Archives : Speakers

Professor El Hadji Bamba DIAW is a full professor of exceptional class, specialised in water sciences and techniques since 2017.
Born on 20 April 1965, the academic career of this hydrogeologist was sanctioned by a Master’s degree in applied physical sciences, a DESS in water resources mobilisation, a DEA in mechanics and engineering and a unique PhD in Fluid Mechanics.

Previously Special Adviser to the Director of the Polytechnic School of Thiès and EFA Focal Point of the ASICIAO project (Appropriation of International Standards for the structuring of engineering training for West Africa), Professor DIAW has successively held the positions of:

• Director of the Polytechnic School of Thies from October 2012 to February 2019;
• Head of the research division of the University of Thiès from June 2007 to June 2009;
• Director of the Laboratory of Water and Environmental Sciences and Techniques (LaSTEE), Polytechnic School of Thiès (EPT), Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation of Senegal;
• National coordinator of the IAEA project RAF/8/028 on leakage detection in dams and water reservoirs;
• Associate Researcher at the Centre of Excellence of the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in HYDERABAD, INDIA.

He has twenty scientific productions from 2016 to 2019. In addition to numerous field experiences and study projects, Professor DIAW is a member of several Member of several associations including the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH), the Amicale des Etudiants et Stagiaires Sénégalais de Strasbourg (AESS) of which he was President from 1992-1993 and Secretary General from 1991-1992.

Prof. Mamadou Wele is the Director for Institute of Applied Sciences (ISA) of the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB)

Prof. Christian Happi is a professor at the Redeemer’s University in Nigeria. He has the expertise and skills, leadership and motivation necessary to successfully conduct and oversee health research projects in West Africa.  He has a broad background in molecular biology and genomics with application in infectious diseases, including malaria, Lassa fever, Ebola virus disease and HIV. According to him, the most meaningful accomplishments in his career was his use of genomics technologies for early diagnosis and confirmation (within 6 hours) of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Nigeria. This singular action was major in containing EVD in Nigeria, and therefore saving millions of lives in Africa. This feat could only be achieved after he took the decision to go to Nigeria – the country in world with the highest burden of malaria, as well as a viral hemorrhagic disease called Lassa fever – to live and work in the midst of malaria and Lassa fever patients, after years of research and work at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. He sees this decision as the realization of a mission to apply the genomics knowledge and cutting-edge genomics skills he had acquired at Harvard University to improve health care in Africa, and to share these skills with young African researchers so that key genomics research questions can be addressed in the natural setting where the disease occurs.

Prof. Happi pioneered and rooted in Nigeria, North-South and South-South collaborations to make major breakthroughs in malaria, Lassa fever and Ebola Virus disease. With funding from the World Bank and the NIH, along with collaborators we established at Redeemer’s University, Nigeria, the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID, www.acegid.org) in 2013.

Lucas Yikimpa Chigabatia is the Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO) of the University of Ghana. In this role he leads the delivery of the IT strategic objectives and operational support activities of the University of Ghana, providing leadership in the development and use of ICT to enhance Teaching, Learning, Research and Administrative activities in the University. 

He has accountability for IT transformational agenda of the University for improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness, He made IT Service Delivery a priority on his assumption of the role in 2013 and has championed the documentation, upgrade and re-alignment of key business processes culminating in the automation and improvement of key business processes in the University of Ghana.

In addition to his role as Chief IT officer, he continues to play a coordinating role in the activities of the Ghanaian Academic and Research Network (GARNET) with a current membership of thirty-five tertiary institutions in Ghana. 

Lucas has a long track record in the planning and management of large and complex Information Technology infrastructure and systems projects in the manufacturing, services, mining, and education industries. 

He began his career at Unilever Ghana Limited in 1994 as the Information Technology Manager for the Lever Brothers Division, and quickly established a reputation for getting things done. After taking a two year break in 1996 to pursue an MBA Finance Degree at the University of Ghana, he joined the consultancy firm Conseil Gestion Assistance (CGA) in 1998 and consulted widely for organizations locally and internationally in Zimbabwe, the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. In October 2000, Lucas joined Ashanti Goldfields and led the successful integration of the ICT infrastructure following the merger between Ashanti Goldfields and AngloGold, which created the new global mining company, AngloGold Ashanti in 2004. Following the merger Lucas was promoted and appointed IT Manager for the West Africa Region of AngloGold Ashanti. In 2008 he was again promoted and appointed the Manager, Knowledge and Information Technology for the Continental Africa Region of the company with accountability for IT in seven African countries in West, East and Central Africa. He stayed in this role until he joined the University of Ghana in October 2013 as Chief Information Technology Officer.

Lucas has an Msc. in Computer Science from the Kharkov Institute of Engineering and Economics (Ukraine), a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Ghana, and an Associate Degree in General Management with a focus on Transformational Leadership and Managerial Practice from the University of Cape Town (South Africa). He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI).