Carnegie Mellon University Africa, in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

, is a global location of

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

. CMU-Africa offers master's degrees in Information Technology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Engineering Artificial Intelligence. CMU-Africa is part of the

Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering The Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering (formerly known as the Carnegie Institute of Technology) is the academic unit that manages engineering research and education at Carnegie Mellon University. The College can trace its origins ...

. The College of Engineering is top-ranked. In '' U.S. News & World Report''s 2023 graduate rankings, the College of Engineering was ranked #4.

History of Carnegie Mellon University

The existence of

began with

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

. A self-educated "working boy" who loved books, Andrew Carnegie emigrated from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1848 and settled in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pa. Attending night school and borrowing books, Carnegie went from a factory worker in a textile mill to successful entrepreneur and industrialist. He rose to prominence by founding what became the world's largest steel-producing company by the end of the 19th century. At one point the richest man in the world, Carnegie believed that "to die rich is to die disgraced." He turned his attention to writing, social activism, and philanthropy, determined to establish educational opportunities for the general public where few existed. In 1967, Carnegie Tech merged with the

Mellon Institute The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research is a former research institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University. It was founded in 1913 by Andrew Mellon and Richard B. Mellon as part of the Un ...

, a science research center founded by the

Mellon family The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential Americans, American family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The family includes Andrew Mellon, one of the longest-serving U.S. Treasury Secretaries, along with prominent members in the judicial, bankin ...

of Pittsburgh, to become known as Carnegie Mellon University. The merger built upon a long history of support from the Mellons.

History of Carnegie Mellon University Africa

In 2011,

and the Government of Rwanda signed an agreement to establish a new Carnegie Mellon location in Kigali, Rwanda. This partnership was designed to respond to the critical shortage of high-quality engineering talent required to harness Africa’s potential as home to the fastest-growing workforce in the world. CMU-Africa, located in Kigali Innovation City, is a regional ICT center of excellence. On September 8, 2022, the Mastercard Foundation announced a $275.7 million donation to CMU, with $175 million going to CMU Africa's endowment and $100.7 million going to grow and establish technological universities throughout Africa.

Academics and Rankings

CMU-Africa offers master's degrees in Information Technology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Engineering Artificial Intelligence. CMU-Africa currently has over 290 students and 400 alumni from 21 different nationalities. CMU-Africa is part of the

. The College of Engineering is top-ranked among its peers. In ''U.S. News & World Report''s 2023 graduate rankings, the College of Engineering was ranked #4.

Research

CMU-Africa faculty, students, and alumni are actively engaged in projects that respond to the challenges and opportunities of the digital transformation of Africa. These projects have resulted in published journal and conference papers, raising the profile of Rwanda as a country where academic research is being pursued.

Location

CMU-Africa is the first center of excellence to be located in Kigali Innovation City, whose goal is to drive Rwanda’s economic growth through digital transformation. The Kigali Innovation City is home to large corporations and technology companies making CMU-Africa's location strategic as it provides students the opportunity to interact directly with the industries around them.

References

External links

CMU-Africa website

Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering

Carnegie Mellon's global locations
{{coord missing, Rwanda Carnegie Mellon University Educational institutions established in 2011 Universities and colleges in Rwanda 2011 establishments in Rwanda