Meet the engineering deans at ABET-accredited Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Meet the 15 deans at ABET-accredited historically Black college and university (HBCU) engineering schools and find out more about the leaders that produce more than 33 percent of America’s Black engineers.

ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY College of Engineering, Technology, and Physical Sciences Dr. Zhengtao (Z.T.) Deng Dean, College of Engineering, Technology and Physical Sciences Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department

Dr. John D. Jones, the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Alabama A&M University (AAMU), and the Search Committee for the Dean of the College of Engineering, Technology and Physical Sciences selected Dr. Zhengtao (Z.T.) Deng to lead the college on October 1, 2022. Dr. Deng started his academic career at AAMU in 1992 in the School of Engineering and Technology (previous name of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Physical Sciences). He is one of the founding members of AAMU's mechanical engineering program and is a full professor in the department. Dr. Deng was also selected as the university's Outstanding Teacher in 2013, Outstanding Faculty of the Year for the College of Engineering in 2013 and 2018, and the University's Outstanding Researcher in 2018. During his career, he has served and continues to serve as a principal investigator on multiple externally funded research grants and contracts. In 2015, he became the Faculty Associate for Research and Scholarship at the College of Engineering, Technology, and Physical Sciences. In 2019, he was appointed Interim Dean of the College. Deng earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee.

FLORIDA A&M -FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Engineering Suvranu De, Sc.D. Dean, College of Engineering

Suvranu De, Ph.D. is the dean for the FAMU-FSUCollege of Engineering. He joined the college in July 2022 from RensselaerPolytechnic Institute's School of Engineering, where he was most recently the JErik Jonsson '22 Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Head of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering (MANE) and founding director of the Center for Modeling, Simulation and Imaging in Medicine(CeMSIM). De received his bachelor's from JadavpurUniversity, in India, in 1993; his master's was from the Indian Institute of Science in 1995, and his doctorate from MIT in 2001, all in mechanical engineering. Dean De's research encompasses virtual reality, noninvasive neuroimaging, and artificial intelligence and their applications to high-impact problems in healthcare. He has authored or co-authored numerous book chapters and papers in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. He has also coedited two books – Computational Modeling in Biomechanics(Springer, 2010) and Multiscale Modeling in Biomechanics and Mechanobiology(Springer, 2014). In addition, De holds 14 copyrights and one patent. Dean De serves on the editorial boards of five international journals: Frontiers of Neuroergonomics, Computers and Structures, Computers, Materials & Continua, International Journal of Modern Mechanics, International Journal of Computational Methods, and scientific committees of numerous national and international conferences. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and serves as Vice-Chair (Awards) of the IEEE Technical Committee on Haptics. He leads/co-leads several Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) committees. He has served five years on the BTSS study section of the NIH as a charter member and as the leader of the Theoretical and Computational Workgroup of the Multiscale Modeling Consortium of the NIH. He was on the advisory board of the Mechanical Engineering department of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Dean De received numerous research awards earlier in his career, including the ONR Young Investigator Award (2005) and the James M. Tien '66 Early Career Award for Faculty (2009), the Rensselaer School of Engineering Outstanding Research Team Award (2021 & 2012), and the J.Tinsley Oden Medal of the U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics (2019). In 2022, he was awarded the Edwin F. Church Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for sustained and innovative mechanical engineering academic leadership, emphasizing industry and academic collaboration and technological innovation leading to entrepreneurship. Dean De is an elected Fellow of four professional societies: the ASME, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the International Association for Computational Mechanics, and the United States Association for Computational Mechanics. Early in 2022, Florida Legislature appropriated $6.6 million in recurring funds to the college's joint budget to improve student success, recruit the best students, attract, and retain outstanding faculty, introduce new courses and degrees, and provide state-of-the-art facilities for current and future research endeavors. In addition, de will concentrate on bringing external resources and partnerships to the college.

