EPP students developed research, met with stakeholders in Rwanda

Three Engineering and Public Policy students spent part of their summer conducting research at the College of Engineering’s location in Kigali, Rwanda. They collaborated with educators and stakeholders there to integrate their research with the needs and expertise of the local community, and to strengthen ties between students in Pittsburgh and Kigali.

The students each work with satellite data to observe how physical features of the landscape have changed over time, especially in response to climate change. All three are advised by Paulina Jaramillo, professor of engineering and public policy.

Fidelis Bologo studies how agriculture and plant health and cover have increased or decreased over time to determine if it now takes longer for crops to grow and mature. Nana Oye Djan applies satellite data to supplement efforts managing water resources, focusing on monitoring how freshwater lakes expand or dry up. Emily Zuetell is working to improve machine learning algorithms, which identify physical features in satellite pictures and which do not often work well on data from Sub-Saharan Africa, so that the data may be used to predict how floods will behave.

Second-year Ph.D. students Bologo and Djan were at the Kigali location from June 4 to July 12. They were mentored by CMU-Africa assistant teaching professors Barry Rawn (electrical and computer engineering) and Moise Busogi to determine the best ways to collect and analyze their data.

Zuetell, a fourth-year Ph.D. student, joined them for the last two weeks to present her research to CMU-Africa students and local stakeholders, including representatives from government ministries like the Rwanda Space Agency and the Rwanda Water Resources Board. The students worked closely with these stakeholders to ensure that their research would be useful to each group.

The workshop and meetings were "very impactful in the sense that, after our presentations, they gave us feedback and shared how they think our work is very applicable to the context of Rwanda itself and the region in general," Bologo said.

"External stakeholder workshops like this one are a great way for students to become even more connected to the impact of their research. They are able to talk directly to the people who will use their work and findings to help members of the community," said Busogi.

"The more I get to work with everyone at CMU-Africa, I want to build relationships with the people there," Zuetell said. "It’s really special to have those opportunities and to be able to learn from all of the researchers and policy-makers there."