22 May 2008
U.S.-African Science Partnership Could Lead to Greater Development
Science and technology workshop to be held in advance of Sullivan Summit
Washington -- Africans should “take the initiative” to develop Africa’s science and technology sector in cooperation with and with assistance from the United States and other developed countries in order to stimulate a new level of economic growth and development across the continent, says a Penn State engineering professor who was born in Africa.
Osama O. Awadelkarim, professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State University, spoke to America.gov in an interview just prior to traveling to Arusha, Tanzania, to attend the first science, technology and innovation workshop of American and African scientists. The workshop seeks to expand a partnership to explore the benefits of basic science research.
Awadelkarim, who was born in Sudan, is also associate director of the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization at Penn State University. He told America.gov, “This is a good forum where a commitment from the African presidents and governments should be forthcoming before the United States … tries to help.”
The two-day workshop will be held immediately prior to the Leon H. Sullivan Summit VIII, which will take place in Arusha and Zanzibar June 2-6. It is being sponsored by Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, with assistance from the U.S. Department of State.
At least seven African presidents are expected to attend the Sullivan Summit, where the scientists plan to present their recommendations to help promote increased science education and collaboration. The scientists also hope to hold meetings with American business and education delegations that are attending the summit.
Africa could benefit greatly if each African government earmarked just 2 percent to 3 percent of its gross national product for basic science and engineering, Awadelkarim said.
“I think that is absent in Africa,” he said. “I don’t think they have any percentages dedicated for research in the physical sciences and engineering … so that kind of commitment … would help a lot.” Scientific links would stimulate investment and business and, in turn, generate economic growth and development and matching investments that could propel the African economies forward, he said.
Additionally, Awadelkarim stressed the importance of developing and expanding human capacity among scholars in Africa. “There are not many people coming to the United States” to work and exchange information in the basic sciences such as engineering, he said.
The workshop Awadelkarim will attend in Arusha is aimed at promoting cooperation and interaction between African and American scientists, particularly in the physical sciences: chemistry, materials development, basic science, and electrical and mechanical engineering. The workshop will touch on environmental and geosciences as well, he said.
“The idea is to try to bring a select group of scientists and science policymakers [together] with their African counterparts … to try to discuss ways of activating collaboration” between the United States and Africa in the basic sciences.
This is unique, he said, because even though there is a lot of interaction between the United States and Africa in the health, medical, environmental, geographical and agricultural sciences -- through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- there is “not much going on” at the cooperative level in the physical sciences.
Awadelkarim said that while working as a Jefferson fellow at the State Department, he traveled to Africa to meet with fellow scientists. “I was consistently told by Africans that I interacted with that they had very little interaction with the United States in these areas. There are some active pockets of research … but not as much as we had hoped. So what we are trying to achieve in these less-fortunate areas … is to activate links that can grow into meaningful partnerships.”
Africa could benefit greatly from such collaboration in a number of ways, he said, for example, in the areas of materials science and research. “There are lots of materials that could be explored in Africa that could be engineered in Africa, and for that type of research, the involvement of the United States would be very beneficial for Africa,” Awadelkarim explained.
He listed a number of other areas with great potential:
• Solar energy, which involves basic chemical processes that could be performed in Africa. “If we have the right research interaction … some of these materials could be developed in Africa and some research in solar energy could be done there.”
• Water purification, to which “there are lots of basic science approaches … engineering approaches pioneered by mechanical and electrical engineers for filtering … that could be assembled very simply … and research like that could be done in Africa.”
• Basic soil research that would allow Africans to get the most out of their agricultural crops to feed the hungry across the continent.
“These are just some of the areas, but there are many that could be talked about. We are not talking about rocket sciences or astronomy,” he said, but basic applied science that will have a practical benefit for the entire continent.
See “Leon H. Sullivan Summit VIII Billed as ‘Summit of a Lifetime.’”
