SUNY Polytechnic Institute — AIX Center
Nigeria & Cameroon
| Dates | Activity | Location |
|---|---|---|
| May 15 | Depart New York | Travel |
| May 16–17 | Transit / Arrival Abuja | Nigeria |
| May 18–19 | Abuja: NUC & NOUN | Nigeria |
| May 20 | Travel: Abuja → Minna | Nigeria |
| May 21–22 | Minna: FUT Minna | Nigeria |
| May 23–24 | Travel: Minna → Buea (via Abuja/Lagos → Douala) | Nigeria → Cameroon |
| May 25–26 | Buea: University of Buea | Cameroon |
| May 27 | Travel: Buea → Yaoundé | Cameroon |
| May 28–29 | Yaoundé: University of Yaoundé I | Cameroon |
| May 30–Jun 1 | Return to New York (or individual travel) | Departure |
All intercity travel by air. Abuja serves as the international gateway for the Nigeria leg. Departure from Yaoundé for return, with option for individual onward travel from Cameroon.
Nigeria's sole federal regulatory body for university education, established 1962 and statutory since 1974 under the Federal Ministry of Education. The NUC accredits all university programs, sets minimum academic standards, and coordinates transnational education (TNE) partnerships through a published regulatory framework. With 283 universities now in the Nigerian system, NUC is the key gateway for formalizing any academic collaboration with Nigerian institutions.
Relevance to AIX / SUNY Poly:
Nigeria's foremost open and distance learning institution and the first of its kind in West Africa. NOUN operates from its headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, with over 190,000 students across 128 study centres nationwide. All programs are NUC-accredited. NOUN has an active ICDL Digital Literacy Centre and e-learning infrastructure well-suited to AI-enhanced education.
Relevance to AIX / SUNY Poly:
A federal university of technology established in 1983 in Minna, capital of Niger State, North-Central Nigeria. FUT Minna operates two campuses (Bosso and the main Gidan Kwano campus, 10,650 hectares) with approximately 20,000 students across 10 schools. Designated Centre of Excellence in Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. Strong ICT and engineering focus with a School of Information and Communication Technology (SICT), Centre for Research and Development in IT (CREDIT), and a Centre for Open Distance and e-Learning (CODeL). Motto: "Technology for Empowerment."
Relevance to AIX / SUNY Poly:
Founded as a university centre in 1985, full university since 1992. One of only two English-medium universities in Cameroon, situated at the foot of Mount Cameroon in the historic town of Buea (former capital of German Kamerun and British Cameroon). Approximately 12,000 students; member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and affiliated with the University of Manchester. Five faculties: Arts, Education, Health Sciences, Science, and Social & Management Sciences, plus the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI).
Relevance to AIX / SUNY Poly:
Cameroon's top-ranked university (EduRank #1 nationally), formed in 1993 from the country's oldest institution (est. 1962). Main campus at Ngoa-Ekelle. Faculties include Arts & Humanities, Sciences, Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, and the École Nationale Supérieure Polytechnique de Yaoundé (ENSPY) — the primary institutional anchor for this visit. Programs offered in both French and English.
Relevance to AIX / SUNY Poly:
The visit advances a multi-institution partnership coordinated through SUNY Poly's AIX Center. Six active project streams span all partner institutions.
Development of open educational resources (OER) for AI literacy — from a 5-hour introductory module to a 15-hour agentic AI course — co-developed and tested with all partners. Train-the-trainers model. COIL course connections across campuses. Lead: Steve Schneider.
Metrical approaches to analyzing how collaborative teams and individuals behave with LLM models. Applications in AI advising and instruction for higher education. Lead: Steve Schneider; Bill Thistleton and Adebayo collaborating.
AI Advisor and AI Tutor pilot projects using synthetic data. Potential SUNY Poly pilot of AI advising application. Lead: Adebayo Adegboyega.
Drone-based aerial and sensor analytics, pest and disease management, AgriTech robotics, system stabilization research. Leads: Trusting Inekwe and Talhah Folorunso; Eustace Dogo (FUT Minna) key collaborator.
AI applications in health access and delivery. Leads: Denis (U Buea) and Jerome Niyirora (SUNY Poly).
Medical 3D printing (CT/MRI AI processing, surgical implants, Patient-Specific Instruments), brain tumor segmentation with multimodal models, energy and solar technology research. Lead: Edwin Mbinkar (Yaoundé I).