Publications

2016
Case, J. M., Fraser, D. M., Kumar, A., & Itika, A. (2016). The significance of context for curriculum development in engineering education: a case study across three African countries. European Journal of Engineering Education, 41, 279-292. Taylor & Francis. Website Abstract
Curriculum reform is a key topic in the engineering education literature, but much of this discussion proceeds with little engagement with the impact of the local context in which the programme resides. This article thus seeks to understand the influence of local contextual dynamics on curriculum reform in engineering education. The empirical study is a comparative analysis of the context for curriculum reform in three different chemical engineering departments on the African continent, located in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. All three departments are currently engaged in processes of curriculum reform, but the analysis shows how the different contexts in which these efforts are taking place exert strong shaping effects on the processes and outcomes for that reform.
KK Korir, A Catellani, C. G. (2016). Tailoring oxygen vacancies at ZnO (1100)surface: An ab initio study. Journal of Applied Physics, 120(12), 125301. Abstract

Oxygen vacancies in ZnO crystals have significant impacts on its properties and applications. On the basis of ab initio results, we describe the oxygen vacancy distribution and diffusion paths away from the ZnO( 11¯00) surface, aiming to elucidate thermodynamics and kinetic stability of the vacancies and a possible control mechanism. In view of defect engineering and sensor applications, we propose efficient routes to chemically control the equilibrium concentration of the oxygen vacancies at ZnO surfaces by exposure to specific reactive gases: we show that the oxygen vacancy concentration can be increased using sulfur oxide as post-growth treatment, while under exposure to ozone, no significant amount of oxygen vacancies can be sustained on the surface.

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