HAMPTON UNIVERSITY School of Engineering, Architecture, and Aviation Dr. Joyce T. Shirazi Dean, School of Engineering, Architecture, and Aviation

Dr. Joyce Table Shirazi, Dean of the School of Engineering, Architecture, and Aviation at Hampton University, has a long and distinguished career in higher education and industry. At Hampton University, she leads a skilled team of faculty and staff in the Architecture, Aviation, Chemical, Electrical, and Computer Engineering departments to ensure that Hampton University is a leader in STEM-related fields. She has served in both faculty and staff positions in the University System of Maryland, including Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff in the Office of the President, Chair of the Information and Technology Systems Department, Program Director and Professor for Engineering Management, MBA, Management of Information Systems, and Technology Management programs in the Graduate School at University of Maryland Global Campus. In addition, she served as Chair of the Council of University System of Maryland Faculty and as the chief liaison between the Chancellor, Board of Regents, and the Council, and on the Maryland Higher Education Commission Faculty Advisory Council. Dr. Shirazi builds leadership teams for collaborative relationships with constituencies and academic excellence. At UMGC, she facilitated and approved the budget discussions of the executive committee for the $200 to $400 million global budget and had responsibility for establishing a solid financial base for the university. She led the management of the Graduate School, Information, Technology, and Systems Department and oversaw introductory course revamps in programs which included emergency management, homeland security management, database systems management, biotechnology management, information management, information technology, technology management, information systems, software engineering, environmental management, project management and a residency in Taipei, Taiwan while teaching a doctorate course there. She managed graduate classes at NASA Goddard and was a founding program director of the successful and innovative online MBA Program, one of the nation's first. In addition, she supervised the staffing for the Maryland State Commission on Cyber Security Innovation and Excellence. Dr. Shirazi understands global technical programs and has experience in multinational corporations with project management, design of engineering systems such as offshore oil platform structures, wide-body airplanes, hazardous waste, and air quality environmental systems, and managed feasibility studies of prototypes in countries around the world. As Dean of the School of Engineering, Architecture, and Aviation (SEAA) at Hampton University, Dr. Shirazi assures national and international accreditation of all degree programs in the School of Engineering and Technology. All programs are accredited by their national accrediting board, Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), and Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI), for engineering, architecture, and aviation, respectively. In addition, Dr. Shirazi identifies funding sources for support of educational programs and research in line with the academic mission and helps to secure grants and scholarships for student support. She is a licensed, professional civil engineer, Chair of the HBCU Council of Engineering Deans, past President of the Northern California Council of Black Professional Engineers, and Charter Member of the U.S. Citizens Network on U.N. Environment & Development Conference. In addition, Shirazi has academic credentials that include a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Howard University, a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Tennessee, a Doctor of Science in Environmental and Engineering Management from George Washington University, and executive graduate leadership training from the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY College of Engineering and Architecture John M. M. Anderson, Ph.D. Dean, College of Engineering and Architecture

Howard University appointed John M.M. Anderson, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture in May 2020. Anderson most recently served as interim Dean of the College of Engineering after holding various positions of increasing responsibility since joining the university in 2002 as an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. Anderson has served on numerous committees on the departmental and college level. He is currently a National Academy of Engineering Deans' Roundtable member. Before joining Howard University, he was an associate professor at the University of Florida. Also, he served as a program director at the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. With specific research interests in image reconstruction and ground penetrating radar, Anderson is the recipient of three patents from the U.S. Patent Office and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. Anderson completed his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering at Brown University, a Master of Science in electrical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Virginia.

JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY College of Science, Engineering, and Technology Dr. Wilbur Waters Dean, College of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Wilbur L. Walters, Ph.D., was appointed Dean of the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology at Jackson State University in Mississippi. Walters joined the Jackson State faculty in 2002. He is a Jackson State graduate with a master's degree and a Ph.D. in materials engineering from the University of Alabama Birmingham and the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa). He served as associate Dean for undergraduate programs in Jackson State's College of Science, Engineering, and Technology and as chair and associate professor in the Department of Physics, Atmospheric Sciences, and Geosciences with a joint appointment in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Since joining the faculty at JSU in 2002, he has also served as a visiting researcher at the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory and the Wroclaw Technical University (Poland). His research interests include the development of novel composite coatings utilizing nanostructured systems, developing novel composites from recycled materials, and using accelerated weathering techniques to analyze the environmental durability of materials for sustainable technologies. Research efforts have included National Science Foundation, Army Research Office, Northrop Grumman, and NASA funding. He has also been dedicated to materials and nanotechnology educational and research initiatives for undergraduate and graduate students and has authored technical and academic articles highlighting student research experiences.

MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. School of Engineering Oscar Barton, Jr., Ph.D., PE Dean, Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. School of Engineering

Morgan State University (MSU) President David K. Wilson announced the appointment of Oscar Barton, Jr., Ph.D., as the new dean of the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr., School of Engineering in 2020. In his new capacity as dean, Barton will implement a vision for innovative strategic growth; provide leadership through a shared governance process of dynamic faculty, staff, and students; manage multiple research centers and facilities; administer the School’s budget; develop curricula and advance academic and research programs that prepare students for careers in the industries of the future. Most recently, Dr. Barton served as professor and founding chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at George Mason University’s Volgenau School of Engineering. He joined the faculty at Mason in the fall of 2014, after completing a 22-year career at the U.S. Naval Academy. His research focuses on the development of approximate closed-form solutions for linear self-adjoint systems, those that govern the responses of composite structures, and the analysis of dynamic systems. More recently, he investigated the dynamic response of flexible composite structures subject to periodic and random excitation. He has mentored numerous midshipmen through independent research projects and has directed two Trident Scholars, the Naval Academy’s flagship research program. He has published more than 60 journal and conference articles on these topics. Barton is also a fellow of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and is actively involved in academic innovations and program assessment. A native of Washington, D.C., he received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tuskegee (Institute) University and his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Ph.D. in Applied Mechanics from Howard University.

NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY College of Science, Engineering, and Technology Dr. Michael Keeve Professor of Mathematics Dean, College of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Dr. Michael Keeve was appointed Dean of the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology at Norfolk State University in July 2018. Keeve received his B.A. in mathematics from Hampton University, his master's in applied mathematics from the University of Virginia, and his Ph.D. in mathematics from Georgia Institute of Technology. He began teaching at Norfolk State in the fall of 1987, was the chair of the Department of Mathematics from 2002 to 2008, and was associate Dean from 2011 to 2018. He continues to serve on committees and research and enhance Norfolk State University's academic programs. Most recently, he served as principal Investigator for the Collaborative grant Research: Louis Stokes Regional Center of Excellence: Broadening Participation of Underrepresented Students in STEM Education Using Nanotechnology. His honors include induction into the Alpha Kappa Mu and Beta Kappa Chi Honor Societies. He is also a Pi Mu Epsilon National Honorary Mathematics Society member and the National Association of Mathematicians.

NORTH CAROLINA A&T UNIVERSITY College of Engineering Stephanie Luster-Teasley, PhD Interim Dean, College of Engineering Professor, Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University announced Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Stephanie Luster-Teasley '96, Ph.D., has been named interim dean of the College of Engineering, effective May 16. A 2021 graduate of the UNC Executive Leadership Institute, Luster-Teasley was named A&T's vice provost for undergraduate education in May 2021 after serving in the role on an interim basis since September 2020. Luster-Teasley has been a COE Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering faculty member since 2004. In 2010, she led the A&T team that developed the National 4-H Science Youth Day experiment to teach millions of K-8 students worldwide about water quality, energy use, and global warming. During her tenure as department chair from 2016 to 2020, Luster-Teasley increased enrollment from 240 to 321 students, revived alums support and engagement to include service and donations, and successfully renewed Architectural Engineering Program Accreditation and Civil Engineering Program ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technology) Accreditation, among many other accomplishments. Her research specializations include environmental remediation, water sustainability, and engineering education. She has received patents from the United States, Great Britain, and Canada for developing a controlled-release chemical oxidation polymer system for remediation of water and wastewater – the first African American woman and faculty member at A&T to receive international patents. Her technology was licensed in 2017 by a company to market nationally as an emerging remediation method for groundwater and soil contamination. Luster-Teasley's research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education for developing a mentoring program for students in STEM disciplines, the National Science Foundation for developing and implementing case studies modules in science labs, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund to implement science programs for middle school girls, and others. In addition, she serves as co-Principal Investigator for the NCA&T ADVANCE-IT grant, which seeks to increase equity and help implement programs for female faculty to progress through academia from assistant to full professorship successfully. Her research and professional development grants have yielded more than $8 million in funding. In recognition of Luster-Teasley's excellence in teaching, research, and service, she has received the 2005 National Women of Color in Technology Educational Leadership Award, the 2006 N.C. A&T State University Rookie Researcher of the Year Award and the 2008 N.C. A&T State University Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award. Additionally, she received the UNC Board of Governors Teaching Excellence Award – one of the highest awards conferred for teaching in the UNC System – in 2013, the DuPont Minorities in Engineering Award at the National American Society for Engineering Education in 2014, the Black Engineer of the Year Innovation Award in 2018, and the ASEE Environmental Service Award and Michigan State University (MSU) Civil and Environmental Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award in 2020. She also was recently invited to serve on the MSU College of Engineering Alumni Advisory Board.

