Olusegun Oyeniyi

Nigerian engineer who revolutionized affordable housing through 3D-printed construction

Olusegun Oyeniyi (b. 1988) is a Nigerian civil engineer and founder of PrintAble Homes, a company using 3D printing technology to build affordable housing at 70% lower cost than conventional methods. Starting in 2018, Oyeniyi developed the first large-scale 3D printer capable of constructing entire homes in 24 hours, addressing Nigeria's severe housing deficit of 17 million units. His innovation combines locally sourced materials with AI-optimized designs, reducing construction waste by 60%. The company's first project in Lagos delivered 50 homes in 2019, winning the UN-Habitat Innovation Award.

Oyeniyi's breakthrough came from his MIT research on sustainable construction, where he discovered that traditional brick-making contributes 8% of Nigeria's CO2 emissions. His 3D printing method uses recycled materials and solar-powered systems, achieving carbon-negative construction. By 2022, PrintAble Homes had expanded to Kenya and Ghana, building schools and health clinics in partnership with UNICEF. The company's modular designs allow communities to customize living spaces through smartphone apps, empowering residents in the design process.

His work has been profiled in BBC and Fast Company, and he was named Africa's Young Innovator of the Year in 2021. Oyeniyi currently leads the Affordable Housing Initiative for the African Union, advocating for policy changes to integrate 3D printing into national building codes. His vision includes training 10,000 local technicians by 2025 to sustainably address housing needs across the continent. Recent projects include a 3D-printed university campus in Senegal and disaster-resilient housing in flood-prone areas of Nigeria.