Grants Beneficiaries

Angelina Rosa de Oliveira Martins, is an Assistant Professor at Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, she is currently the Head of the Department of Biological Sciences of Faculty of Science at Eduardo Mondlane University. She holds a PhD degree in Environmental Sciences from Rhodes University, South Africa, a MSc degree in Environmental Sciences from Oklahoma State University, USA and a BSc Honours degree in Biology from Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique.

Angelina Rosa de Oliveira Martins has over 25 years of experience in teaching, research as well as supervising undergraduate and graduate students. She started her career as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (1996 -1997), then a Lecture (1998-2020) and since 2020 she is an Assistant Professor at Eduardo Mondlane University. She also worked as a Graduate Research Assistant (2006) at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University, USA. Angelina Rosa de Oliveira Martins currently teaches undergraduate courses in the field of Human Ecology and Terrestrial Biodiversity and graduate courses in the field of Ethnobotany at Eduardo Mondlane University. From 2010 to 2020 she was Course Coordinator of the BSc Honours course in Ecology and Conservation of Terrestrial Biodiversity at the Department of Biological Science, Eduardo Mondlane University.

Angelina Rosa de Oliveira Martins has a wide experience working as a project leader and as a researcher. In general, her research focuses on the interconnection between ecological systems and social/human systems. Specifically, her research interests include: the use of non-timber forest products and their impact on rural household livelihoods, ecosystem services, ethnobotany and plant ecology. She has several publications in peer-reviewed international journals and is a referee for articles submitted to two international academic journals. Angelina Rosa de Oliveira Martins is a WWF Education for Nature (EFN) Alumni and a member of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB).

Professor Azikiwe Peter Onwualu obtained B. Eng. Degree (1982) with First Class Honours and an M.Eng degree (1986) in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Nigeria.  The PhD degree (in Agricultural Engineering) was obtained from the Technical University of Nova Scotia (now Dalhousie University), Halifax, Canada in 1991.

He started his career as a Graduate Assistant in Agricultural Engineering in 1983 at UNN and with the PhD degree he resumed full time teaching and research at UNN in 1991 and rose through the ranks to Professor in 1999. He was Head, Agricultural Engineering Department, UNN (2000-2003), Director, Engineering Infrastructure, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, NASENI, Abuja (2003-2005) and Director General/CEO, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Abuja (2005-2013). He was a Visiting Professor at the National Universities Commission, Abuja (2014-2015). From 2016 to date, he is Head, Materials Science and Engineering Programme, African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja where he is also Director, Academic Planning and Quality Assurance for the university. He is Co-Centre Leader, World Bank sponsored Pan African Materials Institute (PAMI), Africa Centre of Excellence in Materials and Focal Point, World Bank Sponsored Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET), AUST, Abuja.

Professor Onwualu has over 30 years of experience in research, development and innovation work leading to over 200 technical publications as books, journal and conference papers and policy briefs. He was: Coordinator, Science Technology and Innovation (STI) thematic group of Nigeria’s Vision 20-2020, Chairman, Committee of Directors of Research Institutes of Nigeria (CODRI) (2010-2013) and Chairman, Steering Committee, Pan African Competitiveness Forum (PACF), Nigeria Chapter (2008-2013). He is currently: Member, Board of Directors of African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS) network, Nairobi and member, National Research Fund (NRF) Committee of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) of Nigeria and Vice President, Nigerian Academy of Engineering.

Over 60 organizations have recognized Professor Onwualu with awards including: Presidential merit award, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE); Individual Honours Award, Nigeria Society of Engineers, Abuja branch; Award of Excellence by Nigeria Institute of Physics, Most Distinguished Agricultural Engineer of the Year by NIAE and Professional Service Award by Rotary Club of Gwarimpa.  He is a Fellow of 12 professional bodies, including: Polymer Institute of Nigeria, Materials Science and Technology Society of Nigeria, Solar Energy Society of Nigeria, Agricultural Society of Nigeria, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Nigeria Academy of Engineering, Nigerian Institute of Management and Nigeria Academy of Science.

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Dr CAMARA Brahima, Maître de Conférences des Universités du CAMES à l’Université Félix HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY Abidjan (Cocody) est né en 1973 à Mankono. Marié et père d’un enfant, il est actuellement le Directeur Adjoint de l’Unité Pédagogique et de Recherche de Physiologie et Pathologie Végétales où il focalise ses compétences sur la Phytopathologie et l’Agrophysiologie. Il a mis au point avec une équipe de chercheurs de nombreux biopesticides dont 6 sont brevetés : Neco 50 EC, Proraly 50 EC, Astoun 50 EC… A juste titre, en 2014, il a été colauréat de plusieurs prix dont celui du Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de Recherche Scientifique et surtout le prix d’Excellence décerné par la Présidence de la République de la Côte d’Ivoire en 2015 et les prix du Concours de l’Innovation Agricole Durable décerné par le FIRCA/FCIAD en 2017 et 2019. Il coordonne plusieurs projets de recherche sur les biopesticides actuellement.

