Partnership helps students find better use for waste

Education

PNG Biomass is partnering with youths in the Markham Valley and Lae to help drive inclusive economic growth, encourage entrepreneurship and give students real-world challenges to research and find solutions.
In Feb, PNG Biomass received an enquiry from the University of Technology (Unitech) final-year mechanical engineering students Simanibu Waram and Percy Wariambu asking for help with a thesis project.
Paul Mesa, engineering coordinator at PNG Biomass, received the request and commended the students for their initiative and pro-active stance in approaching local businesses to find a meaningful thesis project.
“The initiative shown by the students deserves commendation,” he said.
“I was in their shoes a few years ago, and I cannot recall anyone of us writing out to companies and asking for projects.”
PNG Biomass suggested that research into the utilisation of biomass fly-ash in cementitious/composite materials would be helpful.
The topic aligned well with the engineering materials strands covered in Unitech’s mechanical engineering degree programme.
Mesa said the thesis project was more than just helpful to PNG Biomass.
“The project focus centred on utilising biomass fly-ash, but we realised soon that work on this project could encourage Waram and Wariambu to consider specialising or venturing into the multi-billion-dollar waste management space,” he said.
“Waste management opportunities abound in PNG.
“Lae City, the industrial hub of Papua New Guinea, does not have a specialised waste management system.”
Over the course of 2018, the students worked on the project under the supervision of lecturer Dr Kamalakantha Muduli.
PNG Biomass supported them with all necessary information and materials, right through to the completion of the project.
Given the binding characteristics of biomass fly-ash, the students proposed a setup for combining the fly-ash with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) for use in light concrete applications.
This would decrease the amount of OPC used, hence cutting down the cost in concrete making.
A concept design of a batching plant that mixes concrete incorporating both OPC and fly-ash was also developed by Waram and Wariambu. Working on a project of this
nature was a first for Waram and Wariambu.
It was also a first for PNG Biomass to work with undergraduate students from Unitech as well. This experience will serve as a guide for potential future partnerships with students on their projects.
Mesa, who attended the project presentation at Unitech, said: “We are proud to see Percy and Simanibu present their findings, there is a bright future for them.
“We also pride ourselves in having significant local content in our PNG Biomass workforce.
“Fourteen members of our team graduated from the PNG University of Technology – two of which graduated with master’s degrees.”