Modern Advanced Radar to be installed In Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
By; Tsehaye Debalkew, Embassy of Ethiopia, Washington DC.
March 05, 2012
An international workshop charged with the objective of identifying the scientific and societal motivations and benefits for hosting a new international upper atmospheric research facility namely an Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar/AMISR/ kicked off last Thursday.
Special Envoy, Ambassador Extra-ordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the US and non-resident envoy to Mexico made a key-note address to the colloquium as a guest of Honor.
The three-day international symposium dubbed 'AMISR' in Africa sponsored and funded by the National Science Foundation of the US and hosted by Boston College which drew leading space scientists from across the globe was conducted @ Brighton, Massachusetts from March 1-3, 2012.
While addressing the multi-million- dollar AMISR project international workshop, which will echo the dawn of a pioneering novice program making it the first of its kind in Africa, Ambassador Girma in his opening remarks underscored that 'it is a workshop with significant implication for Africa that heralds a new era in scientific research of the continent".
Underpinning the project as pertains its huge impact on present day Ethiopia, the Special Envoy said that the timely launching of the facility in the very heart of Ethiopia will make an enormous contribution to the development of research in the spheres of science and technology.
He underlined in this regard the primacy attached to and the focus given to higher education by the Ethiopian government defining the sector as a key priority in the over-all system of education.
Accordingly he brought to the fore by informing the audience that the number of public universities in Ethiopia has jumped from a mere two to thirty two in a span of the last twenty years excluding community, private religious and chartered colleges and universities currently operating in Ethiopia.
As far as government support is concerned in supporting the huge initiative, Ambassador Girma re-iterated the Ethiopian government's commitment and resolve by assuring the scientists that "we will discharge our bounden responsibility for the successful deployment, safety and effective operation of this valuable research facility", he punctuated.
Dr. Endawoke Yizengaw who is the principal and chief investigator of AMISR in Africa project and the leading organizer of the workshop, briefed the congregation that placing AMISR in Africa has a direct impact on advancing space science research in the continent by establishing and furthering sustainable research and training infrastructure which will by spur the sprouting of opportunities for more young scientists to be offered education at home.
Dr. Endawoke further emphasized the importance of AMISR in enhancing the role of Africa in the effort of global knowledge and the vital role it could play in this realm by increasing its understanding of the dynamics and structure of the ionized region of the atmosphere which he categorically upheld as the prime candidate for the failure of man's navigation and communication systems.
Dr. Baylie Damtie, the president of Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, expressed the full commitment and readiness of the University faculty, administration and students and the regional government and the community at large, for the Implementation and the subsequent launching of the project.
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