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY Roy G. Perry College of Engineering Dr. Pamela Holland Obiomon Dean and Professor, Roy G. Perry College of Engineering

Dr. Pamela Holland Obiomon has been a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 2003. In 2013, Obiomon took on the role of department head, serving one of the most extensive programs in the college. Under her guidance, the department was awarded $20 million in grants from the chancellor's research initiative, which helped aid in the creation of the Computational Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Cyber Security Research Center, the Center for Advancing Innovation is Smart Microgrid, and Center of Excellence in Research and Education for Big Military Data Intelligence. She earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, an M.S. in engineering from Prairie View A&M University, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University. Before coming to PVAMU, she taught courses at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. In addition, she worked in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Dr. Obiomon's research interests lie in integrated microsystems for environmental sensing powered by energy scavenging, innovative systems using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the design of FPGA-based controllers for autonomous vehicles. She published over 52 papers in refereed journals, international and national conferences, and colloquia as an author or co-author; she was awarded over $14 million in research funds as a P.I. and Co-PI, and she developed the Field-Programmable Gate Array Synthesis Laboratory at PVAMU. Also, she supervised and served on some 21 master's and Ph.D. committees and holds memberships in IEEE, IEEE Women in Engineering, and Eta Kappa Nu.

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY College of Engineering Lin Li, Ph.D., P.E., Fellow of ASCE Professor of Civil Engineering & Interim Dean

Dr. Lin Li is a Professor and Interim Dean of the College of Engineering at Tennessee State University. He got his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004. He has been an assistant, associate, and full professor of civil engineering at Jackson State University from 2005 to 2018. He teaches geotechnical engineering courses, including foundation engineering, unsaturated soil mechanics, geoenvironmental engineering, advanced soil mechanics, and soil dynamics. His expertise includes innovative levee testing and protection, bio-mediated ground improvement, sustainable infrastructure, and geo-environmental areas. He has been the principal Investigator or co-principal Investigator of more than 26 major research grants from federal and state agencies with total funding amounts of $7 Million, including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Transportation, Tennessee Board of Regents, Recycled Materials Resource Center under Federal Highway Administration, Institute for Multimodal Transportation under Federal Transit Administration, mainly in the area of geotechnical engineering. Dr. Li is the author or co-author of 2 books, four book chapters, and 134 peer-reviewed published articles with an h-index of 20 and an i10-index of 33. With funding support from DHS, Dr. Li's research focuses on levee protection during Hurricane overtopping. He has published one book and 30 scientific papers about innovative levee strengthening and testing under full-scale overtopping conditions. With funding support from NSF, Dr. Li's research on bio-mediated ground improvement led to more than 39 SCI-index journal articles. He got HEADWAE Award in 2017, Faculty Excellence Award Richard from JSU in 2014 and 2015, High Grant Award Winner Award in 2017, Richard S. Ladd D18 Standards Development Award from ASTM for his effort in ASTM D7762 development. He is vice chair of the TRB AKG30 committee, chair of the ASTM D18.14 committee, and member of the ASCE geoenvironmental and erosion technical committees. He is an editorial board member of the Journal of Geotechnical and Geological Engineering and the Journal of ASTM International.

TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY College of Engineering Heshmat Aglan, Ph.D., P.E. Dean and Professor, College of Engineering

Heshmat Aglan has a Ph.D. and M.S. from the University of London, England, an M. Eng. and B.S. from Assiut University, Egypt, all in mechanical engineering, and a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Department of Macromolecular Sciences, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. Dr. Aglan has worked at Tuskegee University for 30 years, strengthening teaching, research, and outreach with local, national, and internationally recognized research. He is a professor of mechanical engineering and previously served as the associate dean of the College of Engineering. In projects focusing on reforming the engineering curriculum funded by the National Science Foundation, Aglan spearheaded the development of hands-on courses for engineering students by designing and developing modules with embedded assessments. He has earned numerous honors and awards, including an appointment by the governor of the state of Alabama to the State Board of Eating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration; editor-in-chief of the Journal of Elastomers and Plastics, Sage Publishers, Inc.; and associate director of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Education Coalition (AMSTEC). Dr.Aglan has been responsible for many funded projects at the national and international levels. He has shared his cutting-edge engineering research with NASA, the DoD, the DOE, the NSF, the DHS, the Federal Railroad Administration, Raytheon, Nucor Steel, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and other companies. He has more than 130 refereed journal articles disseminating his research work. He is a registered professional engineer in both Alabama and Ohio. Dr. Aglan has supervised seven Ph.D. students, more than 40 M.S. students, and 20 post-doctoral scholars. The USPO has recently granted him two patents; one of them deals with the invention of nanostructured thin films, and the other with the technology design for in situ repairing of railroad railhead defects.

