For decades, MISTI has helped MIT students to learn and explore through internships in industries like health care, education, agriculture, and energy. This past summer, 10 MIT student interns at African universities were supported, significantly more than in any previous year. The new internships are part of a broader vision for deeper engagement between MIT and research institutions across the African continent.
With the support of MIT-Africa, the State University of Zanzibar hired local students to work alongside graduate students. Using low-cost drone technology, the students created maps of Zanzibar to support community planning around resilience projects designed to combat coastal flooding and deforestation.
For computer science sophomore Ortiz Bigio, the MISTI research internship in Africa was an incomparable experience, culturally and professionally. Each successful collaboration helps to seed future exchanges and builds interest between MIT and peer institutions. “I really appreciated learning about how engagement happens in this particular context and how community members understand local environmental challenges and conditions based on research and lived experience,” says Isidor.
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