Alumni impact

Making a difference

Carnegie Mellon University Africa students are trained within an African context and equipped to make a transformative impact in their communities and beyond. Over the past decade, our alumni have driven remarkable change across diverse fields, including IoT, renewable energy, and cybersecurity.

Equipped with a world-class education, practical experience, and strong innovation mindsets, CMU-Africa alumni pursue diverse trajectories that contribute meaningfully to Africa's digital and economic transformation.

Connect with our alumni

Contact Rosine Urujeni to connect with CMU-Africa alumni and learn more about our alumni impact across the continent

After graduation each year, a new class of CMU-Africa students joins a thriving alumni community, achieving success in their pursuit of the next phases of their careers:

Employment: 94 percent of alumni secure employment within one year of graduation, the majority of whom work in Africa applying their skills in digital innovation in sectors such as finance, education, energy, health, and agriculture.
Further education: Our graduates have been admitted to top doctoral programs around the world, including in the United States and Europe.
Entrepreneurship: Alumni have also founded and participated in impactful tech startups across the continent (such as Intellex, Mvend, and HOVA AI), often with the support of CMU-Africa's startup hub, the Industry Innovation Lab.

Alumni voices

"Since completing my master's degree at CMU-Africa as a Mastercard Foundation Scholar, I've dedicated my career to using technology to improve policy, inform better decision-making, and create meaningful social outcomes. I’ve carried with me the CMU-Africa and Mastercard Foundation ethos of giving back. I actively foster networks of African change-makers and seek to be a conduit for impact wherever I go."
— Ozioma Paul (MSIT '21), Ph.D. candidate at the University of Manchester

"CMU-Africa's high standards instilled a work ethic and discipline that I now carry into every aspect of my career. The multicultural environment also broadened my worldview and taught me the value of diverse perspectives. Today, I've returned to the cybersecurity space, taking on a role as a security engineer at Amazon. I'm proud to be contributing to a safer digital world—equipped with the tools, mindset, and resilience that CMU-Africa helped me build."
— Junias Bonou (MSIT '24), Cybersecurity Engineer at Amazon

Alumni news

Championing engineering at CMU-Africa and beyond

Kevin Rudahinduka (MSIT '14) reflects on his career and advocating for engineering practices and solutions all the way to the chief executive office.

Getting out of your comfort zone

Natasha Mutangana (MS EAI '24) reflects on her experiences at CMU-Africa and with the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program.

Community means joy for one Mastercard Foundation Scholar

As a Mastercard Foundation Scholar alumnus, Oke Obadofin (MSIT '24) aspires to be a contributor to community problem solving with a technical prowess developed at CMU-Africa.

Improving air quality worldwide

Richard Djarbeng (MS ECE '24) participated in air quality research in Pittsburgh as part of CMU-Africa’s student exchange program last semester.

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Responsible research and innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa

A team from the Upanzi Network at CMU-Africa seeks to transform the practice of responsible research and innovation in the Global South.

Combining passion with education

Arinloye, who graduated this past May, made the most of her time at CMU-Africa through academics, research, clubs, and the exchange program.

Elevating basic systems into tech solutions

Arsene Muhire (MSIT '23) is an example of how entrepreneurial success is driven by a deep-seated passion for technological solutions.

Patents and passion: One alumna uses both to create social change

Tanya Akumu (MS ECE '21) is an artificial intelligence research engineer at IBM and recently filed her first patent application in the field of trustworthy AI.

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Pursuing and imparting knowledge

Gifty Buah (MS ECE ’18) indulges her curiosity with roles as a lecturer, Ph.D. student, and interviewer.

Understanding the security of mobile apps in Africa

Researchers from CyLab-Africa and the Upanzi Network recently partnered with the mobile security provider Approov to explore the security of common financial services apps used across Africa.

Improving energy access in Africa

Faith Bagire (MS ECE '21) is improving energy access in Africa, thanks to his academic journey at Carnegie Mellon University Africa.

CMU-Africa to celebrate 10th graduation ceremony Opens in new window

On Friday, May 26, Carnegie Mellon University Africa will celebrate its 10th graduation ceremony, including its first cohort of the Master of Science in Engineering Artificial Intelligence (MS EAI) program.

For Placca Umuhire, teaching is the way to give back

Placca Umuhire (MSIT '20) has had a lifelong interest in technology and is drawn to teaching as a way of inspiring others; the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship was a perfect opportunity to pursue both of those goals.

