08/2018 Ph.D. in Agricultural Process Engineering, University of Putra Malaysia
04/2016- M.Sc. in Agricultural Process Engineering, University of Putra Malaysia
08/2012 B. Eng. (Honors) in Agricultural Engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria

01/2022 - Present Scientist and Project Lead - Simulating Biological System (SimBioSys) Group, Laboratory 401, Empa St. Gallen, Switzerland
01/2022 - Present Lecturer, Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS), ETH Zürich, Switzerland
03/2021 – 12/2021 Postdoctoral Researcher - Simulating Biological System (SimBioSys) Group, Laboratory 401, Empa St. Gallen, Switzerland
09/2020 – 02/2021 Academic Guest, SNSF research grant. Host: Prof (Dr.) Thijs Defraeye of the Simulating Biological System (SimBioSys) Group, Laboratory 401, Empa St. Gallen, Switzerland
09/2019 – 08/2020 ETH Zürich Postdoctoral Research Fellow, on a 1-year Swiss Excellent Government Scholarship at ETH Zürich, with joint affiliation to Empa St. Gallen, ETH Zürich domain, Switzerland
09/2019 – 09/2021 Senior Lecturer, Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria (I was on a special leave of absence at ETHz & Empa)
05/2016 – 08/2019 Lecturer II,Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria
06/2014 – 04/2016 Graduate Assistant, Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria
11/2012 – 09/2013 Project Engineer, Cross River State Agricultural Development Programme, Nigeria

2023 – present Guest lecturer, Data Science for Food and Consumer Behavior (MSc, 4 hours), Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands
2021 – present Co-Lecturer, Simulations and Sensors in Agri-Food Supply Chains (MSc, Ph.D. 8 hours), ETH Zürich, Switzerland
2015 – 2019 Lecturer, Drying of Agricultural Materials (M.Eng, B.Eng, 30 hours), Technical Policy of Agriculture (B.Eng, 20 hours), Modelling of Agricultural Systems (M.Eng, B.Eng, 30 hours), Refrigeration and Thermal Preservation of Agricultural Materials (B.Eng, 30 hours), Introduction to Basic Computer Application and Business Management in Agriculture (B.Eng, 22 hours), Engineering Thermodynamics (M.Eng, B.Eng, 30 hours), Food Process Design (B.Eng, 30 hours), Food Quality and Safety (B.Eng, 20 hours), Introduction to Food Engineering (B.Eng, 22 hours), and Engineering Properties of BioAgricultural Materials (B.Eng, 15 hours), University of Uyo, Nigeria
2015 - 2018 Teaching assistant, Agricultural Process Engineering, Computer-Aided Engineering Drawing, and Bioprocess Engineering Operation, University of Putra Malaysia
2014 Teaching assistant, Solar Energy of Engineering Systems, and Computer Simulation of Agricultural Process Systems, University of Uyo, Nigeria

Dr. Onwude is passionate about sharing his knowledge and has extensive teaching experience. He has served as a guest lecturer and co-lecturer at renowned institutions such as Wageningen University and Research and ETH Zürich. His teaching expertise covers subjects like data science for food and consumer behavior, simulations and sensors in agri-food supply chains, and various aspects of agricultural process engineering. Additionally, Dr. Onwude has supervised and mentored several junior researchers, including Ph.D. and M.Sc. students, and has been involved in external Ph.D. supervision.

As a principal investigator and co-lead, Dr. Onwude has secured funding for several projects, including the Passive Cooling Blanket project, Your Virtual Cold Chain Assistant project, and Fortifying dehydrated fruits by scalable electrohydrodynamics. His research focuses on developing physics-based digital twins, smart packaging solutions, and sustainable technologies for food preservation and storage. Dr. Onwude has also organized conferences, workshops, and training sessions, further contributing to knowledge sharing and collaboration in his field.

2023 – Top 15 "incite highly cited researcher" in Agricultural and Food Sciences, in Switzerland.
2022 - Featured on "People Fixing the World" on BBC world service.
2019 - Swiss Government Excellent Scholarship – Postdoctoral (ETH Zürich).
2020 - Top cited article (Wiley): 2018-2019 "Investigating the influence of novel drying methods on sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.): Kinetics, energy consumption, color, and microstructure."
2019 – 2020: Highly cited papers (Web of Science)- "The effectiveness of combined infrared and hot-air drying strategies for sweet potato"; "Modelling the Thin-Layer Drying of Fruits and Vegetables: A Review."
2019 - Publons Top Peer Reviewer (Cross-Field; Agricultural Sciences).
2018 - Best Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of Engineering, University of Putra Malaysia.
2017 - 3rd Place, Three minutes thesis (3MT), Faculty of Engineering, University of Putra Malaysia.
2016 - 2018: Graduate Research Fellowship; International Graduate Research Fellowship, University of Putra Malaysia.
2016 - Bronze medal, Invention, Research and Innovation Exhibition (PRPI) 2016, University of Putra Malaysia.
2011 - Award of Merit, Best Student in Academic, University of Uyo, Nigeria.
2006 - EPNL undergraduate scholarship for Excellent students in Nigeria, Elf Oil Producing Company