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Célia Marília Martins has a PhD in plant Physiology and Biotechnology by University of Pretoria. She is the deputy dean of under graduate of the Faculty of Sciences at Eduardo Mondlane University. She also works as Professor and researcher at Biological Sciences Department of the Faculty of Sciences at Eduardo Mondlane University in the field of Plant Physiology, Plant Ecophysiology, Plant Biotechnology and Bioremediation for more than twenty years, devoted in particular to plant responses to environmental stresses especially heavy metals and other pollutants. She also has an extensive experience in  macro and micropropagation  (in vitro) on vulnerable, endangered and over exploited plants contributing for the conservation and restoration of the biodiversity. She has a wide experience working as project leader and researcher in the field Plant Physiology and Biotechnology. She has publications in refereed journals at national and international level.

Dr. Damien Hanyurwimfura is currently Head of PhD Studies and Research and the Acting Director of the African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things, at the college of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda.

He received his Bachelor degree of Engineering in Computer Engineering and Information Technology from University of Rwanda (Former KIST) in 2005. He obtained his Master degree of Engineering in Computer Science and Technology and Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Technology from Hunan University, China in 2010 and 2015 respectively.

He has been selected to participate in Postdoctoral Researchers’ Networking Tour 2018 organized by DAAD, Germany on the theme: Artificial Intelligence Coming of Age – Research and Development in Germany, September 23rd to 29th 2018.

He has demonstrated an active interest and aptitude for research and has developed a strong record in research since 2010 when he was doing his master’s studies.

He is a member of technical program of conferences such as IEEE smart world congress, 4th International Conference on Data Management, Analytics & Innovation, the 5th International Conference on Dependability in Sensor, Cloud, and Big Data Systems and Applications.

He has published and co-authored more than 20 research papers in leading international journals and conferences.

His research interests covers most aspect of data mining, machine learning, Network security, watermarking, Internet of Things, hate speech detection and recommender systems.

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Jean Nepomuscene Hakizimana is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Virology under the OR Tambo Africa Research Chair for Viral Epidemics, hosted at the SACIDS Foundation for One Health (SACIDS) of the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). Dr Hakizimana is mentored by Professor Gerald Misinzo. He graduated with a Ph.D. in Veterinary Medicine (2021) of SUA under the fellowship from the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund of the Partnership for skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (RSIF-PASET), a Master of Science in Veterinary Epidemiology (2015) and a Bachelor in Veterinary Medicine (2013) both from the Inter-States School of Veterinary Sciences and Medicine (EISMV), Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal. He was the first Ph.D. student from the first cohort of RSIF-PASET to defend his doctoral thesis and among the first two graduates who graduated within 3 years and 6 months since registration. While pursuing his Ph.D., He secured a grant from the International Foundation for Science (IFS, Sweden) to support his Ph.D. work, which was undertaken in countries of Eastern and Southern Africa. After the outstanding implementation of the first phase of the IFS project, Dr. Hakizimana was awarded with a second phase of funding in September 2022. During his Ph.D., He published four manuscripts as first author and co-authored two manuscripts in international peer-reviewed journals indexed at PubMed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=hakizimana+jn&sort=pubdate). His research interests are on the genomic epidemiology of viral diseases that threaten health, food security and livelihood. In his research, He uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and associated bioinformatics to provide insights into the transmission dynamics of viral diseases, the linkages of viral genetic structure and antigenic diversity by elucidating the mechanisms by which viruses alter themselves to avoid the hosts’ immune response. His postdoctoral fellowship at SACIDS Foundation for One Health focuses on pathogens genomics surveillance through viral genomics and bioinformatics analysis of genomics data obtained from next- and third-generation sequencing of viral pathogens.

Dr. Kizito Nkurikiyeyezu is a researcher at the University of Rwanda’s Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering and e-Health and a lecturer at the Africa Center of Excellence in Internet of Things.

He completed his Ph.D. (Engineering, Intelligence & information) in 2020 at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan with a thesis on affect-aware intelligent thermal comfort. He received a master’s degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma Christian University, OK, the USA in 2012 and 2011 respectively.

His research interests lie in the area of Humanized Computing, Intelligent Environments, Affective Computing, Physiological Computing, and Healthcare informatics.

