Program Director
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Dr. Michael Gordon
Postdoctoral Associate, MIT CSAIL
Dr. Michael Gordon recently received his PhD from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). His current research interests focus on programming language and compiler technology for parallel computer architectures. In early 2006 Michael became passionate about the transformative potential of information and communication technologies. He helped organize MIT's ICT4Dev reading group, and has developed curriculum for MIT's nextlab course. In 2007, Michael participated in AITI, adding a mobile programming curriculum, and traveling to Kenya as an instructor. He directed AITI programs in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Along with Luis Sarmenta, Michael founded the MediSIM project, which develops technology to translate medical protocols to mobile phones using the SIM card for computation. Recently, he traveled to India as a mobile technologies consultant for United Villages.
Board Members
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Zawadi Lemayia
PhD Candidate, MIT Sloan
Zawadi Lemayian attended Alliance Girls High School, Kenya. Upon graduation from high school, she enrolled at MIT, eventually receiving two Bachelor of Science (SB) degrees in Civil Engineering and Management Science. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Management Science (Economics, Finance & Accounting) at MIT's Sloan School of Business. Her research will focus on investment behavior in emerging markets as well as the role different global accounting standards play in the market variations exhibited across emerging markets. Zawadi was an instructor in AITI's Kenya 2007 program. Through her involvement with the AITI program she not only facilitated real world problem solving through information technology education, but also appreciated the opportunity to give back to her community in a small way.
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Patricia Gercik
Associate Director, MISTI
Gercik has taught extensively, and developed curricula on Japanese culture, history, business practices, and negotiation. She has a BA from the University of California Berkeley and an MA from Tufts University. Her dedication to international education was recently recognized by the Japan Society of Boston that presented the John E. Thayer III Award to Gercik for her significant contribution to the advancement of understanding between Japan and the United States. Currently, Gercik is the Managing Director of the MIT Japan Program, the largest center of applied Japanese studies in the U.S. She is also the Associate Director of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives Program that develops partnerships between MIT and companies and key institutes in Europe and Asia.
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Martin Mbaya
Co-Founder and Director, Nairobi Capital
Martin Mbaya is one of the Co-Founders of AITI. He currently focuses on the long term financial and organizational sustainability of AITI in collaboration with various partners. He also works closely with university partners, corporate partners, students, alumni and emerging entrepreneurs with a focus on developing the IT, innovation and capital clusters in the respective countries and regions where AITI is involved. Martin is a Co-Founder and Director of Nairobi Capital, Inc. a global mobile money financial intermediary with operations in Kenya offering working capital solutions and business know how to small businesses and individuals in Africa. He also serves as an advisor to Maurice + Fischer and the BeeClan Group. He holds degrees in engineering from MIT and public policy with a concentration in international trade and finance from Harvard. He is also a member of the MOC (Microeconomics of Competitiveness) network based at Harvard's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness. Over the past decade and a half, Martin has worked in strategy, operations, technology consulting, higher education and finance primarily in Africa, America and Asia.
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Austin Brinson
Undergraduate, MIT
Austin Brinson is an undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering at MIT concentrating on Robotics and Science, Technology, and Society. In 2005, he started an award-winning business, Texas Power Tech, Inc., which does web design, computer repair, custom computer construction, and IT consulting for small businesses. During his freshman year, Austin discovered AITI and learned that it was a perfect fit for combining his interests and allowing him experience more of the world. He was a member of the AITI Rwanda 2010 and Kenya IAP 2011 teams. He has a strong interest in the development of mobile services and applications, and how they can improve quality of life throughout emerging regions and the rest of the world.
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Zachary Stauber
Undergraduate, MIT
Zachary Stauber is an undergraduate at MIT hoping to double major in Materials Science and Engineering and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. He sees a lot of potential in developing nations and sees AITI as an important part of helping the rest of the world realize this potential. He loves traveling and is very interested in entrepreneurship, especially global and developmental entrepreneurship. He has combined these two passions at MIT, traveling to China for the month of January, meeting with universities, start-up CEOs, and VCs and by being an organizer for the MIT Global Startup Workshop, an annual summit bringing together entrepreneurs from all around the world. He traveled to GSW 2009, which was held in Cape Town, South Africa, with a very fitting theme "Sustainability through Entrepreneurship".
Advisors
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Professor Saman Amarasinghe
Professor, MIT
Saman P. Amarasinghe is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory . He received his BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Cornell University in 1988, and his MSEE and Ph.D from Stanford University in 1990 and 1997, respectively. His research interests are in discovering novel approaches to improve the performance of modern computer systems without unduly increasing the complexity faced by either application developers, compiler writers, or computer architects. He is also interested in creating appropriate information technologies for emerging countries. In that, he co-founded Lanka Internet Services (the first ISP in Sri Lanka), developed the TEK low bandwidth search engine and is involved with the Swara voice portal for citizen news journalism project.
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Professor Akintunde Ibitayo Akinwande
Professor, MIT
Professor Akinwande is a Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. Professor Akinwande received a B.Sc. (1978) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Ife, Nigeria, a MS (1981) and Ph.D. (1986) in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, Stanford, California. Professor Akinwande joined MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) in January 1995 where his research focuses on micro-fabrication and electronic devices with particular emphasis on smart sensors and actuators, intelligent displays, large area electronics (macro-electronics), field emission & field ionization devices, mass spectrometry and electric propulsion. Prof. Akinwande is a recipient of the 1996 National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award.
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Paul Njoroge
PhD, MIT
Paul recently received his PhD from MIT in Electrical Engineering specializing in the area of network economics. He is one of the co-founders of AITI. He has a general interest in the application of ICT and mobile technology in developing countries. In particular, he sees network technologies as one of the cornerstones in aiding local communities develop both from a technological point of view as well as as economically.
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Professor Paul Gray
Professor, MIT
Professor Paul Gray was the fourteenth president of MIT (1980-1990), chairman of the MIT Corporation (1990-1997), and dean of MIT's School of Engineering (1970-1971). His public service includes four years on the White House Science Council and membership on the Council's Panel on the Health of Universities; he was chairman of the Task Force on Educational Opportunity. His field of research is semiconductor electronics and circuit theory.
