Dr. Joseph Ddumba Lwanyaga’s research majorly focuses on energy and process engineering. The objective is to improve both energy and water access in the agricultural sector for rural dwellers. Additionally, to prudently utilise energy and water resources, process optimisation is done to ensure optimal usage. In the past, he has worked on the design and optimisation of energy utilisation in the solar salt crystallisation process.

Furthermore, he has evaluated the thermal comfort and air quality of low-income housing in Uganda. The furtherance of this research aims at development of an HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) design model for commercial buildings in Kampala city, Uganda. Additionally, the Modelling and performance evaluation of a net zero energy building (NZEB) for Uganda’s residential sector is ongoing.

For the agricultural sector, he is developing solar absorption cooling systems for cooling applications (solar driven cold rooms for SMEs applications). Moreover, they are employing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models for energy use in solar drying for agricultural products. To achieve the above, appropriate technologies are being worked on that enhance energy access to off grid rural communities.