In a conversation that bridges technical mastery and visionary leadership, TotalEnergies’ Joshua Umejuru, winner of the 2024 TechQuest Drilling Engineering Innovation Award, reflects on his career, the DDI Engineering Toolkit, leadership during the COVID-19 era, and what Africa’s next generation must embrace ahead of TechQuest 2025.
As the final moments of the TechQuest International Conference 2024 unfolded inside the packed Abuja International Conference Center, the atmosphere crackled with anticipation. Delegates from across Africa and beyond engineers, entrepreneurs, scholars, and policymakers gathered in clusters, dissecting sessions, pitching ideas, and celebrating the continent’s expanding tech influence. Since its inception in 2022, TechQuest has grown into a continental force, bridging local innovation with global exposure and building a platform that doesn’t just recognize excellence but amplifies it on the world stage.
The awards gala, the conference’s emotional crescendo, spotlighted transformative changemakers shaping Africa’s energy and technology futures. Among the standout honorees was Joshua Umejuru, a Senior Drilling Engineer at TotalEnergies Nigeria, who clinched the Drilling Engineering Innovation Award 2024. His work stood apart, not merely for its technical elegance but for its deep operational impact and bold thinking. From designing the now-adopted DDI Engineering Toolkit to overseeing safe personnel movement during the peak of COVID-19 disruptions, Joshua’s decade-long career embodies engineering leadership in motion.
As we sat down shortly after the award ceremony, Joshua’s demeanor was grounded yet glowing with humility. In this TechQuest Media exclusive, he opens up about the roots of his engineering philosophy, the innovation behind his toolkit, the pressure and humanity of pandemic-era leadership, and his personal call to Africa’s rising talent as TechQuest 2025 approaches.
Q1: Joshua, take us back to where it all began. What drew you to petroleum engineering, and how did that foundation shape the engineer you are today?
Joshua Umejuru: I often say that I didn’t choose petroleum engineering, it found me. Growing up in Lagos, I was surrounded by stories of exploration, of people working on offshore production platforms. But what fascinated me most wasn’t the size of the operations, it was the complexity. How do you find energy beneath the earth? How do you make decisions that impact people, economies, and even geopolitics?
That curiosity led me to study engineering at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. I focused on drilling and production systems, and early on, I made it a point to understand both the field and the theory. My first roles were hands-on. Mud logs, rig inspections, working closely with field technicians. It taught me humility. You realize quickly that a design on paper is only as good as its performance under pressure.
That blend of theory and reality became the foundation of how I approach every project. I always ask, is this idea practical? Is it cost-effective? Can it scale? That thinking evolved over time, especially as I took on more responsibility at TotalEnergies. From managing wells to leading design reviews, it’s been a journey built on listening, learning, and improving with each well drilled.
Q2: Your DDI Engineering Toolkit has received praise for streamlining operations. What inspired its creation, and how has it transformed your work?
Joshua Umejuru: The DDI Toolkit wasn’t created to win an award. It was created because something was broken.
In drilling operations, trajectory feasibility analysis is crucial. We’re dealing with narrow margins, deep reservoirs, and complex geology. Yet, much of the work was being done in silos. One tool for torque and drag, another for casing design, a different spreadsheet for stress checks. It was inefficient and prone to error. One mistake could delay a rig or cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I began building what became the Drilling Design and Integrity Toolkit, a unified suite that could model wellbore trajectories, evaluate mechanical limits, simulate scenarios, and standardize reporting. It started small, just a few Excel macros and decision trees. But the impact was immediate. We began reducing design turnaround times, flagging risks earlier, and communicating decisions more clearly to offshore teams.
Over time, the toolkit evolved into a platform used by multiple teams. It’s adaptable, auditable, and continuously improving. I believe tools like these democratize engineering. You don’t have to be a senior expert to make informed decisions, you just need access to well-structured logic and accurate data.
The DDI Toolkit is a product of frustration turned into innovation. And that, to me, is what engineering should be about. Solving real problems with smart, scalable solutions.
Q3: One of your most significant leadership moments came during the COVID-19 pandemic. What was it like managing logistics and safety under such intense conditions?
Joshua Umejuru: That chapter still gives me chills. When the pandemic hit in 2020, our drilling campaign was ongoing. We couldn’t stop. At the same time, safety protocols were evolving, borders were closing, and uncertainty was in the air. I was appointed the Lead Personnel on Board (POB) Coordinator, overseeing the movement of up to 700 personnel daily across nine quarantine centers and ensuring their timely deployment to sites.
It wasn’t just logistics. It was human lives, livelihoods, and the burden of keeping operations safe and compliant. I had to work across disciplines, medical, technical, logistics, and HR. Every day was a balance of schedules, risk assessments, health screenings, and communication. We mapped out shuttle routes, negotiated with hotel providers, set up emergency isolation plans, and created rotation rosters that aligned with both corporate objectives and local government policies.
