Meet Our Organizing Committee
Dr. Marie Chantal CYULINYANA
Chair of the Scientific organizing committee
Dr. Marie Chantal CYULINYANA
Chair of the Scientific organizing committee
Dr. Marie Chantal CYULINYANA is a Science and Technology Foresight Analyst at Rwanda National Council for Science and Technology (NCST). Prior to this position she was a lecturer at the University of Rwanda, College of Science and Technology (UR-CST). She holds a PhD degree in Physics from University of Johannesburg, South Africa and she did two years post doctorate at university of Witwatersrand. Her special research interests are in Applied Physics: modeling and optimization of solar energy technologies.
She is an active researcher in physics and renewable energy fields, especially in solar energy.
She is currently the president of the Rwandan Association for Women in Science and Engineering (RAWISE). She is a member of the Rwanda Academy of Sciences, founding member of the Rwanda Young Academy of Science and a member of various international organizations having STEM in their mandate.
Dr. Japhet Niyobuhungiro
Research and Development Analyst at the Rwanda National Council for Science and Technology (NCST)
Dr. Japhet Niyobuhungiro
Research and Development Analyst at the Rwanda National Council for Science and Technology (NCST)
Dr. Japhet Niyobuhungiro is currently the Research and Development Analyst at the Rwanda National Council for Science and Technology (NCST). He holds a PhD degree in Mathematics from Linkoping University, Sweden. His special research interests are in Applied Mathematics: Mathematical Modelling; Data-driven computational and optimization techniques.
Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Rwanda with experience in research and grant support. In 2009, He participated in an Advanced Study Institute and Workshop in Economic Epidemiology, where He took part in a research project “Reducing the Burden of Cervical Cancer in Africa”. He was involved in “Mathematical Modelling of Cardiovascular-Respiratory System for Sportsmen and Patients in Rwanda”; a research project awarded an ordinary research grant by the University of Rwanda and Co-PI of the project “Integrating Learning Analytics in Rwanda Higher Education” – Project within the Mathematical and Statistical Modelling Research Group - funded by the African Center of Excellence in Data Science. He has also received various research grants from European Mathematical Society (EMS) and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).
Furthermore, He has been one of the project PIs and Subprogram Deputy Team leader for “Strengthening Research Capacity in Mathematics, Statistics and Their Applications” within the Sida - funded project for partnerships between the University of Rwanda and Swedish partner universities for strengthening institutional research capacity at the University of Rwanda.
His Overaching vision includes promotion of Innovation based on Research and Development through collaboration between both the public and private sectors.
Prof. Matthew Ames
Instructional designer, instructional technologist, community activist, researcher, musician and videographer
Prof. Matthew Ames
Instructional designer, instructional technologist, community activist, researcher, musician and videographer
Matthew Ames has been an instructional designer, instructional technologist, community activist, researcher, musician, videographer and more for over 20 years. Between 2007-2015 he was active through his own organization, Philosophy INC, using creative practices to build community in Virginia, United States. During this time, he developed curriculum to connect people with their neighborhoods. This included several grant-funded projects such as the design of solar powered trash bins which were placed throughout the city of Roanoke, Virginia. In 2014, Dr. Ames was awarded the Heritage Education award by the Roanoke Valley Preservation Society for his efforts in preserving historic neon signage of Virginia.
Dr. Ames has also written on the history and design of Khmer comics in Cambodia, documented attempts to strengthen the relationships between the sister cities of Roanoke, Virginia and Kisumu, Kenya and presented at art conferences on his experiences in the Middle East.
Dr. Ames has taught and worked in the southern United States, The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, where he designed the technology plan for a new college in Riyadh. He has also worked as an instructional technologist at Norfolk State University, Valencia Community College, and at Virginia Tech where he also assisted with the development of a fully-online graduate program in animal breeding and genetics.
The focus of Dr. Ames’s research has been in the history of instructional technology where he designed an interface to organize historical artifacts related to the field. He has also presented at conferences on a number of topics including: the use of humor in online learning; psychogeography as a constructivist practice; and teaching through the use of found media.
