Mandela science awards coming

Arusha. The Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) will introduce a prize for outstanding scientists in honour of former South African President Nelson Mandela who died last month.

The scientific innovation awards will be pressented to the winners during the Nelson Mandela Week which is marked annually throughout the world, coinciding with his July 18 birthday.

The anti-apartheid hero died on December 5 at his Johannesburg residence at the age of 95 after battling with debilitating illness for months. He was buried on December 15 and his funeral attracted a record number of leaders from across the world.

NM-AIST vice chancellor, Prof Burton Mwamila, said: “Nelson Mandela Change-Maker Awards” would be awarded the most innovative among those who will be shortlisted.

However, he told The Citizen that details about the prize would be given in due course after the preparations have been finalised but insisted that will take place this year.

“Yes, indeed we are planning to introduce the awards. The concept is currently being developed and will be shared with you as soon as it is ready,” he said in an email text to this reporter.

The establishment of Nelson Mandela Institute, located at Tengeru on the outskirts of Arusha City, has been attributed to Mandela who realised how Africa was lagging behind because of low capacity in science and technology.

Mzee Mandela, or Madiba as he is affectionately known in South Africa, served for only one term of five years as the president of Africa’s economic powerhouse, stepping down in 1999.

During his presidency he met the then World Bank president James Wolfensohm, and discussed how the Bretton Woods institution could help tackle underdevelopment in Africa.

They concurred on a suggestion by Mzee Mandela, that Africa would have to invest in heavily in science and technology in order to spur economic growth. That would be through building capacity of experts through training.

It was suggested, therefore, that a network of pan African institutes of science and technology be established across the continent to realize the dream.

One of them being the pan African science and technology institute near Arusha.

The institutes envision to train and develop the next generation of African scientists and engineers with a view to impacting profoundly on the continent’s development through the application of science, engineering and technology (SET).

NM-AIST (in Arusha) is, therefore, being developed to become a world-class research intensive training institution mainly for postgraduates and post-docs in science, engineering and technology (SET) related fields.

Initially the fields of study covered by NM-AIST, taking advantage of the immense bio-diversity in countries forming its catchment area, will be life sciences and bio-engineering.

Others will be mathematics, computational and communication science and engineering; water resources and environmental science and engineering; materials science and engineering and; sustainable energy science and engineering.

Efforts to kick start the establishment of the Arusha campus of the university network took off in 2007 with the visit to Arusha by former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano who headed a team of high profile leaders.

Finally the project took off with the massive rehabilitation of the former premises of the Centre for Agricultural Mechanization and Rural Technology (Camartec) to NM-AIST.

Officially the college was inaugurated on November 2nd, 2012 by President Jakaya Kikwete and Tanzania government alone is reported to have injected more than $ 60 million. The first graduation of post -graduate students took place in December last year