Oladipo Adewale

Why I chose to study a PhD at the University of Leeds

Owing to the increasing energy demand as a result of increase in world population as well as the increasing demand for clean water, there has been tremendous increment in energy prices and water bills. UK water industries for example use up to 3% of the total UK energy and account for up to 1% of the total Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Possibilities however exist to increase renewable energy produced from the water companies as well as to ease the cost of treatment via the use of microalgae. It is my believe that the success of this technique in the UK brings us a step closer to solving the energy crisis and can be adopted by developing countries including my country Nigeria.

During my Masters Degree in one of the UK universities, I had the opportunity to visit University of Leeds. It was the best thing that I could imagine. Starting from large research offices to laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. Other interest include their well equipped gym as well as the high ranking of the University.

About my research

My research incorporates the use of microalgae in waste water treatment plants to treat wastewater, reduce wastewater treatment cost as well as increasing the energy production from the sector via anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge and microalgae. The benefits of this will bring us a step closer to solving the insecurities and uncertainties about the future of fossil fuel and also help in achieving the EU's targets of renewable energy production (up to 20% by 2020).

My favourite part of studying at Leeds

The best aspects of my research have been the hands-on experience in the laboratory as well as access to state-of-the-art equipment, which have really favoured my experiments. Also the University has increased my critical ability and thinking and this has helped in the independency of my research. This really makes one really fit for the industries.

My ambitions for the future

After my research, I definitely will have made a significant impact in the UK wastewater industry. I intend to work further on this with industry for a while (to increase my experience) after which I intend to go back to Nigeria and see how these technologies may be adopted. 

My advice to prospective students 

There is no better place than University of Leeds! It is filled with students from different cultural backgrounds and it has really exposed me to different cultures; I just can't stop making new friends from all over the world.