UDSM academic scoops prestigious Swiss Excellence scholarship in South Africa
By Special Correspondent, CMU
A University of Dar es Salaam Structural and Construction Engineering Assistant Lecturer, Alice Titus Bakera, has scooped the prestigious Swiss Government Excellence Postdoctoral Scholarship, only a few days before her PhD graduation in July 2023 at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
According to the news posted on the University of Cape Town Website on 13 June, 2023 Bakera was selected as a recipient of the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship 2023/2024 in May 2023, where she will carry out her post-doctoral research at EFPL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland.
The UDSM civil engineer, described as one with “remarkable academic journey filled with achievements and honours”, graduated at the University of Dar es Salaam in 2015 with a BSc in Civil Engineering and was employed as academic staff in the Department of Structural Engineering, UDSM.
“She joined the Concrete Materials and Structural Integrity Research Unit (COMSIRU) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) for a master's degree. Alice graduated with distinction, winning the best dissertation award and attaining prestigious honours at the 72nd RILEM week in the Netherlands in 2018”, noted the information posted.
In 2019 Ms. Bakera embarked on the PhD journey within COMSIRU through collaborations with Lafarge Holcim and LMDC in France. Her research focused on developing a tool that can assist engineers in designing durable sewer structures. She has defended her dissertation in a viva voce panel and upon satisfaction of the examiners expects to graduate in July 2023.
With this post-doctoral scholarship Ms. Bakera’s academic journey into the next chapter has already begun. Alice has expressed her excitement at working with Prof Karen Scrivener, a leading limestone calcined clay cement expert at EFPL, whom she has always admired and sought mentorship.
It is further noted that Ms. Bakera will be part of an institution with a vast network of partner universities, with more than 350 laboratories and research groups on its various campuses, all at the forefront of science and technology. Alice views her latest chapter as an opportunity to discover new horizons, which she hopes will widen her perspectives and enable her to reach the summit of her academic accomplishments.
In addition, the news informs that Bakera’s post-doctoral research at EFPL will explore clinker reduction potential to partially replace limestone with cementitious materials locally available in Tanzania.
The Head of Structural and Construction Engineering Department at UDSM, Dr. Fatma Mohamed commended Ms. Bakera on this achievement and said both the University and the College of Engineering and Technology were very proud of her exemplary academic success.