Africa builds expertise in science, tech, engineering, math
Gitau, Schutte and Ngonga are among a formidable group of Next Einstein fellows, 15 innovators who are paving the way to build Africa's expertise in science, technology, engineering and math with the help of governments, donors and academics.
State leaders, policy makers, global companies and some of the brightest minds on the continent gathered in Senegal this week to spotlight the fellows at the Next Einstein Forum, meant to establish funding, foster collaboration and find solutions for development in these four fields, known together as STEM.
The March 8-10 forum, initiated by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and to be held next in Rwanda in 2018, chose the African fellows so they could present their research, meet each other and draw from a vast network of nearly 1,000 people to advance their work and reduce isolation within their field.
IBM, for example, has announced it will pick five of the fellows who will then visit global research labs and be paired with a researcher in a similar field for a week.
The institute's six centers, and the forum, are part of continent-wide efforts to combat Africa's brain drain by encouraging scientists to contribute to improving the continent, or to return to help build the fields.
"Everything we are doing is to provide, and to create the right environment for the next Einstein to emerge from Africa," said Thierry Zomahoun, chairman for the Forum and President and CEO of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
Schutte has moved on to focus on hypertension, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke, and her research centered on black populations.
[...] she returned to Kenya and has since worked in the coastal town of Kilifi, where she has helped lobby for important lab equipment that also needs experienced engineers.