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.
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.