Aalen University and INP-HB Côte d'Ivoire Strengthen Strategic Cooperation
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schneider and Dr. Timo Bernthaler at the scientific workshop on materials research, microscopy and machine learning.
Aalen University and the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB) in Côte d'Ivoire agreed on a strategic cooperation in February 2021. The starting point of this cooperation was a donation of a SEM-NEON 4 scanning electron microscope by the ZEISS Group, which has been available in Côte d'Ivoire for a few weeks as part of the INP-HB university collaboration.
The two scientists Dr. Marie Florence Yebouet and Arielle Desiree Koffi Abah were trained last year at the Institute for Materials Research at Aalen University (IMFAA) and have been working at INP-HB in Côte d'Ivoire since their return. In the long term, this should create a platform for the development of scientific cooperation in teaching and research in various fields.
To keep this promise, a delegation from Aalen University traveled to Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire at the end of May to the beginning of June 2023. The occasion was, among other things, the official inauguration of the laboratory equipment installed there together with Hermann Gerlinger (former Managing Director ZEISS SMT GmbH), who represented ZEISS at the event. The IMFAA management team of Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schneider and Dr. Timo Bernthaler also offered interactive workshops for young scientists on the topics of materials research, microscopy and machine learning. During the workshop, they gave an overview of current issues in materials research at Aalen University as well as the possible applications of machine learning technology in the field of materials microscopy. "The collaboration between Aalen University and INP-HB in Côte d'Ivoire offers great potential for research and teaching and represents an important step in strengthening scientific cooperation between Germany and Côte d'Ivoire," says Gerhard Schneider. "Therefore, we are very much looking forward to future developments from this collaboration."
This exchange is supported and accompanied by Dr. Michel Aliman and his team from the LAFMAAL Foundation, which is very involved in promoting the scientific education of African women and supports social and ecological projects.