Dr. Ames has a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Ferrum College and a master’s and PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Instructional Design and Technology
Dr. Timothy Brown
Director of Research at Carnegie Mellon at University Africa in Rwanda and a professor Engineering and Public Policy.
Dr. Timothy Brown
Director of Research at Carnegie Mellon at University Africa in Rwanda and a professor Engineering and Public Policy.
Timothy Brown is Director of Research at Carnegie Mellon at University Africa in Rwanda and a professor Engineering and Public Policy. He is also director of the Kigali Collaborative Research Centre. From 1995 to 2012 he was at the University of Colorado at Boulder, most recently as professor and director of the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program. He received his B.S. in physics from Pennsylvania State University and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology, after which he worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Bell Communications Research. His research interests include applications of ICT to challenges in Africa and wireless networks that are challenged by lack of infrastructure, limited spectrum, limited planning, or extreme dynamics. He contributed to security and harmful interference models for cognitive radios, drone communication, ad hoc routing protocols, and analysis of randomly deployed wireless networks. His publications include 42 journal articles and book chapters, 3 patents, 7 edited books, and 99 conference papers. He received the NSF CAREER Award in 1996, the Colorado Junior Faculty Development Award in 1998, and the GWEC Wireless Educator of the Year Award in 2003 and the Provost’s Faculty Achievement Award in 2007.
Dr. Isambi Sailon Mbalawata
Research and Scientific Development Manager
Dr. Isambi Sailon Mbalawata
Research and Scientific Development Manager
Dr. Isambi Sailon Mbalawata is the Research and Scientific Development Manager at African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) - Rwanda. His main role is to support the research capacity building and academic activities across the AIMS network. He worked as the Academic Development Manager and Academic Manager at AIMS Tanzania. Before joining AIMS, he was a lecturer at the Department of Mathematics, University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. In December 2014, he obtained his PhD in Finland at Lappeenranta University of Technology and his PhD dissertation was titled “Adaptive Markov Chain Monte Carlo and Bayesian Filtering for State Space Models”. His area of specialization is Bayesian Methodology applied to, for example, epidemiology, stochastic processes and climate change. He has more than 20 papers on Markov chain Monte Carlo, stochastic differential equations, particle filters, mathematical statistics and epidemiology. He has supervised 10 Masters and 2 PhD graduates. Currently, he is co-supervising 4 Masters and 4 PhD students. His teaching experience starts from secondary school to postgraduate levels, where his courses have been delivered face-to-face and some (at Masters Level) virtually.
Ms. Noella Bigirimana
Deputy Director General at Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
Ms. Noella Bigirimana
Deputy Director General at Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
Noella is Currently the Deputy Director General at Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
Prior to this position, she was leading the Research, Innovation and Data Science Division at Rwanda Biomedical Centre – Rwanda’s national health implementation agency – which coordinates national health programs, including the COVID-19 response.
Noella previously served as a Precision Medicine Fellow at the World Economic Forum, where she focused on co-designing policy and governance approaches to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies such as precision medicine and AI/Machine Learning in low-resource settings. She has previously worked as consultant for WHO and USAID-funded projects in Rwanda and Guinea-Conakry in the post-Ebola period.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology, Health and Society from Cornell University, and a Master’s degree in International Health Policy and Management from the Heller School at Brandeis University.
Assoc. Prof. Bideri Nyamulinda
Director of Research and Innovation, University of Rwanda
Assoc. Prof. Bideri Nyamulinda
Director of Research and Innovation, University of Rwanda
An experienced professional educationist with a track record in course/ module development, teaching, assessment, research and consultancy, complemented by industry experience and a strong leadership at both middle and senior levels.
Prof Bideri is currently the director of research and innovation at the University of Rwanda where his duties include among other things to promote research culture among faculty members and students, coordinate all research activities throughout the university, organize and coordinate conferences, conceive and monitor research projects, management of research grants and to ensure that researchers adopt innovation in their research undertakings. Previously he held the same position at the College of Business and Economics. He also served in other different capacities including; head of academic department, Vice Rector Academics, marketing officer at public media house, senior banking operations officer and cooperative officer.