Clad in blue caps and gowns, 9, consisting of 3 females from 4 African countries, on Friday, February 21,2020, turned their cursors from left to right as Prof. Horace Ngomo Manga, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buea and Representative of the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, pronounced them AIMS-Cameroon Co-op Master graduates 2018-2020.
The graduation ceremony, second of its kind, took place at the AIMS-Cameroon premises at Crystal Gardens, Limbe, wherein the 9 graduands were conferred Masters degrees in Industrial Mathematics after completing a total of 18 months of regular course work and industry internship placement where they contributed in solving targeted development problems with the use of Mathematical Sciences.
In his keynote address, Prof. Horace Ngomo Manga who doubles as the President of the AIMS Advisory Council said that the Government of Cameroon has observed with great interest the accomplishments of AIMS-Cameroon since its inception in 2013. While congratulating the laureates for their brilliant performance, he pledged the continuous financial and logistics support of the Government to AIMS-Cameroon.
It was evident that the graduands did an impressive job at their various internship locations as they were lauded by their host institutions who expressed total satisfaction for the innovations brought in by the fresh minds to their various establishments.
Worthy of note is the Government Delegate to the Limbe City Council, Mr. Andrew Motanga Monjimba, who gave an appraisal of the pivotal work done by AIMS-Cameroon students as a whole and particularly the innovative information systems solutions proffered to the Limbe City and its Council by two of the graduates who carried out internship at his establishment.
“Our satisfaction is limitless as these second batch of students are graduating. They have enhanced our living together and built a solid spirit of giving back to the society, despite their tight schedules, they took out time to support local entities” he said.
“The work carried out by Guy Tsafack and Toadoum Sari Sakayo at the Limbe City council has permitted the institution to obtain the software on the management of building permit procedures and civil status operations respectively. We are very pleased as they were of exceptional behavior while working tirelessly to achieve their goals” he went on.
Junior Momo Ziazet, Cameroonian male who emerged as the top student, thanked the government of Cameroon and other donors for believing in the AIMS vision geared towards the emancipation of Africa. He pledged, on behalf of his peers, to extend the kindness as they move forward to propel Africa’s self-sufficiency.
Elucidating from a pioneering point of view, the AIMS-Cameroon centre President, Prof. Dr. Mama Foupouagnigni, educated the audience on the vision and mission of AIMS and its Co-operative Education Program.
“The AIMS-Cameroon Cooperative Program addresses the need to redefine the way of training students by connecting them to the industry after identifying specific development needs for which the students are equipped beforehand with the skills to tackle such problems”
After thanking the Government of Cameroon for her unwavering financial and logistical support to AIMS-Cameroon, Prof. Dr. Mama went on to divulge the plan to relocate the AIMS centre to a permanent site allocated by the Government in Ngeme, Limbe 2 subdivision. He equally hinted at the plan to kick-start another Master in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and a “house of Mathematics” that is currently in the works to host visiting AIMS colleagues in the city of Yaoundé.
The ceremony was graced by an educative discourse on gender equality and inclusion in STEM from the guest speaker, Lord Justice Vera Ngassa of the southwest court of appeals. The Lord Justice advocated the active recruitment of women in STEM programs, equal treatment of girls in terms of educational opportunities, and mentorship, all of which are part of AIMS’ objectives.
Other speakers like the AIMS-Cameroon Academic Director, Prof. Marco Andrea Garuti, as well as the institution’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Honore Youfegnuy Bernard, were all proud to see the students reach the finish line. The AIMS-NEI Director of Industry Initiative, Dr. Charles Kimpolo, reminded the graduands of the goal which they must accomplish in relating their acquired knowledge and skills to humanity and the needs of the society.
“You came here as an individual but you are leaving as a PanAfrican dedicated to solving the problems of Africa. Without you, we have one member missing on the team so go out there, shine and be good ambassadors of AIMS”.
Momo Junior Ziazet was awarded a laptop by AIMS-Cameroon for emerging overall best student while Gaelle Patricia Talotsing also benefited a laptop from Hon. Etombi Gladys, Parliamentarian for Fako, East, a gift she earned for topping the list of female graduands.
This second cohort joins the pioneer batch of AIMS Co-op graduates that were 11 in number, adding up to 20 Industrial Mathematicians.