Indian migrant who gave Melbourne the 'world's first' footpath made from coffee waste wins national award

Rajeev Roychand (left), Professor Alec Cameron (Vice-Chancellor and President of RMIT), Prof. Jie Li (right) Credit: Supplied by Prof Roychand

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After leaving a high-paying job to pursue his passion for research, and spending nearly a decade to find environment friendly construction tools, Amritsar-born Dr Rajeev Roychand along with his team has won a prestigious national award for leading a project that created the world’s first unique footpath made using coffee waste.

Key Points

Dr Rajeev Roychand was born in Amritsar, Punjab in India.
His research used coffee waste to strengthen concrete.
A footpath in Victoria is believed to be the world’s first constructed using coffee waste.

Dr Rajeev Roychand, who was born in Amritsar - a holy city in the northern Indian state of Punjab-

came to Australia as an international student

After completing his studies, he secured a well-paying corporate job, but chose to leave it behind to pursue his passion for sustainable research.

“I always had a desire to do something meaningful that contributes to the environment. Leaving a secure job wasn’t easy, but I knew research was my true calling,” Dr Roychand told SBS Punjabi

Dr Roychand had a unique idea to

repurpose spent coffee grounds

-a common form of organic waste, as an ingredient in construction material.

“Coffee waste is often discarded and ends up in landfill. We saw potential in turning it into something valuable —something that could even strengthen concrete,” he said.

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After nearly a decade of research, the idea was brought to life in the form of a footpath built in Victoria, which the team believes is the first in the world to use coffee waste as a construction material.

“Our tests showed that using coffee waste not only made the concrete stronger, but also reduced the need for sand. That means we’re saving natural resources and cutting down on waste going to landfill,” Dr Roychand explained.

Recently, his research team won an award at Universities Australia’s Shaping Australia Awards in the Problem Solver category based on voting by people. They received the award at the Parliament of Australia in Canberra.

The research team includes Dr Rajeev Roychand, Professor Jie Li, Associate Professor Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch, Dr Mohammad Saberian, Professor Chun Qing Li, and Professor Guomin (Kevin) Zhang — all from RMIT University in Melbourne.

Listen to his story via this podcast:

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