UNIVERSITY of the DISTRICT of COLUMBIA School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dr. Devdas Shetty Dean, School of Engineering & Applied Sciences

Dean Shetty joined the University of the District of Columbia in 2012, previously serving as Dean of Engineering at Lawrence Technological Institute and Dean of Research at the University of Hartford. While with the University of Hartford, Dr. Shetty was the First Chair of the Vernon D. Roosa Endowed Professorship. Also, he was the director of the Engineering Applications Center, through which he established partnerships with more than 50 Connecticut industries. During 2008 and 2009, Dr. Shetty served as Dean of the College of Engineering for Lawrence Technological University in Highland Park, MI. He initiated several new academic programs, established partnerships, and contributed to curricular innovation. Before coming to Hartford, Dr. Shetty held academic positions at the Albert Nerkin School of Engineering at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. Dr. Shetty is the author of three books and more than 200 scientific articles and has six patents. His mechatronics and product design books are widely used as textbooks in many universities worldwide. Dr. Shetty's research work has been cited for its original contribution to understanding engineering surface measurement, significant intellectual achievements in mechatronics, and contributions to product design. He is especially well-known for his assistance in establishing partnerships between the university and industries. He receives academic and research grants from organizations like the National Science Foundation, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, etc. Dr. Shetty had been leading research efforts in a U.S. Army research project on uncrewed aerial vehicles. In partnership with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, he invented the patented mechatronics process for supporting patients. Dr. Shetty has chaired several international conferences and presented keynote lectures. Major honors received by Dr. Shetty include the James Frances Bent Award for Creativity, the Edward S. Roth National Award for Manufacturing from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Faculty Award, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Honor Award. He is an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE School of Business and Technology Dr. Derrek B. Dunn Dean, School of Business and Technology Chairperson of the Department of Technology University of Maryland, Eastern Shore Dr. Derrek B. Dunn is currently a professor and chairperson of the Department of Technology in the School of Business and Technology at the University of Maryland at Eastern Shore (UMES). Dr. Dunn has taught college-level courses on such topics as wireless communication systems, computer networks, telecommunication management, global positioning systems, and optical systems. Derrek received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from North Carolina A&T State University. He also received a master's degree in construction management from Western Carolina University; a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Science in Mathematics, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Dr. Dunn brings over 15 years of experience in teaching and research on learners and learning at a distance, and experience in the use of distance education in technology and engineering. Additionally, Dr. Dunn has extensive experience with The Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE) formerly known as the National Association of Industrial Technology (NAIT), including being a member of NAIT/ATMAE for past the eleven years, a Certified Industrial Technologist (CIT), member of ATMAE accreditation review team(s), and the one-time regional director for the student division of ATMAE. Derrek was elected to a second term as vice president of the electrical, electronics, and computer technology division of ATMAE and is currently the president of the division.

VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Engineering and Technology Dr. Dawit Haile Dean, College of Engineering and Technology

Dr. Dawit Haile is the College of Engineering and Technology dean at Virginia State University. He previously served as associate dean and chair of the Mathematics and Computer Science department. Before joining Virginia State University, he held faculty appointments at Xavier University and Southern Illinois University. His research interests include image compression, wireless networks, data mining, and graph theory. He has received over $15M in research funds and grant awards. He received the Virginia State University Bank of America Outstanding Faculty Award in 2007 for his excellent teaching, research, and service contributions. In addition, Dr. Haile serves on the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM). CCAM is a not-for-profit applied research consortium with membership from industry, university, and government. Dr. Haile was reappointed and commissioned by the Governor of Virginia as a member of the Commonwealth's Manufacturing Development Commission to serve a second term of four years commencing July 1, 2017. Dr. Haile earned a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Southern Illinois University, a master's degree in Computer Science from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a master's in Mathematics from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.