By Kebe, Fatima Zahra for the completion of her PhD thesis at Virginia Tech

SeeSD learners present their creations during a tv show on 2stv senegal. The show was broadcast on Senenews / SunuFM / Kolda News

SeeSD learners present their creations during a tv show on 2stv senegal. 

Published by Etudiant.sn / Campus-teranga.com

The Dakar Open Digital Space (Espace Numérique Ouvert – ENO) of the Université virtuelle du Sénégal (UVS), based in Mermoz, hosted the 3rd edition of the Ubbil Sciences Festival on December 18, 2021.

In this context, students members of the Network of Mathematicians and Computer Scientists (Réseau des Étudiants mathématiciens et informaticiens – REMI), responded to the activity. In the stands set up for the occasion, they proudly displayed their various achievements to the public. These works have the particularity of responding perfectly to the theme of this edition, namely “COVID-19, un combat citoyen”. Thus, when browsing the exposed objects, we note visors made using a 3D printer, a connected trash can, an automatic hydro-alcoholic gel dispenser, an access card via an electronic door, a connected cane, among others. They were visited by the public, including administrative, technical and service staff, research teachers and UVS students.

As the initiative wants, this event was a privileged opportunity to connect local expertise, facilitate the sharing of experiences and good practices, but also to give more visibility to the scientific, artistic and technical world in Africa. Special attention is given to children and young people to awaken and develop in them a passion for STEM, associating them in particular with activities.

The initiator of the Ubbil Sciences Festival is Dr Khadidiatou SALL, founder of Science Education Exchange for Sustainable Development (SeeSD), an organization that promotes STEM. She is also responsible for the Licence and the Master of Molecular Genetics.

By Etudiant.sn

Cette vidéo résume l’ensemble des évènements organisés durant la semaine Africaine des Sciences, Edition 2018. 

Four students from Université Virtuelle du Sénégal (UVS) enrolled in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science animated, on the occasion of the African Science Week at the Place du Souvenir in Dakar, the institution’s stand with an exhibition on connected objects.

Their names are Papa Thiam SY, Daddy DIENG, Mamadou Diouf DIEDHIOU and Ousseynou DIOP. The first is a Master 1 student in Network Systems and Virtual Infrastructure and the other three are in Bachelor’s 3 in Mathematics. These students, lovers of connected objects, have put together a small exhibition on the occasion of the African Science Week, held from 24 to 30 December 2018. Instead of the African Souvenir transformed for the occasion into a small Silicon Valley, they animated the UVS stand with two objects presented to visitors: an alarm and an interconnected radar. The demonstration and the playful explanations were of great interest to science lovers who gave them an attentive ear. Among them, Dr Abdoul Alpha DIA, Director of Research, Research and Innovation (DERI) at the UVS, who before taking part in a panel on innovation and entrepreneurship, took the time to learn more and encourage them. The team was very pleased to explain the very simple relationship between these two objects which, according to them, requires very little investment. Thanks to an Arduino board with a microcontroller, the team was able to make the necessary programming and transfer the coded language to it. By adjustable sensors, any movement within a given radius is automatically reported. The data is sent to a server that processes the information and displays it on a computer screen. An alert beep is issued as soon as there is an intrusion. This small piece of equipment would protect his home without having to invest in a much more expensive surveillance camera system.

Participation in the national competition on robotics online mir

In this meeting of Senegalese geeks, the quartet is accompanied by Dr Absa GASSAMA, Head of the Division of Research, Valorization and Innovation at the Direction of Studies, Research and Innovation of the UVS. Already, at the launch of the «Science Wednesdays» program on November 7, 2018, the same team had presented a previous demo that explained the design of traffic lights used for traffic. Thus this new forum reinforces the confidence of this group of ingenious students and prepares them for the next steps, possibly of production of their prototype. We want students to also contribute to their own training. Knowledge is important, but so is know-how. This is why the UVS always supports this kind of student initiative», explains Madame GASSAMA, very satisfied with the dynamic and team spirit that animate these students. They are expected to participate in the national robotics competition announced for 2019.

