CCU mathematics professor teaches in Africa
by Prufer
Jim Solazzo has a new favorite greeting and a new favorite country.
“Jambo!” is how you say hello in Swahili, the language of the Tanzanians in East Africa. The associate professor of mathematics recently returned from Arusha, Tanzania, where he participated in Africa’s Next Einstein Initiative (NEI), a core program of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS).
During his 25-day stay, he taught an intensive three-week course in advanced linear algebra with applications to coding theory and signal processing. Thirty-nine African students who are working on their master’s degrees in the mathematical sciences participated. The students hailed from 10 different African countries, including Ghana, Cameroon, Sengali, Kenya and Sudan.
“Language was not an issue,” says Solazzo, who picked up a few Swahili words here and there. “All the kids who participate in the AIMS program in Africa know English.”
The training was a “24-hour learning experience” where students and teachers lived together in a six-story hotel, often working together into the wee hours to work on mathematical problems. “I assigned them a lot of work,” says Solazzo, who rejoined the students nightly from about 9 p.m. to midnight before “begging them to go to bed and get some rest.”
In addition to Solazzo, there was another professor and another lecturer, each teaching a two-hour course daily from Monday through Friday. The students were ages 22 to 29, with 13 women and 26 men. “They were the brightest and best students, very motivated,” says Solazzo, who can’t wait to go back next year.
During his free time, he went on some trips to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a deep, volcanic crater about 12 miles in diameter where wild animals such as elephants, wildebeests, giraffes and others live protected and free.
“When I told people I was going to Africa, they mostly thought of Ebola and health risks,” says Solazzo, who plans to take his family with him next spring. “You probably have a higher risk of getting Ebola in Dallas. The country was just breathtaking, and the people are so friendly.”
AIMS is a pan-African network of centers of excellence for postgraduate training, research and outreach in mathematical sciences. The Tanzania center where Solazzo worked is in its inaugural year. The vision is to lead the transformation of Africa through innovative scientific training, technical advances and breakthrough discoveries, which benefits the whole of society. The mission is to enable Africa’s brightest students to flourish as independent thinkers, problem solvers and innovators capable of propelling Africa’s future scientific, educational and economic self-sufficiency.
