image awards
2011 ANOGUSA Image Awards Recipients
The ANOG Image & Service Award is an honor bestowed on distinguished Nigerians, resident in Georgia, who have projected positive "Image" of Nigerians in their professional and community activities, who have made notable contributions for the advancement their communities, locally and abroad, and who, by their conduct and reputation, have provided a shining example to succeeding generations of Nigerians, home and abroad.
Engr. Rufus Jaiyeola Oladapo, Prof. Ifeanyi Charles Ume and Prof. Juliet U. Elu have been chosen as the ANOG 2011 Image Award recipients. The three have contributed immensely in their different ways in promoting Nigeria's image both at their professional duties and the community.
Engr. Rufus Jaiyeola Oladapo
Biography
Prof. Ifeanyi Charles Ume
Biography
Read Prof. Juliet U. Elu
Biography
Profiles of award Recipients
Engineer Rufus Jaiyeola Oladapo is a native of Okeagbe, Akoko Northwest local government in Ondo State, Nigeria. He is a Civil Engineer by profession. Engineer Oladapo received his bachelor's and master degrees in Civil Engineering from Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, Alabama and Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee in 1980 & 1983 respectively. Engineer Oladapo is the Founder and President of Kemi Construction Company, Inc. The company was founded in July 1987 as an entry into the concrete and roadway industries. In August of 1989, the company was incorporated and slowly found its way into the underground utilities industries. Kemi Construction has been serving metro Atlanta (both city and county) and the State of Georgia in areas of site utilities and roadway construction. The company is a first rate construction company that provides employment to team of diverse professionals in their field.
Engineer Oladapo has assisted several Nigerians with employment and business opportunities and has mentored other fellow countrymen in the construction business. He is a founding member and the former president of Ondo State Association, an association formed to serve the community in the area of health, education and infrastructure. During his tenure as President, the Association provided school supplies (exercise books, pens, pencils etc) to schools across Ondo State, Nigeria to assist students who were in needs.
Personally, no fewer than 80 Students of tertiary institutions across Nigeria who were indigenes of Okeagbe Akoko in Akoko North West Council of Ondo State benefitted from his philanthropist gesture as over 4 million naira was given to these students as scholarship awards. The award which was initiated by Engineer Rufus Jaiyeola Oladapo in memory of his late father, Chief John Balogun Oladapo, is aimed at assisting students pay their school fees. Each student got 50,000 naira.
Rufus Oladapo is married with four children and two grand children.
Ifeanyi Charles Ume is a Full Professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Prof. Ume is the Director of Instructional Mechatronics, Advanced Electronic Packaging and Laser Processing Laboratories. He began his career at Georgia Tech after he obtained his Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of South Carolina in 1985. He was a Faculty Research Fellow at IBM-System Technology Lab from 1989-1990, and at Motorola Corporate Manufacturing Research Center in 1990. Prof. Ume is the Founder and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Akrometrix LLC. Akrometrix is a high tech commercial enterprise venture that was spun-off of his research at Georgia Tech in 1994. Akrometrix is the lead manufacturer and distributor of warpage measurement machines in the world. His research interests are in the areas of thermo-mechanical reliability of microelectronic and electronic packaging systems, laser ultrasound and intelligent mechatronics. He has received close to $10 million dollars in research funding. Prof. Ume has published over 200 refereed publications and has edited 11 books. He has received five United States patents, submitted eight utility patent applications and 5 invention disclosures. He has supervised 23 Ph.D. dissertations, 22 M.S. theses, 23 non-theses and 19 undergraduate research students.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Awards: Prof. Ume received the 2010 EPPD Excellence in Mechanics Award; Board of Governors 2009 Certificate of Value Services; 1997 EPPD Best Paper of the Year Award; and he was elected ASME Fellow in 2003. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Awards: Prof. Ume received the 2005 IEEE-CPMT society Outstanding Sustained Technical Contribution Award; and was elected IEEE Fellow in 2004. Instrument, System, and Automation Society Awards: Prof. Ume received the 1999 E. G. Bailey Award for inventing a novel and automated online flatness measurement and analysis instrument; and the 2002 Donald P. Eckman Education Award for his outstanding contributions in the pioneering and education of mechatronics throughout the world. American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Award: Prof. Ume received the 2004 Robert G. Quinn Award for Excellence in Engineering Education. Georgia Institute of Technology Awards: Prof. Ume received the 2007 Sigma Xi Society Sustained Research Award; 2002 Georgia Institute of Technology Outstanding Interdisciplinary Research and Teaching Award; the State of Georgia Advanced Technology Development Center 1993 and 2000 Faculty Commercialization Awards; was nominated for Regents Professor in 2003 and 2004 respectively; was selected as one of the four finalists for the Woodruff Endowed Chair Professor in Mechanical Systems in 2009, and Morris Bryan Distinguished Professorship in 2010; and he supervised two Ph.D. students who won the 1998 and 2006 Sigma Xi Society Best Ph.D. Dissertation Awards, and one M.S. student who won the 1987 Best Thesis Award. Federal Republic of Nigerian Awards: Prof. Ume was the first Nigerian living in diaspora to receive The Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (NNOM), the nation’s highest merit honor in 2003; was elected Fellow of Nigerian Academy of Science in 2006; and was appointed the Vice Chancellor of Anambra State University Science and Technology in 2001, but he did not accept the appointment. US National Science Foundation (NSF): Prof. Ume was a member of the 1997 United States Manufacturing Research and Education Delegation sent to visit South Africa by the US National Science Foundation.
