2025

May


Victor Thompson, former CIO of NASA headquarters, visits CMU-Africa

CMU-Africa recently had the honor of hosting Victor Thompson, former chief information officer of NASA. With more than four decades of experience in computer technology and software application engineering, Thompson shared valuable insights that left a lasting impression on the CMU-Africa community. During his visit, he engaged with leadership, met with students conducting space-related research, and held enriching discussions with entrepreneurs at the CMU-Africa Industry Innovation Lab. His visit underscored the importance of global collaboration in advancing innovation and scientific discovery.

View guest lecture event page


John Nkengasong from the Mastercard Foundation visits CMU-Africa

CMU-Africa recently welcomed John Nkengasong, executive director for higher education, collaboratives, and strategic initiatives at the Mastercard Foundation, for an introductory visit aimed at strengthening strategic engagement and collaboration.

The day began with a welcome from CMU-Africa Director Conrad Tucker, followed by a tour led by Scholars, showcasing flagship research labs, teaching spaces, and innovation hubs. Nkengasong also participated in an interactive session with scholars and alumni, and attended a student-led research showcase hosted by the CMU-Africa Student Research Club.

The engagement continued with a programmatic engagement session featuring the Center of Digital Transformation of Africa, Learning Sciences, and Scholars Program teams, highlighting the depth of collaboration between CMU-Africa and the Mastercard Foundation. A strategic engagement session with CMU-Africa’s leadership team followed, focusing on progress and key impact milestones in the partnership.

The visit concluded with a networking lunch with students, offering an opportunity for informal dialogue and connection.


April


CMU-Africa and University of Rwanda hold joint research seminar

CMU-Africa and the University of Rwanda held a joint seminar to further strengthen their research collaboration with over 60 participants in attendance.This initiative provides early career researchers from both universities with a great opportunity to present their work, identify research connections, and receive valuable feedback from the larger research community. These seminars will be held monthly, with the venue alternating between the two universities.


CMU-Africa student research featured in Tech Xplore
Tech Xplore

CMU-Africa student Claude Kwizera was featured in Tech Xplore for a collaborative research paper published on the arXiv preprint server. The multinational team was led by the University of Michigan. The University of Santa Clara, Universidad de la República Uruguay, Max Planck Institute, Carnegie Mellon University Africa, Singapore University of Technology and Design, and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence also contributed to this research.


Vernon authors piece on robotics in Africa
Science Robotics

CMU-Africa’s David Vernon authored a piece in Science Robotics, covering the current landscape of robotics in Africa, with deployment in agriculture and educational sectors. Robotics research and development is also consistently expanding.


CMU-Africa's Digital Experience Center highlighted
IGIHE Network

Carnegie Mellon University Africa’s Digital Experience Center, recently launched through the Upanzi Network, was featured by the IGIHE Network and BiometricUpdate.com. The Center will serve as a hub for collaboration and innovation, fostering the development of new digital public infrastructure and goods in Africa. “Rather than Africa just being consumers, we are now creators and contribute to the glocal ecosystem of open-source projects and open-source software,” says CMU-Africa Director Conrad Tucker.


Gates Foundation visits CMU-Africa for CMU Young Innovators Session

On April 1, a delegation from the Gates Foundation visited CMU-Africa for a one-hour session entitled "CMU Young Innovators Session." The delegation included Trevor Mundel (president of Global Health at the Gates Foundation), Patrice Matchaba (CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute) and Paulin Basinga (Gates Foundation Africa director).

The format of the event was a round table discussion about CMU-Africa student projects in the AI space.

Student projects:

  • Chisom Ogbogu (MS ECE '25): "Integration of PEM Electrolyzers with Conventional Grid Architecture"
  • David Masoperh (MSIT): "Pebla - An innovative, Lightweight and Efficient Cash App"
  • Samuel E. Johnny (MSIT '25): "Evaluating Synthetic Voice Detection in High-Resource and Low-Resource
    Languages: A Study of Audio Features"
  • Muhammad Aliyu (MSIT '25) and Roy Ngu Esibe (MSIT '25): "Generative AI Methodology for Uncovering Entrepreneurial Journeys in Africa"
  • Bernes Atabonfack (MS EAI '23), Mohammed Hardi Abdul Baaki (MS EAI '25), Ahmed Issah (MS EAI '25), and Clemence Ingabire (MS EAI '25): "Addressing Medical Device Maintenance Challenges in Low and Middle-Income Countries: An AI-Powered Diagnostic and Support Platform"
  • Nicole Igiraneza Ishimwe (MSIT '25): "Predicting Severity of Adverse Events Following BCG Vaccination"