Panel on Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Invited to take part in a panel on innovation and entrepreneurship, Dr Abdoul Alpha DIA, moderated the discussions with Professor Sidy NDAO, founder of SenEcole, a professor of robotics and mechanics at Lincoln Nebraska University, and Dr Moustapha Cissé, Director of the Google AI Research Center in Accra, Africa’s first ever research center for artificial intelligence. During his interventions, he reviewed the context in which the UVS was created, its staff, its pedagogical model and the central role that digital technology plays in student learning.

African Science Week: Children in Science School.

By Idrissa Sane, Le Soleil for / The hindu / The dailystar / Tribune de genève

The Centre for Science, Education, Exchange for Sustainable Development (SeeSD) is home to a group of educational mentors, working hard to kindle an interest in science, technology and innovation amongst schoolchildren—notably young girls.

On the first floor of a library building in Dakar, Senegal, two children are busy researching online, tapping excitedly at the keyboard. Through the doors, in one of the huge library halls are several members of the SeeSD team, amongst them is Pape Massar Sow, Head of Technical Operations. The mentor, along with several dedicated teachers, works to promote science amongst Senegalese children.

The reality is that in Senegal, like much of Africa, centuries of colonial rule have seriously handicapped the nation’s scientific development. “The statistics are very sad in general. Only 8 percent of people who are old enough to go college [university] are enrolled. Out of that 8 percent, only 17 percent are studying STEM-related fields,” said Khadidiatou Sall, the female founder of SeeSD. “Women represent less than 30 percent of that 17 percent,” she added. Sadly, in Senegal girls still lag behind boys when it comes to schooling, according to Unicef only 56 percent of the nation’s girls are enrolled in secondary school compared to 74 percent of boys. A lack of funding has also left the Senegalese educational system poorly equipped, “In Senegal, it is not rare to find young people who have passed through the entire secondary education system without ever carrying out an experiment,” confirmed Massar Sow.

Sall, who holds a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Oregon State University in the United States, has been passionate about science and innovation from an early age. However she was unable to fully nurture this intrigue whilst studying in the Senegalese education system, which leaves little scope for practical work. “There were no workshops to guide me, [to] help me to grow this passion and become an innovator,” Sall explained. Her gradual drift towards biology evolved from the ability to see physical examples of what the teacher was talking about on her own body, “It was not abstract for me and it gave me the chance to think imaginatively,” she said. Sall only laments that physical experiments were not available in other STEM subjects, “I think that I could have become an engineer or a mathematician, for instance, but the teaching was too abstract to inspire me to opt for such careers.”

The scientist knew something had to change and in early 2016, aged 26, she founded SeeSD. Located in the capital Dakar, the organisation aims to switch on the minds of young Senegalese scientists. Eager to attract more girls to STEM, the SeeSD team initially introduced a policy of positive discrimination towards female students, however with a little encouragement girls were in fact more forthcoming than boys in enrolling for the course. At present, girls represent between 60 and 70 percent of the programme’s beneficiaries. “I think they [girls] generally do not choose STEM just because they believe it is too hard for them and that they cannot do it. That is generally down to the societal pressure that makes girls less confident of their abilities,” said Sall.

In the first year, more than 200 children of primary and secondary school age enrolled in the programme. SeeSD hopes that catching them at a young age will mean more opt to specialise in STEM subjects in secondary school and beyond. Mentors use playful, kinetic learning techniques to spark students imagination and curiosity—something out of the ordinary in conservative Senegal. Six year old Maréme Gueye—one of the female students—rejoiced in being part of the programme. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, the youngster replied, ” Doctor, scientist or engineer.” Such a response would have be almost unthinkable prior to her participation in the programme. SeeSD currently works with 30 girls, all of whom will programme through to high school age, Sall hopes that this accompaniment will see more Senegalese girls with the same ambitions as young Gueye.

For SeeSD, there are still a few issues to iron out; the main one resources and budgets. A frustrated Sall claims that the only limit to the organisation’s ambitions lies in the lack of equipment. The centre is only supplied with microscopes, test tubes and a few pieces of basic equipment, luckily the teachers’ enthusiasm makes up for these mediocre supplies. SeeSD is currently funded through a variety of grants, both Senegalese and from overseas.

The female biologist is forthcoming about her dreams for the future of science in both Senegal and worldwide, stating that she would would like to see more women embarking on scientific careers to prevent the gap between men and women widening any further, as well—and especially—as the gap between the developing world and developed world.