In particular, his Ph.D. thesis proposed a novel thermal comfort provision system that estimates people’s thermal comfort level from the variation in their physiological signals (e.g., heart rate variability) due to their bodies’ response to the surrounding environment and uses appropriate constrained optimization algorithms to provide an efficient and personalized thermal comfort at the lowest energy. This approach not only provides higher quality thermal comfort but also significantly reduces the amount of energy required for thermal comfort provision. Nevertheless, because human affects (e.g., stress and thermal comfort) are expressed differently from one person to another, the proposed approach would only work if person-specific machine learning models were developed for each user of the system. Such limitations would be confining and costly for large-scale deployment. Consequently, I developed an efficient algorithm that mitigates these limitations and I laid the groundwork of an “affect-aware thermal comfort” system complementary to the existing thermal comfort provision methods. An affect-aware system would estimate in real-time the affects (e.g., thermal comfort, stress, and emotion) of its users and automatically adjust itself to satisfy the user’s implicit and explicit needs (in terms of, e.g., thermal comfort, ventilation, well-being, and productivity) sustainably (in terms of e.g., heating, ventilation and cooling efficiency, and lighting).

He was an invited researcher at Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan and an invited scholar at the Université Jean Monnet in France.

He currently holds international research collaboration with researchers in Japan, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

For additional information see his website at http://qiriro.com/

Dr. Mathew K. Munji is a lecturer at the Department of Physics, Kenyatta University, Kenya.  He is a PhD graduate in Physics, obtained in 2011 from the Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. He also holds a Master of Science in Physics and BSc in Physics degrees from Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. Apart from this he also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) from Egerton University.

Just a few years before Joining Kenyatta University, he had become interested in the growing field of photovoltaic. During, his PhD work he began investigating various thin-film materials for their light-to-energy conversion properties, eventually specializing in characterization and performance of photovoltaic materials made from crystalline silicon and concentrator triple junction solar cells. He and collaborators have been supported by millions in government research grants over his career, mostly under the African Lacer Center for investigating improvements in the amorphous and crystalline silicon, point contact solar cells, back contact solar cells, edge refined film fed growth and concentrator triple junction solar cells.

He is currently a member of the Material Science research group at the Department of Physics, Kenyatta University. He is an accomplished scholar with proven track record in research and training as demonstrated by his publications in peer review journals, supervision and mentorship of post graduate students. He is a recipient of the Prestigious African Laser Center scholarships and the Nelson Mandel University scholarship for research. He has continued links with research and funding under the African Laser Center, NMU-KU partnership and collaboration.

He has made remarkable contribution in research in material science, electronic instrumentation, solar and renewable energy with over 26 research publications in refereed journals and over 11 oral presentations in international conferences. He has also authored several interactive e-learning Modules in Physics and electronics for the blended and e-learning programs.

Dr. Richard Koech is a lecturer in the department of Mathematics, Physics and Computing in Moi University, Kenya. He holds a PhD degree in material science and engineering from African University of Science and Technology, Nigeria and a MSc. degree in Physics (Renewable energy) from Moi University. His research interest is on materials characterization for applications in solar cells, Light emitting diodes and energy storage devices and has published a number of papers in these areas. Motivated by his PhD research, Dr Koech is now the lead researcher in the PASET-RSIF funded research project that seeks to explore the use of local plant-derived antioxidant compounds as additives in perovskite solar cells. In this project, a team of researchers with physics, chemistry and material science backgrounds will work together to extract the antioxidant molecules and incorporate them in perovskite solar cells

Dr. Abigail A. Adaku is a lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Ghana, Legon. She holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University, USA; a Master of Science degree in Agricultural and Resource Management from the University of Bonn, Germany; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture (Agricultural Economics major) from the University of Ghana. Dr. Adaku has 8 years of experience in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses as well as supervising graduate and undergraduate student research. She has experience in undertaking large surveys from her recent work with the USDA Food for Progress Ghana Poultry Program. Her research interest is in agribusiness economics and management and specifically focuses on agricultural marketing; agri-food supply chain, ranging from production level supply to end-consumer demand management; agricultural supply chain relationships; food safety issues and food policy analysis. She has published in internationally reputable peer-reviewed journals and is currently the vice secretary (Southern zone) of the Ghana Association of Agricultural Economists (GAAE). Her hobbies are gardening and watching documentaries from National Geographic

Dr. David Oluwasegun Afolayan holds a doctorate and a master of science degrees (distinctions) in materials science and engineering from the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, Nigeria and a bachelor of engineering degree in chemical engineering (best graduating student), from University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria. He is a Regional Scholarship Innovation Fund (RSIF) PhD scholar and Alumni, Nelson Mandela Institute (NMI) and African Development Bank (AfDB) MSc scholar. David is also a Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) PhD scholarship awardee, an international visiting scholar and affiliate research associate at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester (WPI), MA, USA (2019-2022), where he conducted research into baryte ores processing. He is currently the Executive Secretary to the RSIF Alumni Network. He is a passionate tutor and mentor to many across Nigeria, within Africa, and the United States.

