town some years back. We were both participating in a celebration of the past German African Innovation Award (GAIIA) winner teams on invitation of the DLR Projektträger and particularly Tiemo Pokraka. My brother Kolawole Olonade (since the past days Prof. Kelewele) and I received the award by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung in 2018 for our groundbreaking research on sustainable chemical admixtures and supplementary cementitious materials from cassava peel ashes. Dr.-Ing. Richard Arthur received it with his German partner Dieter Bryniok from Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences in 2020 for the monitoring of water hyacinth. We identified that we can create huge synergies here. Water hyacinth can be converted like cassava peels into a circular, bio-based value chain for clean concrete constituents, and now, thanks to the support of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH we were able to install such a facility at Koforidua Technical University. In the last days Anim Ofosu hosted the workshop which was organised also with support of the leading project scientist Bright Asante, Ph.D, with the wonderful students and we were able to initiate the first run of the clean pyrolysis for water hyacinth we have built there. This is a very beautiful example, that scientific networking, coincidences during the coffee breaks, small talk and exchange and exposure of research work (and persistence) remain the best possible solutions to bring science and engineering forward, particularly in an intercultural context, and despite all digital tools we have today.

Tomorrow will be inititation of the new pyrolysis that was installed at the campus of Koforidua Technical University in collaboration with Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. We will produce bio-based organic admixtures and precursors for sustainable cementitious binders based on agricultural and aquaculture waste. Bright Asante, Ph.D kwekumichael commeh Anim Ofosu

We had an amazing workshop with students from Koforidua Technical University framed around sustainability potentials and challenges in Africa and Ghana specifically. In a world cafe format we debated among others about informality, governance, resources and specific Ghanaian parameters. The full day workshop with lectures and hands-on group work took place in conjunction with a collaboration between Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung, Koforidua Technical University, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Bright Asante, Ph.D Nimot Muili MSc, FNSE, PMP® Joseph Mwiti Kolawole Olonade Anim Ofosu Wolfram Schmidt