Florida A&M will soon say farewell to Egwu E. Kalu, FAMU associate professor of chemical and biomedical engineering.
Kalu has received the Fulbright Scholar grant, America’s flagship international educational exchange program. Egwu will return in 2012 after a year of teaching and conducting research at Covenant University, Ota in Nigeria.
Kalu will join his Covenant University faculty colleagues to conduct research on renewable energy systems by examining the growth of an ongoing reactor and catalyst system for the production of biodiesel. They will use local raw materials that will not affect the food security issues of the country.
Kalu is one of 1,110 U.S faculty and professionals who will travel overseas through the scholarship program and lecture on computational methods in chemical engineering.
The United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors the Fubright U.S. Scholar Program,
The Fulbright Scholar grant program has presented 286,500 people with the chance to study each other’s political, economic, educational and cultural institutions to combine ideas and serve the world’s inhabitants. A total of 108,106 Americans were awarded the opportunity to study, teach, and research abroad; 178,340 students, scholars and teachers from different countries were also chosen.
“I was very excited,” Kalu said of his initial reaction. “This is a great opportunity — not just for me, but for my field and the university. Energy is a major issue and the support I have received has been tremendous.”
Kalu teamed up with faculty members of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering taught many classes, including numerical computations, electrochemical engineering and materials science.
A press release from the university commented that Kalu has been published in prestigious journals and conferences in his profession. He is the recipient of a number of honors and awards including the NASA Faculty Fellowship, Lockheed Martin E&M Minority Institution of the Year Award and the FSU First-Year Assistant Professor Research Award.
His research interests include the synthesis of nanocluster materials for renewable energy systems, fuel cells and hydrogen generation.