Dr. Ezenwanyi Fidelia Ochulor

I am a motivated advanced career researcher in Material processing, characterization, and development. Required service performance is germane during the design of the production process of any material or part. My work focuses on designing production and heat treatment processes that will produce carbide-free Thin Wall Ductile Iron (TWDI) and Ductile Iron (DI) parts with the required microstructure and properties for effective automotive applications, consequently reducing the production of defective castings.

Also, I am passionate about the zero-waste concept, where waste is converted to useful products, considering the tonnes of waste that cause environmental pollution when not properly disposed of or utilized. My focus here is the use of Gelatin biopolymer extracted from cow bone biowaste being adopted for the production of biocomposites, which has extensive use in biomedical applications and other industries. Gelatin, being biocompatible, biodegradable, and bioactive, has shown suitability in this area. In another innovative way, I have also, in collaboration with colleagues in the College of Medicine, adopted Gelatin in the production of skin mannequins for capacity building in ultrasonography. Here, the advantage is that medical students can train using the student-centered approach instead of the problematic patient-centered approach, which is currently practiced; this also has the potential of boosting enterprise in gelatin production.