IEEE Region 8 Humanitarian Activities Congress

George Papadimitriou

IEEE Region 8 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee Member

Georgios (George) Papadimitriou studied at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the National Technical University of Athens. Currently, he is working for HILTI, Global IT in Switzerland as an IT Product Owner. Previously he worked for Nokia Research & Development at their Technology Center in Athens, Greece. Since 2012, he volunteered as the Chair of the National Technical University of Athens IEEE Student Branch, the IEEE Greece Section’s Student Representative and the Region 8 Projects and Initiatives Coordinator fostering student collaboration and leading fruitful projects across the Region. In 2018 he was appointed to his second role in the Student Activities Committee as the Regional Student Representative and as a member of the Region 8 Strategic Planning Committee.

Omar Salameh

IEEE Region 8 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee Member

Omar is an IEEE Member since 2016, held several leading positions in the student branch, and was the professional activities officer in IEEE Jordan Section. Professionally, he is an Electrical Engineer with 4 years’ experience in power generation sector. Currently, he is doing my master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy Systems at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

Miriam Cunningham

IEEE Region 8 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee Member

Miriam Cunningham (IEEE Senior Member, IEEE-HKN) is a technology and innovation expert with over 25 years experience working with education and research, industry and government organisations to support ICT4Development/ Digital Development in Africa and Europe. Miriam specialises in contributing to policy analysis, research capacity building, adaptation and implementation of appropriate technology addressing societal challenges in low resource environments. Miriam has extensive experience as Co-Principal Investigator of large-scale digital technology innovation oriented cross-border and regional projects in Europe and Africa. She has co-organised over 45 large international conferences around the world, including both IEEE and government hosted conferences. Miriam is also Head of Research of the not-for-profit IST-Africa Institute, working in strategic partnership with Ministries and National Councils responsible for Innovation, Science and Technology in 18 African Member States. Miriam has served in senior IEEE volunteer roles including Member, IEEE SSIT Board of Governors (2020 – 2025) and IEEE Humanitarian Technology Board (2023).

Mariela Machado Fantacchiotti

IEEE Humanitatian Technologies Senior Director

Mariela Machado is a skilled professional with nearly two decades of experience building, deploying, and scaling international humanitarian programs at the intersection of technology, social/environmental impact and public policy in the private sector, public sector and academia. As the Senior Director of Humanitarian Technology at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Mariela leads multiple programs at the intersection of social/environmental impact and technology for this engineering society worldwide. Prior to IEEE, she was the Director of Programs at Newlab, a social innovation hub focused on scaling transformative technologies through public-private partnerships; she was also the Senior Program Manager at the American Society of Mechanical Engineer (ASME) & Engineering for Change working to support technology for sustainable development across all continents. Mariela advises capstone projects at the intersection of digital technology and policy at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University and teaches a class on emerging digital technology for social and environmental impact. She is a Telecommunication Engineer with MSc in Information and Communication Technologies and a MPA in Sustainable Development from Columbia University. Mariela is fluent in 5 languages: Spanish, English, French, Swedish and Italian.

Lwanga Herbert

2024 IEEE Humanitarian Technologies Board Chair

Lwanga Herbert is an innovation and technology enthusiast and practitioner inspired by technological solutions to diverse problems and challenges. He is the Co-founder of M/S LOG`EL GROUP LTD, an IT company based in Uganda and the co-founder of Log`el Science Foundation, a civil society organization which conducts research and development in science and technology. Lwanga Herbert was a beneficiary of the presidential innovation fund in Uganda from 2000-2005, which allowed him to develop a variety of innovations to address corresponding community challenges. These innovations were patented with the support of the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology. He has made several contributions within the IEEE community, which includes co-founding the IEEE Uganda Section and implementing humanitarian projects and programs in Uganda with IEEE support.

Theodoros Chatzinikolaou

Chair of IEEE Region 8 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee

Theodoros is a PhD Candidate in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the Democritus University of Thrace, and has received his Engineering Diploma with Integrated Master from the aforementioned Department. His research interests focus on future and emerging computing systems and cutting-edge technologies, including memristive circuits and systems and artificial intelligence technologies. As an active IEEE volunteer, he strongly believes he can create a valuable impact on humanity and society via engineering through volunteerism, and, thus, he is, currently, chairing the IEEE Region 8 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee, along with being a member of the IEEE Humanitarian Technologies Board Outreach and Ad-Hoc on Partnerships Committees. He has served many conferences as well as various IEEE OUs including MGA SAC, his Region as Student Representative, and his local Student Branch as Chair. He has received the IEEE MGA Young Professionals Achievement Award, the IEEE CASS Pre-Doctoral Grant, the IEEE MGA Larry K. Wilson Regional Student Activities Award, as well as a bronze medal from the SEEMOUS Mathematical Olympiad.

Abdullateef Aliyu

IEEE Smart Village Senior Vice-President

Abdullateef is the General Manager of Projects at Phase 3 Telecom, a leading aerial fiber-optic network infrastructure provider in West Africa. He also serves as Senior Vice President of IEEE Smart Village and chairs the IEEE Region 8 Student Activities Committee. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Bayero University Kano and a master’s in ICT from Northern University of Malaysia, He is a Fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers and a Professional Member of the Eta Chapter Board of Governors. An alumnus of the U.S. Telecommunication Training Institute, he joined Phase 3 Telecom in 2013, leading significant projects across Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. Notable achievements include implementing Phase 3 Telecom’s 100G transmission network in Nigeria, as a volunteer, he founded the IEEE Smart Village Africa Working Group in 2020 which now has over 1000 volunteers represented in 44 African countries. His accolades include the Leadership and Innovative Award and Best Creativity Award by Phase 3 Telecom in 2022 and 2023, IEEE Smart Village Excellence in Leadership Award 2022, and IEEE Nigeria Section Award of Excellence 2022. He has also received recognition from the NSE Maitama branch for Excellence in Leadership and Innovation in 2022, 2023, and 2024, the MGA Board YP Award, and the IEEE Nigeria Section for his contributions and volunteerism.

Stephanie Gillespie

Chair of EPICS in IEEE

Dr. Stephanie Gillespie is an Associate Dean at Tagliatela College of Engineering at the University of New Haven in West Haven, Connecticut, USA. She has been a service learning practitioner for 5 years, including development of community partners and supporting student teams with real-world, client-based engineering for nonprofit organizations. Her current research interests span multiple areas of engineering education including makerspaces, multidisciplinary teams, gender diversity and minority retention, and entrepreneurial mindset. Her PhD from Georgia Tech focused on machine learning and signal processing for affective computing, specifically detecting stress and depression in adults with communication disorders. She is currently serving as the Chair of the EPICS in IEEE committee, and is also involved with the Society of Women Engineers and American Society for Engineering Education.