Dr. Afolayan is the acting head, Mechanical Engineering department, African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, Nigeria. He has just been appointed a visiting scholar to conduct research in baryte ore processing at the Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering department, WPI, Worcester, USA (2023-2024). He currently teaches applied mechanics at the School of Engineering, AUST, Abuja where he mentors undergraduate and postgraduate/PhD students. Aside from academics, David runs the AfriMaterials and Ores Ltd, a registered consulting firm that specializes in materials’ characterization and consultation. He has successfully executed several academic and community development projects which has attracted him governor’s merit award of excellence.

As a researcher, David has over 10 years’ experience. His first research was on clay minerals in 2012 and afterwards, the production of zeolite Y catalyst for petroleum refining (2013-2014). In 2016, he commenced research in baryte characterization and processing and has helped improve the recovery of baryte from its ores using methods, technologies and devices he developed and designed. Dr. Afolayan has over 6 years in baryte processing research and published his works in SCOPUS indexed journals. In his pursuit to advance research in baryte processing, he is seeking to unravel the adsorption properties of impurity minerals on baryte cleaved surface, provide a good prediction of the molecular interaction that exist between the middling particles based on the mineral surface and interfacial properties, and a realistic description of the baryte-water-impurity minerals system using experimental and computational techniques.

Dr. Emmanuel Effah is a Ghanaian, a Computer Scientist by training and has over 10 years of experience in teaching and researching IoT, Smart Systems Technology, Human-Computer Interaction, Cloud-based Data Mining, and ICT for Development subjects. He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science in the field of IoT from the University Gaston Berger, Senegal in 2022. He is currently a Lecturer at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, UMaT, Ghana. He has also participated in several international research projects including the reBUild-Ghana Project and DelPHE Project as a Research Associate Personnel. He is a Co-PI of the ongoing iAgric Project which is funded by the Ghana Chamber of Mines Faculty Fund. His research interests include wireless sensor networks (WSNs), Agricultural-Internet-of-Things (Agri-IoT), smart systems design technology, and machine learning. He has authored many research papers published in reputable journals and conference proceedings. Emmanuel will be the lead investigator of the Agri-IoT Tech Project since he is a PASET-RSIFT-funded Ph.D. graduate and has the lead expertise in the subject of study. In 2016, Emmanuel built and implemented the GSM-controlled irrigation system for the Vegetable Growers Association in the Volta Region of Ghana, which made farming more flexible for the farmers and improved their production volumes. In this project, Dr. Effah and his team will advance his initial dream by developing and implementing a context-relevant and smart innovation that will not only address food insecurity issues in Africa but also restore the love for farming among Africa’s youth. Emmanuel is the chairman of the PASET-RSIF Cohort 1 and the foundational President of the PASET-RSIF Alumni Network.

Emmanuel Ndashimye (ndashimye1980@gmail.com) holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Auckland, New Zealand. Dr Emmanuel received master’s degree in Communication and information systems from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China, 2009) and BSc degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from University of Rwanda (2005). He is currently lecturer at University of Rwanda and Adjunct instructor at Carnegie Mellon University-Africa (CMU-Africa). Emmanuel’s current research interests are in 5G networks, IoT, LTE and WiFi, mobility and QoS management in vehicular network communications and advanced handoff techniques for heterogeneous wireless networks.

Currently, Dr. Gerard Rushingabigwi is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, College of Science and Technology. He is a Coordinator of Biomedical Engineering Master’s Program in East Africa’s Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering and E-Health (CEBE); he is also a Supervisor of Postgraduate (Master’s and PhD) Students in the African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things (ACE IoT), Biomedical Engineering, Data Science as well as Water Resources Management, in the University of Rwanda, UR.

Gerard Rushingabigwi got the Bachelor’s Degree of Engineering in Electromechanical Engineering from University of Rwanda (Former Kigali Institute of Science and Technology, KIST, in December 2005. He obtained the Master degree of Engineering in Computer Science and Technology from the University of Science and Technology, Beijing (USTB), China, in July 2010, and the PhD in Electronic Science and Technology: Electromagnetic Fields and Microwave Technology from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei- China, in June 2017.

From November 2017 to November 2020, Dr. Gerard Rushingabigwi did the Postdoctoral Research works on Remote Sensing Data Analysis and Information Engineering, focusing on Air and Water Pollutants in the School of Information Engineering, Qingdao University – China (for One Year); in collaboration with the University of Rwanda, College of Science and Technology – Rwanda (for 2 Years).

Besides, under collaboration between the University of Rwanda and Swedish Linköping University’s Centre for Teaching and Learning (CUL), from October to November 2017 Gerard Rushingabigwi received an intensive training as Advanced Courses in Higher Education Pedagogy to supervise doctoral theses; a Training Certificate was awarded to him in February 2018.

