Projects
Essays in Development Economics: Evidence from East Africa KU Leuven
This dissertation is divided into four chapters, each built around a different research paper that falls under the broad field of `development economics'. The analysis in all chapters is mostly empirical, relying on primary data collected in recent years from East Africa. Of course, theory plays a key role in directing the analysis. Chapters 1 and 2 study different aspects of female empowerment and household decisions in Tanzania. Chapters 3 ...
Development of accelerator programme for social entrepreneurs to support the entire ecosystem Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The Emergent Urbanism(s) of Suburbio, GuayaquilA spatial ethnography of incremental grassroots development in times of a changing society and environment KU Leuven
Guayaquil – Ecuador’s main port and largest settlement – is a 70 per cent self-built city located amidst the most biodiverse estuarine complex of the South Pacific: the Guayas River Estuary. The city’s first suburbs proliferated in ecologically fragile zones in which the urban fabric and public spaces were crafted incrementally by various generations and through a multitude of design decisions. These now consolidated low-income neighbourhoods ...
Disaster Governance: Analyzing inconvenient realities and chances for resilience and sustainability KU Leuven
English summary
Disaster governance
Analyzing inconvenient realities and chances for resilience and sustainability
A social-ecological systems approach to disaster governance
In many places in the world, people are increasingly exposed to disasters. A few recent disasters illustrate the global magnitude of the problem: the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the earthquake, tsunami and ...
Production of Potable Water for Small Scale Communities using Low-Cost Filtration Membrane KU Leuven
The use of ultrafiltration (UF) technology in treating groundwater for the supply of potable water in the impoverished rural Tshaanda village is demonstrated in this dissertation, along with the potential of using novel membranes derived from plastic waste. The technical and administrative processes critical for the successful installation of the pilot plant were developed. Given the rural nature of Tshaanda (the study area), the cultural and ...
Integrated process monitoring and control of active pharmaceutical ingredients production via tensor based data driven modeling methods. iMPC4API KU Leuven
General purpose
The ultimate goal of this project is to develop an advanced data driven modeling methodology for full scale plant-wide API production processes. The constructed models are intended for advanced monitoring and control of the processes, which are understood as integrated systems formed by multiple heterogeneous subsystems. Therefore the key aspect is learning the relationships between process variables along the process ...
Binders and Monoliths from Bauxite Residue (Red Mud) KU Leuven
Bauxite residue (BR), the alkaline waste produced in the Bayer process for the production of alumina is generated in vast amounts and is essentially landfilled on disposal sites. An increasing lack of storage area, several accidents as well as potential risks for health and environment have led to a rethinking in the bauxite residue management. Currently, the reuse rate in the construction sector is approximately 1 %, which is mainly due to ...
Ultrasound-Assisted Synthesis of Zeolite Catalysts KU Leuven
Zeolites are aluminosilicate minerals with a microporous structure used as adsorbents and catalysts. They are conventionally synthesized by hydrothermal methods in batch systems. However, this process exhibits several disadvantages, such as long synthesis times and non-uniform qualities of product from batch to batch. There is a strong interest from the zeolite manufacturing industry to reduce the synthesis time and achieve a continuous ...