March


Tucker calls for African researchers to invest in artificial intelligence
The Toyin Falola Interviews

CMU-Africa’s Conrad Tucker was joined by a panel of other artificial intelligence (AI) specialists on a recent edition of the Toyin Falola Interviews, where they called for African political and scientific leadership to invest in AI technology and infrastructure so that they do not rely on foreign AI advances. Tucker stressed the importance of educating the next generation of AI researchers. “AI is accelerating how students acquire complex skills. It is also transforming fields like engineering design and product development. From aircraft to automobiles and computers, AI is revolutionizing how ideas are conceptualized and tested through predictive modeling,” he said. “If we do not train our students to compete globally, Africa will once again find itself as a passive consumer of technology developed elsewhere. The future of AI in Africa begins with education.”


Upanzi Network research covered in Security Boulevard
Security Boulevard

Carnegie Mellon University Africa’s Upanzi Network in collaboration with Approov have created APKIT, an accessible cybersecurity tool for financial technology developers.


The Upanzi Network highlighted as knowledge partner for MOSIP Connect
Biometric Update

CMU-Africa's the Upanzi Network was highlighted as a knowledge partner for MOSIP Connect, happening from March 11 to 13. The Modular Open Source Identity Platform is co-hosting the event with the Philippine Statistics Authority


February


Gueye receives Cybersecurity Excellence Award

CMU-Africa’s Assane Gueye received the Cybersecurity Excellence Award in the category of Academia at the 2025 African Cybersecurity Summit, which is co-hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco, through the General Directorate of Information Systems Security (DGSSI), in collaboration with Smart Africa.


January


Upanzi Network’s digital ID hackathons open in new parts of Africa
BiometricUpdate.com

CMU-Africa’s Upanzi Network, along with MOSIP, is launching the second round of its digital ID hackathon in northern, southern, and western Africa. This competition helps high school and university students across the continent create more robust digital public infrastructure by developing new ways to utilize digital IDs. As MOSIP’s blog post explains, “The key value proposition for adopting open-source digital public goods is the promise of technology independence, making vendor lock-in a phenomenon of the past. However, if the adopting nations have no capacity to deploy, maintain, and govern these digital systems effectively, there will still remain an effective vendor lock-in.” Eastern Africa’s first round of the competition has already concluded, with four projects chosen to be developed.


Upanzi Network featured for Digital ID Hackathon initiative
mosip16.9

CMU-Africa’s Upanzi Network was featured in mosip16.9 for their Digital ID Hackathon. The hackathons are part of a larger initiative to increase the technical capacity of participants, promote innovation, and foster the next generation of thinkers in the field of digital identity. The Upanzi Network is co-directed by CMU-Africa’s Assane Gueye and ECE’s Giulia Fanti.


2024


October


CMU-Africa students develop spaceborne AI algorithm
Space in Africa

CMU-Africa students participated in a collaborative project, STAR.VISION, as reported by Space in Africa. Under the mentorship of Rwanda Space Agency (RSA) engineers, students developed algorithms for the project’s inaugural AI Algorithm Rideshare Programme 1.0.


September


Upanzi Network hosts hackathon webinar
Biometric Update

Upanzi Network's recent webinar for the Eastern Africa Digital ID Hackathon was reported on by Biometric Update. Throughout this webinar, experts discussed the importance of biometric authentication and the Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP).


Tucker discusses deepfakes
Medium

CMU-Africa Director Conrad Tucker spoke with Medium about his work and strategies for the public to protect themselves against deepfakes and disinformation. “Policies need to be established to protect users so that they can be confident that the content they are consuming can be trusted,” Tucker says.


Congratulations to our Andy Award Nominees
Carnegie Mellon University

Congratulations to the following College of Engineering Andy Award Nominees. Cheer them on at the event on Tuesday, October 15 in McConomy Auditorium.