Gerard Rushingabigwi has published and co-authored more than 20 research papers in leading international journals and conferences.

His current research interest is on Sensing Technology, focusing on Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) applied in Remote Sensing of Aerosols & Selected Air/Water Pollutants, BioMEMS, Biosensors, and Transducers.

Dr. Jacqueline Kisato is a lecturer in the Department of Fashion Design and Marketing, Kenyatta University in Kenya. She holds a masters in Business Administration and a PhD in E-Marketing strategies for SMEs. She has further training in experiential entrepreneurship and business integrity from a German university and United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), respectively. She has been a visiting scholar at Leiden University (2021) in frugal innovation and entrepreneurship and is currently involved in multidisciplinary projects for sustainable entrepreneurial ventures that are good for people, planet and profit. She was invited as Africa’s research technical expert at UNESCO for the “Youth as Researchers (YAR) on COVID-19-Addressing the impact of COVID-19 on Africa’s Youth” in October 2021. She has over 12 research publications in refereed journals and made oral presentations in international conferences/workshops in the Netherlands, Germany, USA, United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Kenya, Uganda, Lesotho, Djibouti and Madagascar.  She has won funded projects to train youth in innovative entrepreneurship in partnership with a German University & UNESCO for over 5 African countries and has been a professional mentor at incubation centers in Kenya, Tony Elumelu foundation (Nigeria), African Entrepreneurship Award (Morocco) and a juror in various entrepreneurship pitching competitions in Kenya and the USA. Her research projects seek to link innovation and entrepreneurship to create sustainable enterprises that leverage technology, innovative and frugal entrepreneurial value chains and enhance environmental sustainable.  She is currently supervising postgraduate students in multidisciplinary projects in biodegradable packaging, sanitary towels, fashion marketing and entrepreneurship.

Juma Rajabu Selemani is a PhD holder in Environmental Sciences from East China Normal   University, Republic of China. Juma did Master of Science in Climate studies from Wageningen University, Netherland. He also holds a BSc (Hons) in Meteorology and a BSc in environmental Sciences and Management from University of Pretoria, South Africa and Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania, respectively. Juma is a lecturer at Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) where he teaches and conducts research in Environmental Pollution, Climate Change, energy and Water Quality.

Furthermore, Dr Juma did his PhD study in Pangani River Basin-Tanzania focusing on factors influencing water quality and quantity. Various challenges facing communities in the basin were observed among them were shortage of safe drinking water and poor sanitary services. Climate change analysis showed that Pangani Basin is expected to get more rainfall and temperature in the future than present level. Flooding, food shortage, outbreak of diseases are some of expected impacts whereas improvement in sewage system and sanitary services, improving agricultural activities and rain water harvesting techniques are some of proposed adaptation measures. He has authored and co-authored multiple scientific contributions in international peer-reviewed journals which can be found in https://www.researchgate.net/.

Research Interest: Climate Change Impact, Mitigation and Adaptation measures, Water

Quality, Renewable energy and environmental isotopes.

Dr. Nelson Casimiro Zavale is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education,  the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), where he has been researching on sociology of education/knowledge, higher education (HE) and science studies, particularly on university-industry linkages, academic societal engagement, scientometrics and research evaluation. He has over 10 years of teaching experience, mainly in Mozambique but also elsewhere as visiting academic (Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Germany). Besides teachinghe has  over 10 years of extensive in university management, supervision of students, mentorship of early-career researchers, and undertaking consultancy and commissioned research to national government (e.g. Ministry of Education, Higher Education, National Research Foundation) and non-government organizations (e.g. CESCs, NewLinK, Oxfam), as well as to international organizations (e.g. World Bank, Dutch Cooperation, Global Public Policy Institute, Italian cooperation, Unesco, etc.). He has published my research in several international journals such as Quality in Higher Education, Higher Education, Scientometrics, Science and Public Policy, International Journal of Educational Development, in African-based journals, such as International Journal of African Higher Education, Journal of Higher Education in Africa as well as in book publishers such as Springer and Routledge. He is an affiliate of the African Academy of Sciences and a Senior research fellow at Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research, the international center for advanced studies at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany. He previously held other positions, notably: Fulbright visiting scholar at the Centre for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), University of California, Berkeley (2021-2022), Humboldt Research Fellow at the International Centre for Higher Education Research (INCHER) of the University of Kassel, in Germany (2018-2021), a Swiss government excellence post-doctoral fellow (2015-2016) at University of Basel in Switzerland. I also held managerial positions, such as Director of the UEM Quality Assurance Office, Deputy-Dean for Research and Extension and Head of Department of Quality Assurance at Eduardo Mondlane University, in Mozambique

