Symposium explores technology's role in African development

A symposium on "The Role of Science and Technology in African Development" is planned for 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, at the Fields Center, 58 Prospect Ave.

The event is intended to provide a scholarly forum to highlight developments and achievements as well as to address challenges facing Africa's development. One major goal is to concentrate on practical solutions addressing the issues in three selected areas: energy, environment and health.

Interactive discussions will focus on innovative ideas and technologies that can alleviate problems in Africa. Organizers hope to promote and develop collaborative research between industry, academia, governments and development partners, and to establish operational partnerships within Africa and with Africa to encourage and sustain science-based projects.

Speakers will include: Olusegun Adewoye, director general of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure in Nigeria; Michael Adewumi, vice provost for international programs at Pennsylvania State University; Nosa Egiebor, professor of chemical engineering at Tuskegee University; Paul Ginies, director, and Amadaou Maiga, deputy director general, of the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering in Burkina Faso; Adel Mahmoud, senior policy analyst in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and lecturer with the rank of professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton; Kunle Soyemi, consultant gynecologist at Eastbourne District General Hospital in the United Kingdom; Daniel Rubenstein, professor and chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton; and Wole Soboyejo, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM) at Princeton.

The event is free and open to the public, and will be hosted by the University's Wesley L. Harris Scientific Society. It also is being sponsored by the School of Engineering and Applied Science; the Office of the Vice President for Campus Life; the departments of chemical engineering, civil and environmental engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical and aeronautical engineering; PRISM; the Program in African Studies; the Fields Center; the Davis International Center; and the Princeton Environmental Institute.

For more information, visit the symposium's website or e-mail rndong@princeton.edu.