Ahmed K. Ali finds creative and attractive solutions to repurpose industrial waste.
By Sarah Wilson, Texas A&M University College of Architecture
Not many people can say they have a love-hate relationship with waste.
An exception is Ahmed K. Ali, a Texas A&M associate professor of architecture who considers waste in his work and research. He has even dubbed himself “the wasteman,” as he says the moniker helps him start critical conversations around design, architecture and sustainability.
“I love waste because I make use of it, but I also hate it at the same time and don’t want people to produce more of it,” he said.
Ali is on a mission to find creative and attractive solutions to industrial waste-flows and byproducts, ways to limit waste in design, and move the world’s economy from one that produces billions of tons of waste to one in which resources are used as long as possible for maximum value — the circular economy.
