KWASU AWARDS 2ND BENEFICIARIES OF RESEARCHER, STAFF OF THE YEAR
Kwara State University’s Dr. AbdulWaheed Musa of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has emerged Researcher of the year, 2024. This award comes with a cash prize of N250,000, a certificate, and a plaque. The notification signed by the Registrar, Dr. Kikelomo W. Sallee, dated 7th March 2025 stated that Dr. Musa received the award for his outstanding research contributions in the advancement of knowledge in his field.
Similarly, Mr Waheed Awuni Sunmon of Registry Department was awarded the Best Staff of the Year 2024 for his “dedication, hard work, and contributions to the efficient functioning of the University”. These awards are part of Kwara State University’s strategy to drive research excellence and to motivate staff. Mr. Sunmon, a pioneer staff of the University and currently, the Secretary to the Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, will receive N100,000, a certificate, and a plaque.
Dr. AbdulWaheed Musa, an Associate Professor of wireless communication, artificial intelligence, and renewable energy, is an award-winning senior academic with international exposure and experience in research, mentoring, leadership, and consulting. He is the Founding Director of KWASU’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Systems (CAMS) and currently, the Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He also served as the Founding Director of the Centre for Telecommunication Research and Development (CTRD).
Dr. Musa is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)– USA, a registered engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), and a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)– United Kingdom. He was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow between February 2017 and January 2020 and a Senior Research Associate between November 2020 and October 2023 at the Institute for Intelligent Systems, the University of Johannesburg.
Some of his research and projects have been funded by both local and international donor agencies, including the Royal Academy of Engineering (United Kingdom), the Gender and Responsible Artificial Intelligence Network (GRAIN), the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), among others.
As a telecommunication specialist, Dr Musa was on Nigeria’s delegation to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World (Bangkok 2016). He was also invited by the Government of South Africa to the ITU Telecom World (Durban 2018), and the 2019 edition of World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa. As an AI expert, he has taken part in developing the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS) for Nigeria as coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy in 2024.
With over seventy (70) scholarly papers published in reputable journals and conference proceedings, Dr Musa possesses excellent technical, organizational, and communication skills, and aims to become an extraordinary and successful knowledge generation, dissemination, and application professional.