For the past 16 years, Dr. Moses Kizza Musaazi has dedicated his time and efforts to helping improve the lives of his fellow Ugandans. Drawing on his extensive 32-year experience as a professional electrical engineer, he makes use of appropriate technology to come up with innovative solutions that empower the economically disadvantaged. Musaazi currently splits his time between serving as a senior lecturer in the Makerere University Department of Electrical Engineering and implementing his inventions through his company, Technology for Tomorrow (T4T).
Focusing on critical needs such as housing, sanitation, energy, and water, Musaazi has developed a number of products that are especially designed to address the present health and economic issues in Africa. At the same time, all of his creations are affordable, eco-friendly, and easy to maintain and apply.
One of Musaazi’s groundbreaking inventions is the Interlocking Stabilized Soil Block (ISSB), which is a tongue and groove shaped brick consisting of non-organic soil, cement, and water. ISSB’s are made by putting the mixture into a special press modified by Musaazi for this purpose and are ready to use within four hours. Because of its interlocking design, the ISSB requires very little mortar and no fire, which is very important as Uganda’s forests are being cleared to make space for the kilns that are used to fire regular clay bricks.
Musaazi has also created a sanitary napkin that takes advantage of Uganda’s abundant and free papyrus population. MakaPads, as they are called, are cheaper and more absorbent than conventional pads, as well as use very little electricity for production. T4T operates four MakaPad plants across the country, employing a total of over 200 people. Ninety percent of MakaPads are purchased by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which distributes them to refugee settlements and other locations in Uganda.
While Musaazi has already built a portfolio that would certainly impress anyone who sees it, he’s not stopping anytime soon. A sticker on his office door reads, “Gakyali Mabaga,” which means, “So little done, so much more to do.”