2024
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.
CEE-TP brings digital policy courses to Rwanda
Center for Executive Education in Technology Policy (CEE-TP)
CMU’s Center for Executive Education recently brought two courses to Rwanda: Identity Authority and Ecosystems and Digital Transformations, led by Pam Dixon, and Digital Trade: International Trade Rules, led by Dr. Alexandre Mateus. The 30 participants came from 12 different countries including some within and outside the African continent.
March
White paper on smart mobility solutions in Africa published in Changing Transport
Changing Transport
February
CMU-Africa works with Afretec to promote gender inclusivity in STEM
The New Times
CMU-Africa works with the other members of Afretec, a network of six universities based in Africa, to promote gender inclusivity in STEM. Afretec recently opened a three-day workshop focusing on common barriers to female representation in STEM, emphasizing that women play a crucial role in the evolving landscape of STEM fields. CMU-Africa’s associate director, Nancy Biwott, explains to The New Times that, regardless of science or art, each person should be allowed to pursue their passion. “Whether you are a female or a male, every interest is valid,” Biwott says.
CMU-Africa IFFF receives over 200 donations on Giving Tuesday
CMU-Africa’s Innovators Forward Fellowship Fund (IFFF) received over 200 gifted donations on Giving CMU Day 2023, totaling over $4,300 in funds. The IFFF provides tuition support for bright and passionate engineering students, many of whom would otherwise be unable to afford graduate school. The donations will be used to support these individuals as well as their communities, helping talented students excel in their careers and go on to transform the continent.
CMU-Africa hosts Innovation Summit
Independent
January
CMU-Africa mentioned in The New Times as one of seven factors contributing to Rwanda’s success in AI
The New Times
CMU-Africa was mentioned in The New Times as one of seven factors that contribute to Rwanda's success in the field of AI. "At CMU-Africa, artificial intelligence (AI) serves as a fundamental tool for engineers to construct systems capable of perceiving, planning, and interacting with the world to accomplish design objectives," the article says. Having a CMU location in Kigali allows students to access high-level technologies and complete research in AI and robotics.
CMU-Africa involved in study that revealed security risks in African financial apps
BNN Breaking
CMU-Africa was mentioned in BNN Breaking for its involvement in a study that revealed major security risks in popular African financial apps. They found that 95% of these Android apps could potentially compromise the personal and financial information of 272 million users. This finding will hopefully steer both developers and users toward increasing security measures while continuing to use these apps.
Alumni featured in IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine
2023
December
CMU-Africa researchers published in Science Robotics
Science Robotics
CMU-Africa's Conrad Tucker, David Vernon, Adedayo Akinade (MS ECE '24), Yohannes Haile (MS ECE '23), Natasha Mutangana (MS EAI '24) were published in Science Robotics, as a Focus article, for their work with culturally sensitive robotics. The article was featured in the magazine's special issue on robotics and AI in the Global South. In the piece, the researchers discuss how embedding culturally sensitive body, hand, and facial gestures in social robots will make them more acceptable in Africa.
November
Air Force Institute of Technology visits CMU-Africa
Maxwell Air Force Base
Air Force Institute of Technology professor Aihua Wood visited CMU-Africa in September 2023 to explore the facilities and look for potential opportunities for collaboration. “I was very impressed with the campus facilities and students,” says Wood. “I feel like there is a lot of opportunity for AFIT to be involved.” Two programs of interest are the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Windows on the World and Window on Science programs.
CMU-Africa students featured in The New Times for AI algorithms for Chinese satellite
The New Times
October
Tucker’s research mentioned at Senate hearing
MechE/CMU-Africa’s Conrad Tucker, along with other collaborators from the RAND Corporation and the Challenger Center, were cited for their work during the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing titled “AI and the Future of our Elections.” They were recognized for their research in nefarious uses of AI and provided a baseline for future studies and solutions.
2023 Engineering Faculty Awards announced
CMU College of Engineering
The 2023 Engineering Faculty Awards highlight faculty members who have shown outstanding educational, research, and service efforts. Congratulations to the awaredees.
- Benjamin Richard Teare Teaching Award: Jimmy Zhu and Greg Kesden (ECE)
- David P. Casasent Outstanding Research Award: Gianluca Piazza (ECE)
- George Tallman Ladd Research Award: Eni Halilaj (MechE), Destenie Nock (CEE/EPP)
- Outstanding Mentoring Award: Burcu Akinci (CEE)
- Outstanding Service Award: Tim Brown (CMU-Africa/EPP)
- Steven J. Fenves Award for Systems Research: Marios Savvides (ECE)
- Philip and Marsha Dowd Fellowship: Yuejie Chi (ECE), Amir Barati Farimani and Burak Kara (MechE)
CMU-Africa students successfully complete the Algorithm Rideshare Programme
Rwanda Space Agency
CMU-Africa students, along with others from the University of Rwanda and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, successfully completed the Algorithm Rideshare Programme with the Rwanda Space Agency and STAR.VISION Aerospace Limited. This algorithm will help satellite WJ-1A to independently process images as opposed to having to download data separately. It is a huge advancement in space technology and artificial intelligence, allowing for the automatic assessment of land use and generation of statistics.
Approov-sponsored report shows that 95% of Fintech apps contain exposed secrets
Business Wire
CyLab-Africa completed an Approov-sponsored report of the most popular African banking and financial service apps, showing that 95% of the apps contain exposed secrets that can reveal consumers’ data. As financial services become more digitized, the risk associated with confidential information being leaked increases significantly.
May
Afretec recently held its first entrepreneurship workshop at The American University in Cairo, a member institution of the network. The three-day event focused on discussing the network's approach to entrepreneurship with selected experts working within the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem in Africa. Panel discussions and working sessions encouraged open dialogue around setting the direction for Afretec entrepreneurship efforts in 2023 and beyond.
Two CMU-Africa students received IDEA award
Two CMU-Africa students have been awarded the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Women in Engineering (WiE) Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Award.
Master’s Students Arisema Mihretu and Pamely Zantou were presented with certificates at the Women in Engineering Luncheon Meeting on May 30. The award will allow the students to attend the 2023 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in London.
The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society WiE Committee launched the IDEA program in 2023 to support students with an interest in robotics or automation, underrepresented groups, people with disabilities and people who have stepped down from the field and want to return. The program includes travel support to RAS’s major flagship conferences, such as the ICRA.
April
Mani & Luhanga speak at UN Commission on Population and Development 56th session
CMU-Africa’s Ganesh Mani and Edith Luhanga presented at the UN’s 56th session of the Commission on Population and Development which took place on April 13, 2023. The virtual event, titled “Towards Quality Education & Common Good: A Roadmap for Transformation of Education & Health,” was sponsored by the Women’s Health and Education Center (WHEC) and focused on providing children with access to early education.
Thornburg discusses Grid Fruit refrigeration tools
Vermont Business Magazine
CMU-Africa’s Jesse Thornburg, cofounder of Grid Fruit, talked with Vermont Business Magazine about his efforts to bring data-driven intelligence to food retail operations. He has been building and employing commercial refrigeration tools that make recommendations to optimize energy use while also helping grocers stay responsive to alerts from utilities about the load on the grid. “The total effect is reduced demand during peak times which is good for global warming and, because it reduces expensive spikes in energy use, good for the business owner as well,” Thornburg said. “The two work hand in hand.”