Even though Africa has produced some of the most innovative and
successful scientists throughout the globe, African countries have
struggled to retain that talent. A brain drain indeed, African
scientists would rather study and practice abroad where there are better
resources and more opportunities. Currently, about 40 percent of
African scientists are living in European Union (EU) countries.
In 2007, during an African Union (AU) summit, African leaders were advised to
allocate one percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to research
and development by 2020. They were also encouraged to revive scientific
knowledge in their country’s institutions. Presently, African countries
are beginning to see the huge potential in the sector, which has a great
impact on economic development and growth.
Many have called on African leaders to fully embrace and develop the educational sector to reflect science and technology. The discoveries of these individuals, will solve global challenges in
health, energy, climate change, agriculture, education, data and cyber
security.
Hallowed Olaoluwa
Hallowed Olaoluwa Nigerian with a background in Mathematical Physics. He
is the first and only student to pursue concurrent mathematics and
physics degrees at bachelors and masters level in the Central African
Republic (CAR). For his Einstein Challenge, he hopes to provide more
answers to questions in quantum ergodicity and quantum chaos, which can
inform wider concepts of differentiation, medical imaging and robotics
and interception.
Tolu Oni
Tolu Oni is also from Nigeria, with a background in Public
Health/Epidemiology and Urban Health. She is currently working on the
co-existence and interaction between chronic infectious and
non-infectious diseases, and the impact of the physical and
socioeconomic environment on the health profile of populations living in
unplanned urban settings. For her Einstein Challenge, she will set up a
platform – RICHE (Research Initiative for Cities Health and Equity
(RICHE), an interdisciplinary research programme for urban health
research in Africa to address urban health inequity and to identify
creative strategies to address complex population health and broader
societal challenges through a coordinated and inter-sectoral partnership
between academia, civil society and government.
Joseph Ben Geloun
Geloun is from Senegal and was awarded the Young Scientist Prize in
Mathematical Physics 2015-2017 by the International Union of Pure and
Applied Physics in Switzerland. He has a background in Quantum
Properties/Mathematical Physics. Geloun wants to determine the generic
features of the quantum models that he is investigating are helpful for
describing the birth of our space-time and universe for the challenge.
Mouhamed Moustapha Fall
Fall is a Senegalese with a background in Mathematics. Fall believes
in the maximum optimization of all aspects of life through mathematics.
He developed an application using mathematical modeling to calculate how
much Senegalese fisherman can catch today’s fish without devastating
the fish stocks of tomorrow. Fall is working at understanding the
interplay between non local geometry and relativistic quantum mechanisms
(RQM). He also wants to make mathematics accessible to both the
educated and illiterate in Africa by demonstrating the practical
applicability of mathematics and benefits of optimization.
Evelyn Gitau
Gitau is a Kenyan who has a background in Cellular Immunology. She is
currently working on a diagnostic tool that uses a molecular approach
to quickly and accurately identify children with severe malnutrition who
are likely to die of preventable infections. For her Einstein
Challenge, she wants to develop cheap, point-of-care diagnostic methods
that can better stratify malnourished children, to inform on alternative
clinical management for those that remain at risk of death due to
infection despite nutritional rehabilitation.
Noble Banadda
Banadda is a Ugandan native with a background firmly rooted in
Bio-processing engineering. This has earned him recognition both in
Uganda and around the world. Banadda is ranked 35th globally and 2nd
in Africa in waste management research, according to Google scholar
rankings. He is published on the mapping of the bioresource potential of
Uganda and the role of energy recovery in meeting energy demands and
creating jobs, especially for the youth. Banadda wants to create
infrastructure value added products from solid bio-waste resources for
his Einstein Challenge.
Mohlopheni Jackson Marakalala
Marakalala is a South African with a background in Infectious
Diseases and Tuberculosis Research, who is currently working on the
development of therapeutic and diagnostic tools to fight tuberculosis.
For the Einstein Challenge, he wants to discover new therapeutic and
diagnostic tools to combat infectious diseases mostly prevalent in
Sub-Saharan Africa. He hopes to contribute towards public dialogues that
will help inform better health policies. He also envisions to build
capacity in Africa by training PhD students from disadvantaged
communities.
Wilfred Ndifon
Ndifon is from Cameroon with a background in Biological
Sciences. Ndifon solved a 70 year old immunological puzzle that changes
human understanding compromised immune systems. For his Einstein
Challenge, he wants to discover and use the immune system’s organizing
principles to develop a probabilistic theory akin to a quantum mechanics
that would allow many aspects of the system’s structure and functioning
to be deduced from first principles.
Axel Ngonga
Ngonga is a Cameroonian with a background in Big Data and semnatic
technologies. He is working on techniques that support the development
of intuitive information systems for bio-medicine, agriculture and
education that can provide contextually relevant information at low
cost, fostering an equal-opportunity data landscape for Africa. For his
Einstein research, he wants to create efficient approaches for the time
efficient processing of Big Data at low cost that will facilitate the
development of intuitive information systems for domains such as
bio-medicine, agriculture and education.
Alta Schutte
Schutte is a South African with a background in Hypertension and
heart diseases on the continent. So far, she has made numerous
scientific discoveries explaining the significantly increased risk of
Africans to develop heart disease. For her Einstein Challenge, she wants
to turn around the upward trend in hypertension development in Africa.
Also, she intends to find alternate ways to prevent hypertension not
only by improving the early detection of disease but also by population
wide approaches to significantly reduce risk.
Komminist Weldemariam
Weldemariam is from Ethiopia, with a background in Computer science
and Cognitive Systems for Education and Healthcare. He is currently
working on the creation of cognitive, mobile, and analytics technologies
to increase student performance. Weldermariam wants to create
intelligent systems that will help shape the future of education and
healthcare in Africa.
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