Commitment to Excellence: Rookie

  • Amber Dworek (INI)
  • Eric Mrock (MechE)
  • Patricia Musiime (CMU-Africa)
  • Geena Provenzano (CEE)
  • Lauren Smith (College Offices)

Commitment to Excellent: Veteran

  • Melissa Brown (MechE)
  • Andrea Cohen (College Offices)
  • Allison McLachlan (CEE)
  • Kristyn Williams (MechE)
  • Emma Zink (III)

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

  • Jessica Tomko (ECE)

Commitment to Students

  • Jeannette Daly (ECE)
  • Mika Inamahoro (CMU-Africa)
  • Jennifer Spirer (College Offices)
  • Ed Wojciechowski (MechE)

Innovative and Creative Contributions

  • Brian Belowich (CEE)
  • Monica Submit (CMU-Africa)
  • Anthony Talotta (MSE)

Spirit

  • Abraham Darriel (CMU-Africa)
  • Christa Jones (INI)
  • Melissa Ritchie (CEE)

Teamwork and Collaboration (Standing Teams)

  • CMU-Africa Student Induction Program: Jacqueline Bangirana, Nancy Biwott, Gikundiro Buki, Nick Carney, Abraham Darriel, Reginald Donkor, Gisele Gihozo, Mika Inamahoro, Rosine Kamahoro, Lucy-Anna Kelly, Sandra Malaika, Ines Manzi, Mugire Flavia Mugwaneza, Irene Munene, Johnson Nziza, Marie-Ange Rukundo, and Monica Sumbi.
  • Chemical Engineering Academic Team: Maria Barnes, Heather Costello, Chelsea Lee, Nora Sieworiek

August


Fanti and Sowon suggest improving the way governments regulate technology
Atlantic Council

ECE/CyLab’s Giulia Fanti and CyLab’s Karen Sowon were among the co-authors of an article in Atlantic Council suggesting ways in which governments could more effectively regulate new technologies while avoiding setbacks. They detail efforts of governments around the world that have had unintended consequences affecting millions of people, and argue that these consequences may have been avoided had policymakers had approached the problems like products designers do, and balanced security, privacy, and usability.


July


Fanti receives Angel Jordan professorship
Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering

ECE’s Giulia Fanti has been named the new Angel Jordan Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She researches how to design systems that can cooperate even if there is no trust, such as in privacy in social networks. She is also a co-founder of CyLab-Africa.


June


Lee has been named a Wimmer Faculty Fellow
CMU Eberly Center

CMU-Africa’s Kwan Lee has been named a 2024–2025 Wimmer Faculty Fellow by CMU’s Eberly Center, which helps CMU educators design and implement more effective teaching methods. Lee will be revising his course, “Advanced Academic Skills for Engineers,” to teach through workshops on designing presentations, identifying research gaps, improving writing skills, and more.


Four CMU-Africa students join Yale School of Medicine for the summer
Yale Biomedical Informatics & Data Science

Four CMU-Africa students are headed to Yale this summer as postgraduate associates in the inaugural cohort of Yale’s Biomedical Informatics and Data Science International Exchange for Students (BIDSIES) program. Lorier Bernes Atabonfack (MS EAI) will study applications of AI in healthcare; Wendy Essuman (MS ECE) will gain experience in bioinformatics while continuing her research project, which aims to transform students’ experience in learning math online using AI; Scovia Achan (MSIT) uses AI to address healthcare needs, such as predicting cholera hotspots; and Peter Ahumuza (MSIT) will develop teaching tools to help medical professionals use AI to better take care of patients.


May


Niyizamwiyitira quoted on AI in the classroom
CNBC Africa

CMU-Africa’s Christine Niyizamwiyitira was quoted by CNBC Africa on the benefits of AI in classroom settings. Along with lessening the workload for teachers, AI could become a valuable resource for students with special needs in Africa.


Gueye comments on the rise in electronic payment fraud in Business Day Nigeria
Business Day Nigeria

CMU-Africa’s Assane Gueye comments on the rise in electronic payment fraud in Business Day Nigeria. Over the past five years, Nigerian bank customers have lost N59.33 billion, showing the desperate need for increased regulations and security measures. “We should be more intentional that these technologies will bring more good and not harm,” Gueye says.


April


Tucker speaks on Africa’s adoption of AI regulations with Communications of the ACM
Communications of the ACM

CMU-Africa Director Conrad Tucker speaks on Africa’s adoption of AI regulations with Communications of the ACM. With the increasing usage of programs such as ChatGPT, governments all over the world are figuring out how to regulate AI so that users can interact with them safely. Tucker describes the current state of AI there as “quite fragmented,” varying in “different perspectives and policies across African countries.”


CMU-Africa hosts LaTeX workshop

CMU-Africa's Edwin Mugume recently ran a workshop for students about the typesetting software LaTeX. The system is used for creating scientific documents and is the standard in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The workshop helped to prepare students to be more competitive in their field after graduation.