Fall 2023 Cohort

Sola Eboda Edagbami is a lecturer at the University of Lagos. He holds a Ph.D. and MSc in computer science from the University of Lagos, and a BSc in electronic and electrical engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Recently, he has been collaborating with interdisciplinary researchers to design and develop a low-cost, rapidly deployable synchronous two-motor AMBU ventilator for patients experiencing respiratory distress. His research interests include signal processing, image segmentation, optimization, computation, and artificial intelligence. At U-M, Edagbami will investigate the performance of lateral growth rooted tree optimization algorithms as an approach to multilevel image segmentation problems. He will work with Kayvan Najarian, a professor in the electrical engineering and computer science department in the College of Engineering.

Amaka Theresa Oriaku Emordi is a senior lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile Ife, Osun state, Nigeria. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a fellow of the Brown International Advanced Research Institute (BIARI) in Rhode Island, U.S.A., and a member of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA), Conflict Research West Africa (CORN), and the Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA). Emordi’s research is focused on streetism, gender and development studies, local government studies, peace and conflict studies, and peace-building. Her U-M faculty host will be Professor Adam Ashforth in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, College of Literature, Science, & the Arts.

Theoneste Hagenimana is an assistant lecturer in food science and technology at the University of Rwanda. He holds a state engineers’ degree (BSc) in quality control and analysis from the University of Saïda, Algeria, and a specialized master’s degree in quality hygiene safety and environment (QHSE) from the International Institute for Environmental and Water Engineering, Burkina Faso. Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. in food science at Egerton University, Kenya. His research interests are in food safety and risk analysis of food contaminants along food value chains. At the University of Michigan, he will be focusing on the safety and risk assessment of acrylamide in French fries with the research project entitled “Evaluation of the effect of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) peel extracts on the acrylamide formation and risk reduction in French fries in Rwanda.” He will be hosted by Professor Eric Martens, Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the Medical School.

Mundia Kabinga is a senior lecturer in Infrastructure Finance and Strategy at the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He holds a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Cape Town, specializing in institutional economics and strategic management. His academic research focuses on sustainable economic, energy, and technology transitions in resource-constrained environments. He is particularly interested in understanding and modeling these transitions' institutional, financial, organizational, business, and interactive dimensions. While at the University of Michigan, Kabinga will be working with Professor Panos Papalambrosin in the College of Engineering to conduct collaborative research on the creation of technical systems and financial mathematical optimization models to aid in the growth and improvement of South Africa's decarbonized and decentralized electricity systems and markets. He will also investigate scaling technology and social entrepreneurship solutions in bottom-of-the-pyramid markets with Professor Ted London of the Ross School of Business. 

Joseph Udimal Kachim is a lecturer at the Department of History, University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. He is also a fellow of the Africa Humanities Program (AHP). His research interest centers around mobility, belonging, and land rights in northern Ghana. During his time at U-M, he will work on a project titled “‘Staying on the Margins’: Konkomba Mobility and Belonging in Northern Ghana” with his U-M faculty host, Professor Carina Ray of the Department of History, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Babalwa Magoqwana is a senior lecturer in the sociology and anthropology departments at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa, and the founding director of the Centre for Women and Gender Studies at the same institution. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Rhodes University. Her research on maternal legacies of knowledge is supported by the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences. She has recently (2022) received both the Faculty of Humanities and Nelson Mandela University’s prestigious Researcher of the Year awards. Her research team at the Centre for Women and Gender Studies was awarded a Team Award for Social Justice Project by the Human Sciences Research Council-Universities South Africa (HSRC-USAF) 2023 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards. Her U-M faculty host will be Professor Fatma Gocek in the Department of Sociology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

Fatumah Mirembe is an assistant lecturer in the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Makerere University, Uganda. She holds an MA in archaeology from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and is pursuing her Ph.D. at Makerere University. At the University of Michigan, she will work with Professor Brian Stewart of the Department of Anthropology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and Geoff Emberling (Kelsey Museum of Archaeology) on a project titled “Iron Production Technologies: An Archaeo Metallurgical Investigation of Butiru, Eastern Uganda.”

Heitor Henriques Guedes Mutchamua is a lecturer at the Instituto Superior Politécnico de Gaza, Mozambique. He received his BSc in agro-processing (2014) and MSc in food engineering (2019) from Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique, and the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. He is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in engineering sciences at the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology in India. His research interests focus mainly on biodegradable materials used in food packaging. While at U-M, he will work with Professor Theo Goodson (Department of Chemistry, College of Literature, Science and the Arts, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering Program, College of Engineering) on a project titled “Interfacial properties of poly (butylene succinate) biodegradable composite: an approach for understanding the impact of natural fibers on mechanical properties of polymer composites.”