Dr. Noel Gahamanyi is PASET-RSIF Alumnus from Rwanda. Dr. Gahamanyi is a Lecturer of Microbiology at University of Rwanda. He is a Clinical Microbiologist with interest in Bacterial pathogens, their drug-resistance, and using natural products as alternative antimicrobials. Dr. Gahamanyi completed his Ph.D. studies at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania in 2021 under the PASET scholarship. From November 2019 to October 2021, Dr. Gahamanyi was in South Korea at Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) for a sandwich program as part of the PhD program. Dr. Gahamanyi holds MSc in Microbiology from Jain University (India) and BSc in Biotechnology from the former National University of Rwanda. Before embarking on Ph.D. journey, Dr. Gahamanyi served as a Lecturer of Microbiology-related modules at the Catholic University of Rwanda where he also served as Head of Biotechnology Department and then as the Vice-dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology (2013-2018). In Research, Dr. Gahamanyi has eleven (11) published papers and one book chapter all related to Microbiology. Six of these papers are indexed in the PubMed. He also served as a reviewer for six (06) international journals. Dr. Gahamanyi chaired the committee in charge of monthly webinars for PASET scholars (2021-2020). He was also the commissioner for Counseling and Career Guidance for the Rwanda Community Abroad in South Korea (2021-2020).            Dr. Gahamanyi is a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and the Young East African Health Research Scientists (YEARS) forum affiliated to the East African Health Research Commission. Dr. Gahamanyi received a number of awards including the Best Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) Postgraduate student Research Award for the academic year 2020-21 and the First-class with gold medal after completing MSc in Microbiology at top of the class (2013).

Dr. Omar Gatera is the head of Ph.D Studies and Research in the African Centre of Excellence in Internet of Things (ACEIoT) and lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, School of Engineering, College of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda.

Before joining the University of Rwanda, Dr. Gatera was working for Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) from 2008 to 2020, where he gained a sound expertise in standardization and conformity assessment of electrotechnical systems.

Dr. Gatera obtained various recognitions and professional certificates such as IEC Recognitions of Achievement for IECEE, IECQ IECEx and IECRE, and successfully completed the Intertek CQI-IRCA Certified ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems and ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems Auditor /Lead Auditor Training Courses, and attended the trainings on Research & Development and Innovation measurement instruments for evidence-based science, Technology and Innovation Policy Implementation under both the African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (ASTII) and the Science Granting Councils (SGCs) Initiatives, and participated in grant writing workshop on ERASMUS + Programmes at ICIPE, Nairobi.

Dr. Gatera holds a BSc. Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Systems and MSc Degree in Information, Communication Technology (ICT) both from the University of Rwanda in 2006 and 2008, respectively. He received his Ph.D in Telecommunication Engineering from Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Istanbul, Turkey in 2017. His research interests include wireless communication networks, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, signal processing techniques, digital health and software engineering.

Ag. Head of Department, Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria.

Field: Organic Electronics – Organic Photovoltaics(OPVs) and Light Emitting Devices(OLEDs); Perovskite-based solar cells and LEDs; Nanomechanics of structures relevant to OPVs and OLEDs; Finite Element Analysis of thin film structures relevant to OPVs and OLEDs.

Vitalis holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics from the University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon (2004), an MSc (2011) and a PhD (2015) in Materials Science and Engineering from African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, Nigeria.

He has grown in his career in teaching and research in the field of energy materials in the department of Materials Science and Engineering at AUST and supervised various MSc and PhD dissertations in the department. He previously served as a full time faculty member, senior lecturer and head of Department of Electrical/Electronics Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering at Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria. In this faculty, he taught various courses and supervised both undergraduate and postgraduate students in the departments of Civil Engineering and Electrical-Electronics Engineering.

He was a World Bank-Step B/ African Development Bank (AfDB) and African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) scholar at AUST from 2010 to 2015. He is a member of Materials Research Society, African Materials Research Society, Materials Society of Nigeria, IEEE and Affiliate member of the African Academy of Science (AAS). His research interests are in the field of organic optoelectronic structures-the effect of pressure and adhesion on their performance; nanomechanics with the use of Finite Element Analysis (FEA), for the modeling and simulation of nanostructures and thin films; and hybrid organic-inorganic solar cells and light emitting devices based on perovskite structures. To date, he has over 20 scientific articles in reputable peer-reviewed journals.

He has been involved in several outreach programs geared at encouraging secondary school kids, mainly girls to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics careers and also participated in various interventions in the use of 3D printing technology for the production of personal protective equipment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

His vision is to see the department emerge as a centre of excellence for teaching, learning, research and innovation on various aspects of materials development for sustainable impact on the African continent.

Egas José Armando is assistant lecturer at Eduardo Mondlane university at the department of rural engineering.  He holds a degree in crop production from Eduardo Mondlane university, master in agriculture engineering- agriculture mechanization, precision farming. Actually he pursues a PhD studies in internet of Things, at university of Rwanda.

