Jessy Kidula

• Identifying production gaps and implementing optimization projects to improve efficiency, and maintain operating costs below 500USD/Ton. Successfully increased black soldier fly larvae dryer throughput from 0.5 tons/Hr to 1.2 tons/Hr.
• Conducted an FMEA analysis on all plant equipment, established maintenance gaps and developed a maintenance strategy that improved and sustained the plant’s availability to 85% from 67%, with a consistent TAT of 95%.
• In charge of the technical/financial feasibility assessment of engineering CAPEX projects with an annual budget of $50,000, ensuring a return on investment (RoI) of over 70% through improved plant efficiency.
• Working with the Factory manager and the HSSE manager to create a framework for monitoring adherence to equipment operating guidelines to ensure sustained compliance with ISO22001 standards on food safety management.
• Part of an R&D team exploring different pathways for commercializing liquid fertilizer from human urine and assessing the impact of biochar produced from organic waste on soil structure

• Designed and prototyped a pyrolytic cook stove that produces bio-char as a by-product as opposed to ash produced in traditional cookstoves
• Conducted concept testing to establish heating efficiency and biochar quality production from pyrolytic cookstove
• Market suitability assessment of the pyrolytic cookstove within Kenya and competitiveness against traditional cookstoves
• Supported the development of carbon impact assessment reporting structures to support carbon credits trading

• Developed the Quality acceptance criteria for equipment and support facilities to be installed for a black soldier fly breeding facility.
• Successfully installed and commissioned a black soldier fly-rearing facility worth $300,000, complete with breeding equipment, feed handling plant, production structures and an LV switchboard.
• Developed standard operating guidelines (SOPs) and established an early equipment management framework for the plant.
• Carried out targeted stress tests on different sub-processes to establish production bottlenecks and initiated short-term to medium-term de-bottlenecking initiatives.
• Deployed an equipment redundancy strategy across the facility during the stabilization period to ensure sustained plant uptime.
• Performed equipment upgrades to test out new production technologies and achieved an increased output of 8mg of eggs/fly

• Identified effective strategies for building sustainable value that attracted a seed funding of 9,000USD
• Led a team of 7 multi-discipline engineers (mechanical, electrical, structural and software) in effectively value Engineering the first model prototype at 47% lower than the design prototype cost.
• Played a vital role in strategic problem-solving through the challenges and uncertainties common in the fast-paced startup environment, making data-driven decisions, and adapting strategies as needed.
• Developed and refined the overall business strategy, identifying target markets, and exploring potential partnerships and collaborations

• Conducted waste streams mapping and feedstock characterization trials to establish the optimum organic waste-to-value protein value that improved productivity and overall waste-to-value conversion by 30%.
• Conducted engineering and detailed experimental tests to collect climate data for the design of the optimum AHU units for black soldier Larvae grow rooms.
• Performed detailed mechanical designs and process flow iterations, and developed technical specification sheets for sourcing critical equipment (conveyors, sorting lines and waste blenders)for the pre-processing unit of the 200T/month organic waste processing facility.
• Co-Authored an abstract titled ‘Closing Nutrient Cycles – Upscaling of Black Soldier Fly treatment in Nairobi’ published on the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) and ETH- Zurich websites, 2019.

• Designed and developed technical specification sheets for a sludge pump and bio-digester tank.
• Accomplished a successful technical sourcing process for pumps and bio-digester accessories, securing them from international vendors through detailed evaluations of technical specifications, assessment of compatibility with our existing infrastructure, and adherence to industry standards, guaranteeing the seamless integration of these components into our biogas facility.
• Successfully commissioned a 40kW biogas-powered generator and the entire CHP system.
• Created a comprehensive business case to assess the financial viability of implementing and scaling up a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system within the full-scale Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) facility.

• Created detailed design documents based on specific client needs, site constraints and budget limitations for new water treatment plants.
• I worked closely with equipment suppliers and main contractors on different projects to ensure that the system was built to the required specifications and installed properly.
• Drove the timely delivery of projects, within budget and design specifications and ensured timely communication of progress and escalation of constraints

Underwent a 3-month training on the following key areas applicable to water treatment and sanitation;

• Design of water treatment plants and process flow using P&ID tools based on process specifications.
• Pump system sizing and selection criteria based on head, flow rate and friction losses.
• Understanding the various regulatory requirements for water treatment and sanitation services, such as those set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)

• Interned in the general practices applied to the design, selection and application of agricultural machinery.
• Focused on reliability-centred maintenance strategies of farm hydraulic power.

Performed tests aimed at assessing the impact of incorporating a wort pre-heater on the thermal efficiency of the wort boiling process as part of the plant-wide Energy recovery initiative.