David Moinina Sengeh
David Moinina Sengeh is the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and Chief Innovation Officer for the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation in Sierra Leone.[1][2] He is a TED Senior Fellow.
David Moinina Sengeh | |
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David Moinina Sengeh in Boston in 2013 | |
Alma mater | UWC Red Cross Nordic Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | IBM Research |
Thesis | The use of a novel residuum model to design a variable-impedance transtibial prosthetic socket (2016) |
Doctoral advisor | Hugh Herr |
Education and early life
Sengeh was offered a scholarship to study in Norway, and joined the UWC Red Cross Nordic College in 2004.[3][4] His uncle was a surgeon.[5] He studied biomedical engineering at Harvard University. He researched aerosolised vaccines for tuberculosis and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2010.[6][7] During his time at Harvard University, he was cofounder of Lebone Solutions, a start-up that developed inexpensive batteries from microbial fuel cells.[8] He was listed in the 2013 Wired magazine Smart List. Sengeh joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his postgraduate studies, working under the supervision of Hugh Herr.[9][10][11] He was inspired to work on prosthetics because he grew up surrounded by victims of civil war.[12][13] He used MRI to map amputee's limbs, then assessed where artificial materials could create pressure points, and used 3D printing to generate new sockets.[4][9] His prototypes were tested by veterans and amputees from the Boston Marathon bombing.[14] He was named as a TED fellow in 2014, delivering a talk entitled The sore problem of prosthetic limbs.[15][16] He was selected as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2014.[17] He won the 2014 Lemelson–MIT Prize for his innovations in healthcare.[14] He was selected as one of Face2Face Africa's Young Africans Committed to Excellence.[18] He completed his PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016.[5] After completing his PhD, Sengeh toured makerspaces in America talking about his work on prosthetics.[19]
During his PhD research, Sengeh founded the NGO Global Minimum Inc, a program that supports the Innovate Salone entrepreneurship program in Sierra Leone, Kenya and Cape Town.[20][21][22] He wanted to change 'aid to Africa' to 'Made in Africa'.[23] The "A De Mek Am" Innovate Salone program supports teams from secondary schools to develop solutions to local problems.[24] It was created in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab and MIT Public Service Center and modelled on the MIT innovation competitions.[25][24] Sengeh supported the winning student projects to travel to the United States, where they spoke at Maker Faire.[5] He supported Kelvin Doe, a thirteen year old inventor who had never left a ten-mile radius of his house in Sierra Leone, to join the MIT Visiting Practitioner's Program.[26][27] Sengeh became Kelvin Doe's mentor.[28] He returned to the TED stage in 2015, speaking to Kate Krontiris about innovation and inspiration.[29] He has spoken at the NextEinstein Forum.[30]
Career
Sengeh was offered a position at IBM in Africa, working on data driven healthcare.[31] He worked with IBM Research in Nairobi, as well as in their newest lab in Johannesburg, designing and developing healthcare technologies in Africa.[32] There are fewer than 50 doctors for every hundred thousand citizens in Africa, so Sengeh is exploring the use of artificial intelligence.[32] He worked with Waheeda Banu Saib from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.[33] He partnered with Port Loko Health Management Team to design a web-based tool that allows districts to monitor Ebola.[34] He writes for HuffPost.[35]
In May 2018 Sengeh joined the Office of the President of Sierra Leone, working as chief innovation officer.[7] In 2019 he was named Minister of Education of Sierra Leone.[36] He ensured that each child in the Pujehun District had access to a laptop.[37] He spoke at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was described as a trailblazer.[38][39] He is a prolific musician.[40]
References
- "'Role model' minister holds Zoom meeting with baby". BBC News. 2020-04-30. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- Ekwealor, Victor (2018-10-22). "David Moinina Sengeh; 6 facts about Sierra Leone's 31-year-old Chief Innovation Officer". Techpoint.Africa. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- "About David Moinina Sengeh - sengeh.com". cargocollective.com. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "David Moinina Sengeh". PINC. 2016-07-07. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Graduate student David Sengeh gives back to Sierra Leone". MIT News. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Sengeh named first chief innovation officer of Sierra Leone". www.seas.harvard.edu. 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "President Bio Appoints Chief Innovation Officer, Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation". Sierra Leone State House – The Republic of Sierra Leone State House. 2018-05-17. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "10 Most Brilliant Innovators of 2009: Bacteria-Powered Battery". Popular Mechanics. 2009-10-06. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- Techonomy. "Cyborgs From Sierra Leone: Polymath David Sengeh Brings Prosthetics To The People". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Techonomy Magazine: Year-End Edition 2014 - Techonomy". Techonomy. 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Biomechatronics | People". biomech.media.mit.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "A high-tech step forward - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- Civil war survivor helps amputees - CNN Video, retrieved 2018-10-16
- "David Sengeh '10 wins 2014 Lemelson-MIT student prize". www.seas.harvard.edu. 2014-04-09. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- Sengeh, David. "David Sengeh | Speaker | TED". Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- Sengeh, David, The sore problem of prosthetic limbs, retrieved 2018-10-16
- "David Moinina Sengeh, 26". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Introducing Africa's Best: Meet the 2014 Young Africans Committed to Excellence (YACE)". Face2Face Africa. 2014-06-26. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- Williams, Sadie. "BIG Maker Presents Engineer David Sengeh". Seven Days. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- THNKR. "Innovate Salone: Creating Innovation From Within Africa". The Creativity Post. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "David Moinina Sengeh | Edge.org". www.edge.org. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Chicago Ideas: David Sengeh". Chicago Ideas. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Changing "Aid to Africa" into "Made in Africa"". Engineering For Change. 2013-02-07. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Innovate Salone | MIT Public Service Center - 25 Years". psc25.mit.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Person Overview ‹ David Moinina Sengeh – MIT Media Lab". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "DIY Africa: Empowering a new Sierra Leone - CNN". CNN. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Sierra Leone Teen Becomes MIT Media Lab's Youngest". TechPresident. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- THNKR (2012-11-29), MIT PhD Student Invents New Prosthetics for Amputees, retrieved 2018-10-16
- TEDx Talks (2015-03-04), The Intersection of Innovation and Inspiration | David Sengeh & Kate Krontiris | TEDxBeaconStreet, retrieved 2018-10-16
- "David Moinina Sengeh - NEF Global Gathering". NEF Global Gathering. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "IBM Careers Blog". www.ibm.com. 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Two IBM Researchers to Speak at TEDGlobal 2017 in Africa". www.ibm.com. 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "IBM's African Scientists Look to Tackle the Continent's Pressing Healthcare Challenges with AI - IBM Blog Research". www.ibm.com. 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Informatics in healthcare: IBM Research showcases work at AMIA 2017". www.ibm.com. 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "David Moinina Sengeh | HuffPost". www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Sengeh named Minister of Education for Sierra Leone | Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences". www.seas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
- "Young School Innovators: to develop talents and skills | Standard Times Press". standardtimespress.org. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- GatesFoundation (2018-08-31), Chief Innovation Officer for Sierra Leone David Sengeh | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, retrieved 2018-10-16
- "a conversation with Sierra Leones first Chief Innovation Officer Moinina David Sengeh". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- "Moinina". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2018-10-16.