iSTEP 2009 - Tanzania

Rotimi Abimbola is a rising senior at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. She is pursuing two majors, Political Science and International Relations, as well as a minor in African Studies. Rotimi is determined to pursue a career with a focus on politics and governance in Africa. She was born in London, England, but grew up in Nigeria in West Africa. In the summer of 2008, Rotimi worked in Senegal as an intern for ACEP, a microfinance group in the country. Her work with impact assessment and credit risk deepened her interest in the economics of developing countries. At Carnegie Mellon, Rotimi has been elected as the Student Body President for the upcoming academic year. She has also held several other leadership positions, including Chair of the Undergraduate Student Senate, Resident Assistant, Varsity Track and Field Athlete, and founding member of the African Student Organization.

Rotimi is our Needs Assessment and Evaluation Coordinator stationed in Dar es Salaam. Working with fellow intern Beatrice, she takes the lead on needs assessment and evaluation of all three projects, and assists with necessary field testing.

Hatem Alismail graduated from Carnegie Mellon University's Doha, Qatar campus with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics in May of 2009. Over the last four years, Hatem has gained significant programming and project leading experience. His areas of interest include sustainable technology development. In particular, Hatem is interested in the creative use of widely available computing platforms, such as consumer grade cameras and cell phones. Hatem looks forward to pursuing a Masters at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute next autumn.

Hatem is the team's Technical Lead for the Literacy Tools project. Hatem is stationed in Dar es Salaam and takes the lead on all technical development and testing for the project.

Beatrice Dias is in her 3rd year as a Ph.D. student in the Engineering and Public Policy Department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh who volunteers with TechBridgeWorld to assist with marketing, events, fundraising, and strategic planning. She earned her undergraduate degree from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York with concentrations in Mathematics and Physics. Her current research involves measuring the impact of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act on Microbiological Research in the U.S. Beatrice is a native of Sri Lanka and hopes to pursue a career in policy evaluation.

Beatrice is the Dar es Salaam team leader and Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator in Dar es Salaam. With fellow intern Rotimi, she also works on needs assessment and evaluation for all three projects and assists with necessary field testing. Beatrice is also conducting broader evaluation of the iSTEP program and other TechBridgeWorld projects.

Bradley Hall is a Mechanical Engineering student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh expected to graduate in May 2010. As a 5th year scholar this coming year, Brad will continue his undergraduate experience next year under a full scholarship. He is the current president of Engineers without Borders-CMU and works as the Community Adviser for Donner House, an on-campus student residence. He is also active in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as social chair and design project leader, the Robotics Club and the Mechanical Engineering Student Advisory Board. He has worked as an engineering design intern for both Sensata Technologies and Blade Diagnostics Corporation. His professional interests are centered on designing sustainable technology solutions to problems faced by developing nations.

Brad has taken on the role of Technical Lead for the Braille Tutor project and is working in Dar es Salaam, taking the lead on all technical development and testing for the Braille tutor project.

Daniel Nuffer graduated in May of 2009 from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. He has completed two internships with Microsoft, in Redmond and in New York, and is particularly interested in programming languages and their applications.

Dan is the Technical Lead for the Social Workers project and is stationed in Dar es Salaam. Dan takes the lead on all technical development and testing for the social workers project.

Anthony Veláquez is a rising senior pursuing a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He works with Development Solutions Organization, a student organization on campus, to raise awareness of global development issues and help connect peers with opportunities. He remains interested in issues revolving around computer science education and the intersection between technology and global development.

Anthony has taken on the role of Technical Floater in Pittsburgh, with the primary role of assisting the three leads with technology development for the three projects as needed, and the secondary role of assisting with report writing, media coordination, and logistics as needed.

Sarah M. Belousov is a Project Manager for TechBridgeWorld and is based in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.s School of Computer Science. Her primary responsibilities involve extending the activities of the TechBridgeWorld research group at Carnegie Mellon University.s campuses in Doha and Pittsburgh through strategic planning, fundraising, logistical coordination and administrative duties. She earned her bachelor's degree in International Studies and French at Johns Hopkins University and l'Institut d'Études Politiques in Paris.

M. Bernardine Dias is the Founder and Director of TechBridgeWorld, an Assistant Research Professor in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, and a member of the Computer Science faculty at Carnegie Mellon University Qatar. ÂHer research experience is in technology for developing communities, assistive technology, technology education, autonomous team coordination, and automated planning and navigation. Dr. Dias is a native of Sri Lanka. Her career goal is innovating means of developing and disseminating suitable and sustainable technology for empowering developing communities. ÂShe is a strong supporter and mentor for women in science and technology.

M. Freddie Dias is a Research Engineer for TechBridgeWorld and is based in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.s School of Computer Science. He assists with robotics research in the Field Robotics Center, supporting projects related to multi-robot coordination. He also serves as a technical consultant for projects related to technology and development under the TechBridgeWorld initiative. His work in both categories bridges Carnegie Mellon University.s campuses in Doha and Pittsburgh. Originally from Sri Lanka, he graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a double major in physics and computer science.

Ermine A. Teves is a Project Assistant for TechBridgeWorld and is an alumna of Carnegie Mellon University. She graduated in May of 2008 with a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. Her responsibilities include expanding TechBridgeWorld's programs, marketing, and fundraising efforts. In Summer 2008, Ermine spent 10 weeks in Bangalore, India interning with Microsoft Research India and the Mathru School for the Blind to field test the second version of the Automated Braille Writing Tutor.

Jessica Thurston is an Administrative Intern for TechBridgeWorld and is an alumna of Carnegie Mellon University. She graduated in May of 2009 with a B.H.A. in Senior Urban Design and Professional Writing. Jessica is working to update TechBridgeWorld's media materials and expand awareness of the research group on campus and around the city of Pittsburgh. As the group's administrative intern, she also does work related to program support and event planning for TechBridgeWorld.

Emily Clise worked with the iSTEP 2009 team for six weeks as the Logistics, Report, and Media Coordinator stationed in Pittsburgh. She resigned after the 6th week due to personal reasons. She graduated in May of 2009 from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a BS in Political Science and BA in International Relations. She has long been interested in matters of international affairs, having studied at the University of Oxford and worked abroad with the U.S. State Department. Emily is interested in understanding the capabilities of technology development projects in real-world settings, as well as the challenges and responsibilities involved in leading a globally distributed team.

Imran Fanaswala is a Research Programmer for TechBridgeWorld.s Assistive Technology project. He is working at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and is involved on projects related to human-robot interaction, creation and deployment of assistive technologies for visually impaired and deaf populations, and tools to assist team coordination in disaster/emergency response. His goal is add value to technology in order to improve quality of life. He graduated from the American University of Sharjah with a BS.c in Computer Science.

Shakir Hussain worked with the iSTEP 2009 team for eight weeks as the team's Technical Floater in Doha with the primary role of assisting the three leads with technology development for the three projects. He resigned in the 8th week due to personal reasons. Shakir is a rising senior at Carnegie Mellon University in Doha expected to graduate in May 2010 with bachelor's degrees in Computer Science and Information Systems, along with minors in Mathematical Sciences and Business Administration. He is currently involved in a research project in collaboration with Reach Out to Asia (ROTA), which seeks to improve income generation in rural Cambodia using Delay Tolerant Networks. Shakir has been a teaching assistant over the past five semesters supporting more than 10 classes in the departments of Computer Science, Information Systems, and Mathematical Sciences.