His expertise involves, small scale farmers’ smart machinery prototyping, photovoltaics and living plants energy harvesting, crop production, data analytics.

He has coordinated and collaborated in several projects and won awards as best innovator in machinery prototyping, as well as best provincial presenter in workshop.

More information can be found at: https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0003-1983-3574

Prof. Elisa Maria (Rovuma University-Nampula) is a highly accomplished individual in the field of Mathematical Engineering, holding a PhD in Mathematical Engineering, Statistics and Operation Research from the Complutense University of Madrid in cooperative with Polytechnic University of Madrid in Madrid, Master in Data Analysis Engineering, Process Improvement and Decision Making from the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Valencia, and also holding a Master and Post-graduation in Educational Statistics from Pedagógical University of Mozambique in cooperation with the Complutense University of Madrid, in Maputo; Graduated in Mathematics Teaching by the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics from Pedagogical University of Nampula (Nampula). With a strong background in mathematics and engineering, she has made significant contributions to the computational aspects of mathematical modeling, analysis, and problem-solving in the field of education and health. Her research has Communications and Articles Published in High Impact International Journals. She works in the research line of Bayesian Statistics focuses on developing models to address complex mathematical challenges in various fields.

For more information, please contact the Project Leader.

Cell number: +258 849381902

e-mail: emaria@unirovuma.ac.mz

Prof. Karimuribo is a One Health Epidemiology Professor at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Morogoro, Tanzania. In July 2017, he was appointed the Director of Postgraduate Studies, Research, Technology Transfer and Consultancy (DPRTC) at SUA for the first term which ended in June 2020 and extended for second term ending June 2023. In addition to administrative duties, he serves as academic member of staff in the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He also works with the SACIDS Foundation for One Health which operates as a university institute with regional responsibility. He graduated in 1995 with a veterinary degree from SUA and in 1998 was awarded a Master of Veterinary Medicine of the same university. He pursued studies in Veterinary Epidemiology at the University of Reading in UK and awarded a PhD in 2002. He began his academic career as an Assistant Lecturer at SUA in 2000 and in 2002 was promoted to the Lecturer position and later to Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor in 2009 and 2012, respectively. In 2018, he was promoted to a full professorship.

In 2007, he was awarded the UK-based Rothamsted International African Fellowship to work with the Moredun Research Institute (MRI) in Edinburgh-Scotland as a visiting Research Fellow. At MRI, he was trained in molecular epidemiology focusing on genetic characterization and analysis of host genetic factors affecting the infectivity of trypanosomes and subclinical mastitis in zebu cattle. Between 2009 and 2012, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in a Rockefeller Foundation-funded SACIDS project on resource mapping for epidemic disease preparedness and emergency response. Since 2012 he has been leading a SACIDS strand focusing on One Health cross-cutting issues including disease surveillance. Since 2012, thanks to the Canadian IDRC for research grant to SACIDS, he led a team of epidemiologists and IT programmers to developed One Health disease surveillance systems and tool “AfyaData”. Later, the financial support from Skoll Global Threats Fund enabled my team to remain focused on our vision.

He has managed several grants to support this work either as PI or co-PI.  His research career has focused on One Health cross-cutting issues. To date, he has received and managed 21 research grants from different grantors and published 109 articles in peer reviewed journals. He is a member of Tanzania Veterinary Association, Community Animal Health Network and Participatory Epidemiology Network for Animal and Public Health. He has supervised 24 post-graduates (MSc and PhD) students as well as two Postdoctoral Research Fellows.

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Prof. Francis Wanjala Nyongesa is an associate professor at the Department of Physics of the University of Nairobi, Kenya.  He holds a Master of Science in Physics and a PhD in Physics, obtained in 2000 from the University of Nairobi. He is currently serving as the academic chair of the Department of Physics of the University of Nairobi.

He is an accomplished scholar with proven track record in research and training as demonstrated by his publications in peer review journals, supervision and mentorship of post graduate students. He is a recipient of the Third World Academy of Science (TWAS) Award for young scientists for his contribution in scientific publications in physics. He has also received several fellowships including USHEPiA fellowship, the Abdus Salam Young Student Fellowship (Trieste, Italy) and the U.S-Africa Materials Institute (USAMI) visiting fellowship at Princeton University (USA) in 2008. He is among the founder members of the Global Young Scientists Academy (GYSA), member of African Materials Research Society (AMRS) and member of the Ultrasonic Nondestructive Testing (NDT) Society of Kenya. He is a member of the editorial board of Tanzania Journal of Science and the African Journal of physical Sciences (AJPS).