The importance of giving back

In 2017, Bobson Rugambwa (MSIT '18) and his fellow Student Guild members launched Giving CMU Day at CMU-Africa in hopes of fostering the spirit of giving back to the university community.

Making an impact

Timothy Kaboya (MSIT ’16) is a software engineer at Microsoft in Nairobi, Kenya who is ready to make an impact on the continent.

Entrepreneurship and community

Israel Oladejo, a Mastercard Foundation Scholar, earned a master’s degree in information technology and applied machine learning this spring and has already founded a startup.

Bravo African Tartans!

On May 27, CMU-Africa held its ninth graduation ceremony and celebrated the classes of 2022, 2021, and 2020.

From Kigali to Colorado

With different backgrounds, cultures, and languages, Eric Serge Uwimana and Brian Lamtoo never would have guessed that they would find themselves following the same career path.

Reframing rejection as redirection

When Beatrice Birir began the MSIT program at CMU-Africa, she was ready for the academic challenges that lay ahead. What she didn’t expect was the personal growth she would find when her career path didn’t go in the direction that she had originally planned.

Teacher Mwatima, Learner Mwatima

As a member of the CMU-Africa community, Ramadhan Juma Mwatima has many different titles: alumnus, IT engineer, full stack developer, entrepreneur, and staff member. But in the rural Tanzanian town where Mwatima grew up, he is known by only one name: teacher.

Driven by curiosity Opens in new window

From an early age, CMU-Africa alumna Marie Ange Tesire wanted to seek out the new and discover the unexpected. That sense of curiosity has continued into her profession: machine learning engineer at Rwanda Space Agency.

Celebrating CMU-Africa entrepreneurs

Second Life Storage, a CMU-Africa alumni startup, won second place at the 2021 Hanga PitchFest. The win came with a $20,000 prize.

An engineer from a young age

With the childhood nickname of “engineer,” alumna Agatha Niwomugizi's journey from CMU-Africa to her career in software engineering seems meant to be.

Alumni spotlight on Agnes Nyambura

Alumna Agnes Nyambura is leading by example. Her hope is that more people will realize that women have what it takes to hold significant positions in the tech world.

Alumni spotlight on Marie Claire Murekatete

From the timid candidate who shyly submitted her application all those years ago, to the engineer, multiple award-winning advocate for women in tech, and current Technical Program Manager at Intel she is today, the story of Marie Claire is a fascinating one.

SMART Africa recipient spotlight: Edwin Mukhebi

Edwin Mukhebi talks about his time at CMU-Africa, and how the program prepared him to work on real-world problems.

SMART Africa recipient spotlight: Kizito Nyuytiymbiy

Kizito Nyuytiymbiy, a Smart Africa Scholar recipient, found his time at CMU-Africa particularly rewarding because of the diversity of African perspectives offered by the program.

SMART Africa recipient spotlight: Alice China

SMART Africa scholar Alice China talks about her time in the CMU-Africa program, especially the impact that the 2019 Transform Africa Summit had on her career.

SMART Africa recipient spotlight: Derrick Odonkor

Derrick Odonkor benefited from a SMART Africa scholarship, which allowed him to pursue his passion for robotic manipulation, navigation, and cognition architectures.

SMART Africa recipient spotlight: David Butera

David Butera, a SMART Africa recipient, discusses how studying at Carnegie Mellon University Africa advanced his career.

A day in the life of alumna Ivy Wainaina

Ivy Wainaina graduated from CMU-Africa in 2015 with a Master of Science in Information Technology. Ivy is now a Salesforce Developer at Blue Consulting Kenya, the 1st certified Salesforce Consultant and Silver partner in Kenya and East Africa.

CMU-Africa alumni empower businesses to make informed decisions

Sylvia Makario (MSIT ‘18) saw a problem in her home country — it was difficult to obtain quality data and information on political candidates running for election. She and six of her fellow Kenyan students devised a solution.

CMU-Africa alumni win grand prize at IoT hackathon

The 5-day hackathon organized by UNDP Rwanda and Meteo Rwanda targeted the creation of early warning systems for climate change, with an intent of assisting in government disaster response and planning.

Media Coverage Opens in new window

Alumni Spotlight: Davy Uwizera

CMU-Africa alumnus Davy Uwizera (E’17) is the Facebook developer circle Lead in Kigali, Rwanda. Early in October, he was selected among the 20 most active leads in Africa to travel to Nairobi for training and also to attend the first TechCrunch Startup Battlefield in Africa.

CMU-Africa Alumni Association

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