ZEPHATTAN Project (Wind Energy)

From May the 20th to May the 24th, 2024, was held a practical workshop on the design and development of wind turbines in Cote d’Ivoire to be implemented in selected Ivorian villages and remote areas non connected to the public national grid. The workshop was an opportunity to bring
together six (6) Ivorian universities (International University of Grand-Bassam, Université Félix-
Houphouët-Boigny de Cocody, Université Peleforo Gon Coulibaly de Korhogo, Université
Polytechnique de San Pedro, Université de Man, and Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny de Yamoussoukro) as well as several villages and remote localities from regions of Ouangolodougou, Korhogo, Bouna, Man, San Pedro, and Adiaké to promote renewable energies and to enhance local skills in the technology of wind turbines. The workshop was organized by KOC Bridges to Peace, AEGIS, and the Ivorian Network for the Rights of Children and Women
(RIDDEF), in collaboration with the laboratory of technology of the Félix Houphouët Boigny University. The ZEPHATTAN project, also known as Energy in a Box, is supported and funded by the Innovate UK and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom.

Four (4) IUGB students of MET department: OUATTARA Saratou, DJESSAN Marie Karen,
KONÉ Rosemonde Yenin, and KOUMAN Narcisse made up the IUGB delegation led and
supervised by Dr. SINDE Seydou. The aim of the workshop was to practically train the participants in the design, development, and installation of the various components of the wind turbines such as rotors, stators, blades, electrical and electronic boxes, mats, and tails using the available recyclable
materials with a particular focus on converting alternating current to direct current.
The workshop program, spread over five days, offered a balanced combination between theory and practice. The participants were, first, introduced to the renewable energies, then, they visited the
solar and wind energy installations on the Cocody campus before being practically trained on design, development, and control of the turbine blades, rotors, stators, and mats. The fifth and last day was dedicated to the presentation of the achieved work, tests of the designed and developed wind turbines, as well as a Q&A session.
The workshop was such a great success that it enabled the participants to acquire practical skills in wind turbine design and development with a good understanding of the dynamics of both wind and solar energies. The students went to the workshop with high enthusiasm and great motivation, and
they actively participated in all stages of the process, from design to installation. The participation
and involvement of the IUGB via its representatives was particularly remarkable, as the students
and Dr. SINDE significantly contributed to the achievement of workshop objectives. The skills acquired and the commitment to promoting renewable energy will have a lasting impact on the
respective communities of the participants.
This workshop for the development and implementation of wind turbines in the country was an exemplary initiative, as it highlighted the importance of renewable energies and the importance of
collaboration among academic institutions and rural communities within the country. Thanks to this
training, the participants might now be better equipped to contribute to sustainable development and
energy autonomy in their villages. IUGB, via the active participation of its students and Dr. SINDE,
has demonstrated its commitment to innovation and community development, paving the way for
future collaborations and similar initiatives. The skills and competence acquired in this workshop
should motivate the attending students to design and install, at least, one wind turbine on the IUGB campus. The acquired skills from the workshop should also encourage the IUGB administration and decision makers to consider the implementation of wind turbines in the project of the new campus
that is intended to be a green campus.

Fatima Doumbia Koné is a Mathematics lecturer at the international University of
Grand-Bassam (IUGB). Among the courses she taught we have the following: Introduction to
Differential Equations, Elementary Statistics, Calculus(I,II,III), Transforms in Applied Math,
Introduction to Linear Algebra, Operations Research and Abstract Algebra.
She has a Bachelor degree in Mathematics (IUGB), a Master degree in Pure and Applied
Mathematics (AUST) and she is currently enrolled for a PhD in Mathematics at the African
University of Science and Tecnology (AUST), Abuja. She has also been an intern at the
Institutional Banking Group department within GTBANK CI (Garanty Trust Bank Côte
D’Ivoire).
She is a former IUGB student and she was the president of the science club in 2015.
Academically, her goal is to be a great researcher and innovator on the topics of asymptotic
theories in Fuzzy Probability Theory and their various applications to image processing. She
has good programming skills (JAVA, LaTeX, C++) and she is bilingual (French and English).
Over the years, she has been developing a method of teaching which not only put students at
the center of the learning process but also which deconstruct most of the stereotypes about the
inaccessibility of mathematical knowledge to everybody.
Regarding her research activities, she has been working since 2018 on the topic of integration
on Banach spaces and a preprint of an interesting work is available at
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1905.04480. She is continuing with her research on integration but now
her PhD studies focus on Random Sets Integration in Probability Theory. Professionally, she
is a very active lecturer at IUGB and she is currently the faculty advisor of the SHE CLUB,
which aims at promoting women empowerment by providing learning, leadership and
networking opportunities.

I am currently Associate Professor of computer and data science in the school of science technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at the International University of Grand-Bassam (IUGB).
From 2000 to 2018, I successively worked as a research scientist at Independent Computing Research in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Assistant Professor at the department of computer science and
engineering at Université Laval in Québec, Canada; Research Associate at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) where I also received a Ph.D. degree in computer science in March 2000. Upon receiving a master's degree in mathematical and computing science
from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) in 1990 in Japan, I worked as a research scientist at National/Panasonic, one of the most prestigious companies in Tokyo.
I am involved in research on Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Semantic Web and its applications in a wide range of fields. Besides, I designed the current Data Science program in effect
since September 2021 in STEM. In addition, I am also one the founders and current President of the
Ivorian Association of Artificial Intelligence and member of ORBICOM, the Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication headquartered in University of Quebec in Montreal (UQUAM), Canada.

Kwame Simpe Ofori is an Assistant Professor in Finance at the school of Business and Social Sciences. He holds a doctorate degree in Finance, a master’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in Telecommunications Technology. He is also currently a PhD student at the School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. He has taught courses in the areas of finance, computer science, computer and electrical engineering, and telecommunication engineering. Before joining IUGB he lectured in several universities in Ghana. He also worked with Ghana Telecommunications Company as a support engineer. His research interests are in the areas of consumer behaviour, technology adoption and trust in online systems and in recent times financial econometrics. His papers have appeared in several CABS-ranked journals such as Information Technology and People, Journal of Cleaner Productions, Quality Management Journal, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Journal of African Business, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology and Society and Business Review.