At the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, we believe that every lesson taken in the classroom should directly impact the communities in our world. We ensure our students’ transition to industry and apply their skills through Work-Integrated Learning opportunities available to them post AIMS. The Industry Initiative Department heads this vision and runs programs like the AIMS-ESMT IIP, Skills for Employability (SFE), and Work Integrated Learning (WIL). These programs give both alumni and students alike the opportunity to put their analytical skills to use while creating relevant work experiences that boost their curriculum vitae.
In the coming weeks, we are dedicating our #AlumoftheWeek series to celebrate the selected fellows of the inaugural AIMS-ISHANGO Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Fellowship Program.
The AIMS-Ishango Data Science and AI program is a specialized WIL experience to boost African data science graduates’ employment prospects through a fully-funded three-month fellowship program. This highly competitive fellowship program enables promising AIMS alumni to be up-skilled with technical and soft skills that make them ready for the job market.
Engelbert Wamba Tchinde is our first fellow. Engelbert is a Cameroonian national and an AIMS Senegal alumnus. He graduated in 2021 with the AIMS Master in Mathematical Sciences specializing in Big Data and Computer Security. He took the Cooperative (Co-op) Masters option. He researched “Cryptanalysis and algebraic computations: Gröbner basis based cryptanalysis of cryptosystem and analysis of a multivariate public-key scheme.” In 2019, he obtained an MSc. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Dschang in Cameroon with a thesis title “Blackhole Geometry of Reissner-Nordström.” He has a BSc. in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Dschang obtained in 2017.
As a data scientist, Engelbert is a Machine Learning and Computer Vision specialist. He codes Python, R, SageMath, MatLab, Octave, HTML, CSS, Java programming languages. Over time, he has continued to upskill himself, obtaining certificates from Cisco Networking Academy, IBM, and Coursera. These certificates are in courses such as Cybersecurity Essentials, Cybersecurity Intro, Python, Real-Time Cyber Threat Detection and Mitigation, Functions, Files, and Dictionaries, Introduction to Data Science in Python, and Data Collection and Processing with Python.
Before the Ishango.ai fellowship award that Engelbert received in September 2021, he had won the academic excellence award of the University of Dschang in Cameroon for four consecutive years; 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
SATWII Solutions engaged Engelbert from October 2020 to January 2021 as a Research Intern. He developed an innovative optimization algorithm to solve an optimal power flow problem. The algorithm he developed works very fast. Under the AIMS-Ishango Data Science Fellowship Program, Engelbert is working with a team from Philip Morris International (PMI). His assignment is to determine the locations and sizes of tobacco farms, their productivity, and the quality of yields in Malawi and Mozambique.
PMI is among the world’s leading international tobacco companies, with headquarters in New York. It sources tobacco from suppliers and lacks information on the location and size of the fields, crop-planting period, the harvest time, the amount and quality of expected yield. Engelbert and his team’s research will help fix prices in the auction floors before harvest time and control costs and profits.