Africa is building fast. However, some of its infrastructure (water supply, roads, buildings, sanitation systems, and waste management systems, among others) fail communities within a decade for reasons, such as being poorly funded, not climate-responsive, and disconnected from the people it is meant to serve. I work at the intersection of engineering, sustainability, partnership and policy to change that. My research focuses on Geotechnical Engineering, WASH, sustainable construction materials, climate adaptation, and circular economy systems.
Over the past decade, I have:
· Secured competitive grants from: the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK, addressing WASH access in preschools, wastewater treatment, and urban water reuse; Innovate UK (AAKTP) addressing food insecurity, and the British Council addressing STEM access through AI-driven and adaptive learning
· Published 80+ peer-reviewed research articles
· Served as a Facilitator and a Judge at UNLEASH Innovation Lab (India 2022, Rwanda 2023; attracts 1,000+ innovators from 100+ countries) to foster co-creation among young innovators to address global challenges towards achieving the UN SDGs
· Served as a Judge for the Hult Prize Nigeria National Competition 2026 to select the university students’ startup to represent Nigeria in the Global Hult Prize Competition 2026
· Led international partnerships for Covenant University facilitating partnerships across Europe, Africa, North America and Asia
· Designed and coordinated two editions of grant-writing workshops, funded by the Education Collaborative, for selected researchers from the West Africa Hub of the Education Collaborative
· Served as a Member of the Sustainable Urbanisation Expert Group of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
If you are building programmes at the intersection of infrastructure, climate, and community resilience in Africa, I would welcome a conversation. Let's connect: isaac.akinwumi@gmail.com