He has made remarkable contribution in research in material science and renewable energy with over 22 research publications in refereed journals and over 15 oral presentations in international conferences in the following countries: United States of America (USA), Japan, Germany, Italy, China, South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. He has also He has authored self study Modules in Physics for the distance learning programs and several undergraduate physics laboratory manuals.

His research interest include:  Functional Materials for Energy Efficiency Systems such as thermal insulators, Perovskite Solar Cells, Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs), and applications of Nanotechnology for Water Purification Systems. As a person, he is highly motivated individual possessing high levels of initiative and drive, good communication and interpersonal skills. He is a team player and has been involved in drafting a number of research projects with international partners.

His profile is available at https://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/fnyongesa/.

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Dr. Íris Victorino is a lecturer at the Department of Biological Science at Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo – Mozambique. She holds a PhD in Biology and Applied Biotechnology from University of Torino (UNITO), Italy; a master in Biotechnology from Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) and a Bachelor in Genetics and Biotechnology from Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro University (UTAD), Portugal. Dr. Íris Victorino builted her experience in more than 13 years teaching undergraduate and graduate courses as well as supervising graduate and undergraduate student research in biotechnology field, devoted lately in particular to plant and soil improvement. She has experience in molecular biology detection of both plant and animal diseases, genetic improvement of plant local varieties (nhemba beans, sweet potato, and cassava), preservation of coastal dunes flora and miombo forests, and also description of mycotrophic status of forest and agronomic plant species. She has cooperated nationally and internationally with various entities from private, NGOs and public sector, has worked as a researcher at UTAD (Portugal), Nova de Lisboa University (Portugal), Ludwig Maximillian University – LMU (Germany) and UNITO (Italy) also mentoring more than 20 students. Has also contributed on project proposals writing and implementing, mostly of them European. Has generated mobility programs between universities, reviewed technical reports and provided comments and recommendations on national and international collaborations and to national government. Has budgeted, managed contracts and procurement and coordinated activities that culminated in several per reviwed publications (both national and internationally) and is currently the vice-secretary of the African Science Frontiers Initiatives (ASFI).

Professor Jibrin Mohammed Jibrin is a senior researcher and the pioneer Head of Department of Soil Science at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. He has been the Director of the Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA) since 2012, which he led to become one of the World Bank supported Africa Centres of Excellence. He has over twenty-five years of teaching and research experience with focus on soil fertility and plant nutrition. His recent areas of research include the development of decision support tools for site-specific fertilizer recommendations, understanding and quantifying variabilities in yield responses to nutrients application and changing climate, and integration of GIS tools with Crop Simulation models to understand spatial variabilities in crop yields. He has won several research and development grants as lead scientist or principal investigator, some of these include NGN38,800,000.00 from TETFUND (2019); US$ 5,000,000.00 from the World Bank (2019); a sub-grant of US$ 445,000.00 from CIMMYT for the project “Taking Maize Agronomy to Scale in Africa” (2015); US$ 8,000,000.00 from the World Bank under the Africa Centres of Excellence initiative (2014); and US$150,000 from CIMMYT under the MAIZE Competitive Grant Initiative (2012 and 2013). Jibrin Mohammed Jibrin is a fellow and life of the Soil Science Society of Nigeria. He is also a member of several other professional associations including the International Union of Soil Science, Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America. He currently serves as a member of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of DFID-funded LINKS programme for Powering Economic Growth in Northern Nigeria. He is also a member of the Research Panel of Experts (RPoE) backstopping the implementation of action research in five irrigation schemes in Nigeria under the World Bank funded TRIMING project for transforming irrigation management in Nigeria.

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Jossias Arnaldo Vilanculo has been an education professional since 1996. He was a Teacher of Mathematics and Biology in Second grade primary Education (1996-2000), Teacher of Mathematics and Physics in General Secondary Education (2000-2005), Teacher in the Physics Department of the University Pedagógica de Moçambique (2006-2010), Professor at the Pedagógica-Massinga University Delegation (2010-2019) and is currently a professor at Save University in Chongoene-Gaza. He has held the positions of Head of the Department of Distance Learning, Head of the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Deputy Director of Graduate Studies, Research and Extension at the Pedagogical University-Delegation of Massinga. He currently the  Head of the Extension and Innovation Department at Save University. He holds a degree in Mathematics and Physics teaching, Master’s Degree in Physics Education/Teaching from the Pedagogical University of Maputo and, PhD in Energy Science and Technology from the Eduardo Mondlane University of Mozambique. He has coordinated 6 externally funded projects, 4 from the Institutional Development Fund (FDI), 1 from the National Research Fund (FNI) and 1 funded by the Irish Embassy in Maputo. He has 3 peer-reviewed publications in the last 3 years in the field of Educational Sciences. Author of the Waves and Optics Manual used in distance learning at the Pedagogical University of Maputo.