There were moments of intense pressure. Delayed results, last-minute changes, emotional calls from workers who hadn’t seen their families. But we kept going. We achieved zero major outbreaks on board and managed to save significant costs by optimizing quarantine accommodations and minimizing idle time.
Looking back, that experience taught me the difference between leadership and management. Management is about process. Leadership is about people. You show up, stay calm, and build trust when it’s hardest. That’s what kept the wheels turning.
Q4: Winning the TechQuest Drilling Engineering Innovation Award 2024 must have been a proud moment. What does this recognition mean to you, personally and professionally?
Joshua Umejuru: It’s deeply humbling. When my name was announced, I paused. Not because I doubted my work, but because I saw the faces of so many engineers and field staff who contributed along the way. This award isn’t just mine, it’s ours.
TechQuest is more than an award platform. It’s a global stage for African brilliance. That’s what makes this moment so powerful. It tells the world that we’re not just participating in innovation, we’re leading it.
Professionally, it motivates me to keep pushing the boundaries. Recognition comes with responsibility. People now look to my work as a standard. That means I must stay curious, stay honest, and stay committed to excellence.
Personally, it’s a full-circle moment. I remember being a junior engineer, intimidated by technical reviews, working long hours to prove my worth. And now, to stand before this community as a recognized innovator, it validates the sacrifices, the late nights, the self-doubt, and the breakthroughs.
TechQuest has elevated my voice, and for that, I’m grateful. But more importantly, it has shown others that African engineers can build solutions that stand shoulder to shoulder with global best practices.
Q5: The TechQuest 2025 theme is “Bridging Local Innovation with Global Exposure.” From your vantage point, what’s next for Africa’s energy engineering ecosystem?
Joshua Umejuru: The theme is spot-on. Africa’s future lies in our ability to scale local innovation and plug it into the global value chain. In energy, that means combining contextual intelligence, understanding our terrain, our workforce, our constraints with digital tools, sustainability goals, and policy alignment.
We’re already seeing shifts. More engineers are coding. More field workers are using tablets and cloud-based reporting tools. We’re digitizing workflows, introducing automation, and developing local supply chains.
But the next leap isn’t just technical. It’s collaborative. We need to break down silos between academia, industry, and government. If a university in Akure develops a new mud sensor, how quickly can it be tested on a rig in Bayelsa? If an SME in Nairobi has a breakthrough in geothermal drilling, how do we connect it with funders and regulators?
I also believe that leadership matters. We need engineers who can communicate with financiers, who understand ESG metrics, who can advocate for change in boardrooms and field offices alike.
The TechQuest platform is enabling this shift. By creating visibility and celebrating diverse innovators, it’s building a bridge between what we build and who sees it. That’s how Africa grows. Not just by inventing in isolation, but by integrating into global systems with confidence and credibility.
Q6: For young professionals watching your journey, what message would you share as TechQuest 2025 approaches?
Joshua Umejuru: My message is this. You are already enough to begin.
Don’t wait to become a manager before you start thinking innovatively. Don’t wait for a perfect title to document your ideas. Start where you are. That spreadsheet you improved, that process you simplified, that mentoring session you gave, it matters.
Innovation isn’t always flashy. Sometimes, it’s silent consistency. It’s finding a smarter way to do the same thing. It’s asking “Why not?” when others accept the status quo.
I also want young professionals to remember that rejection is not a verdict. I’ve submitted ideas that didn’t get adopted. I’ve led meetings that fell flat. But I kept learning, refining, showing up.
TechQuest 2025 is a golden opportunity. Submit your work. Tell your story. Connect with peers. Even if you don’t win, you expand your reach, and that exposure can open doors you never expected.
Lastly, invest in character. Your competence will open doors, but your values will keep you there. Be trustworthy, be teachable, and be generous with what you know. That’s the kind of engineer Africa needs.
Conclusion: Toward TechQuest 2025 and Beyond
As the curtains closed on TechQuest 2024, it was clear that the event had once again delivered on its promise. Not just in showcasing Africa’s brightest minds, but in affirming a deeper truth. That excellence, when grounded in purpose and community, echoes far beyond award halls.
Joshua Umejuru’s journey reminds us that engineering is not simply a discipline. It is a vocation, a form of service, and a continuous invitation to build with integrity.
As TechQuest looks toward its 2025 edition, themed “Bridging Local Innovation with Global Exposure,” the call is now open. Engineers, developers, researchers, and startups across Africa are encouraged to submit their innovations, nominate peers, and join a growing movement where ideas meet opportunity.
Because as Joshua has shown, it only takes one well-executed idea to shift an entire industry.