Prof. Ume was a Co-Editor-in-Chief of Mechatronics Journal. He is serving and has served on the Editorial Board of several leading and prestigious journals in his fields of specializations. He was the General Chair of the 7th Mechatronics Forum International Conference and Education Workshop in 2000. He was the Chair of the Advisory Board; and the Chair of the Executive Committee of the ASME Electronic and Photonic Packaging Division. Prof. Ume has consulted for the following multinational corporations and government agencies: IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation, Motorola Inc, Ford Motors, United States Army (MICOM), Visteon Corporation, AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Siemens Corporation, AkroMetrix LLC, 3M Corporation, Toyota Corporation, Boeing Corporation, Intel Corporation, United States Air Force (Wright Patterson), and Celestica.
Prof. Ume is a member of Igbo Union-Atlanta and Aguata Union. He co-chaired the Georgia Chapter of the Nigerian Peoples Forum from 1998-1999. Prof. Ume chaired the Science & Technologies Committee of Enyimba cultural organization from 1999-2001, and served as Enyimba’s Vice Chair from 2001-2002. He is a financial supporter of Igbo Union-Atlanta projects, and Otu Umunne Children’s Program. Prof. Ume introduced the Group Life Insurance concept in Aguata Union, and was responsible for its implementation. He is one of the Advisors of Selfless 4 Africa non-profit organization. This organization was formed by young Nigerian and Cameroonian professionals to help less privileged kids in Africa complete their last three years of secondary school education. Selfless 4 Africa has given thus far about 20 scholarships to needy kids in the African continent. Prof. Ume has been honored with awards by his own people: the Igbo Union-Atlanta, Aguata Union and the National Association of Uga People in the USA.
Professor Juliet U. Elu is a Professor of Economics at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. She received her B.Sc. degree at Utah State University in Resource Economics and Economic History in 1982 and M.SC/MBA degree in Business Administration/Finance in 1984 at the same University. In 1992, Prof. Elu earned her Ph.D. degree in Economics from the University of Utah with emphasis on Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, International trade, Finance, and Economic Development.
Professor Elu prior to joining Morehouse, she was the Vice-Chairperson & Director, Management and Organization, Program, in the Department of Economics at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. Professor Elu research and teaching interests are in the areas of Quantitative Methods, Micro/Marco Economics, International Trade & Development, Gender issues and economic anthropometry in developing economics. Her professional affiliations include: National Economics Association, Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession, American Economic Association, African Finance and Economic Association, Statues of Women in the Economics Professor, and has served as a board member in these organizations. She is currently the President of National Economics Association.
In the Nigerian community where she is well known for her commitment to professionalism and humanitarian causes. Prof. Elu is a strong member of Ndokwa Association (where she started a National Scholarship Foundation for people in Nigeria), Isoko Association in Atlanta, and NICORE. She is also a pioneer member of the Nigerians In Diaspora Organization (NIDO). In one of her community engagements as a panelist, Professor Elu presented a finesse paper titled ‘Economic Development Landscape in Nigeria – 50 years later’ at a SYMPOSIUM IN CELEBRATION OF NIGERIA’S 50TH INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY in 2010. Other community engagements she was involved with include Community Service Advisory Board – Spelman College, and Chair - Education Committee – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Dubuque Chapter.
Professor Elu is also committed to understanding the causes and consequences of gender inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most recently, she has formally joined a capacity building effort sponsored by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) in Kenya (Nairobi) that aims to close Sub-Saharan African gender gaps in the production of economics doctorates and economic research. Professor Elu is confident that this effort will empower women in Sub-Saharan Africa, and ultimately lead to better prospects for economic growth.
In her long career as an academician, Professor Elu has published numerous journal articles, book chapters & books. She has also made several paper presentations one of which was delivered to ANOG as stated earlier. As a researcher, she has won more than 11 awards/grants and funded research among which are: (1) Leon Sullivan/General Motors Corporate Social Responsibility-Faculty/Student (Mentor/Mentee Award), (2) Teaching Excellence Award - Vulcan Material Company, State of Georgia and (3) Grant to Strengthening Economic Education at HBCUs to Enhance Economic Literacy in African American Communities and Increase the Supply of Black Economists.
Professor Juliet U. Elu hails from Delta State, Nigeria and she is married with children.