Agenda: USAID LASER PULSE Research for Development Learning Summit

8:00 - 8:45 AM 

Check-in, Breakfast, and Networking

8:45 - 9:10 AM 

Opening Remarks 
Yuehwern Yih
Academic Director, LASER PULSE
Professor, School of Industrial Engineering
Purdue University

Keynote Address
Mohamed Abdel-Kader
Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director, Innovation, Technology, and Research Hub
USAID

9:15 - 9:45 AM

LASER PULSE Overview 
Pallavi Gupta
Program Director, LASER PULSE
Purdue University

9:45 - 10:30 AM

Food Security and Nutrition Panel 

Moderator: 
Betty Bugusu
Technical Director, LASER PULSE
Purdue University

Panelists: 
Margaret Henning
Senior CLA Advisor
USAID Ethiopia

Affiliated LASER PULSE Project: Youth Empowerment through Livelihood Transformation in Agro-Pastoral Areas of East and West Hararghe Zones, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia 

Kizito Nishimwe 
Lecturer, Department of Food Science and Technology
University of Rwanda

Affiliated LASER PULSE Project: Technology Tools for Building Resilience of Dairy Farms and Improving Dairy Production in Rwanda 

Patrick Ketiem
Institute Director, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization
Agricultural Mechanization Research Institute Katumani

Affiliated LASER PULSE Project: Building Sustainable Resilient Supply Chains: A model of Youth Input Resellers in Kenya 

Gerald (Jerry) Shively
Director, International Programs in Agriculture
Associate Dean, College of Agriculture
Professor of Agricultural Economics
Purdue University

Affiliated LASER PULSE Project: Applied Nutrition Research Capacity Building (ANRCB) in Laos 

10:30 - 11:00 AM

Coffee Break

11:00 - 11:45 AM

Education Panel 

Moderator:
Leulsegged Kasa
Research Project Manager, LASER PULSE
Purdue University

Panelists: 
Leah Maxson
Senior Inclusive Education Advisor, Center for Education
Bureau for Development, Democracy and Innovation
USAID

Affiliated LASER PULSE Project: Multi-Country Study on Inclusive Education in Cambodia, Nepal, Malawi 

Abdirisak Dalmar
Founder and President, Somali Research and Development Institute (SORDI)

Affiliated LASER PULSE Project: Baseline Evaluation of Somalia’s Accelerated Quality Learning Program (Bar ama Baro – “Teach or Learn”) 

Valerie Karr
Founding Partner & President, Inclusive Development Partners
Associate Professor, School for Global Inclusion and Social Development
University of Massachusetts Boston

Affiliated LASER PULSE Project: Multi-Country Study on Inclusive Education in Cambodia, Nepal, Malawi 

11:45 - 12:45 PM

Lunch Break

12:45 - 1:30 PM

Economic Growth and Private Sector Engagement Panel

Moderator:
Ross Meyers
Research Project Manager, LASER PULSE
Purdue University

Panelists: 
Tatiana M. Pulido
Senior Director of Evidence, Learning, and Data
Private Sector Engagement Hub
USAID

Yuehwern Yih
Academic Director, LASER PULSE
Professor, School of Industrial Engineering
Purdue University

Affiliated LASER PULSE Projects: Private Sector Engagement Policy and USAID PSE Process Analysis 

1:30 - 2:15 PM

Lessons from LASER PULSE Experience

Moderator:
Brent Wells
Team Lead, LASER PULSE, USAID 
Senior Strategic Lead and Program Officer, Research Division Innovation, Technology & Research Hub
Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation
USAID

Panelists: 
Arvind Raman
PI and Director, LASER PULSE
John A. Edwardson Dean, College of Engineering
Robert V. Adams Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Purdue University

Roy William Mayega
Makerere University Consortium Lead, LASER PULSE
Deputy Chief of Party,  ResilientAfrica Network (RAN)
Lecturer, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health
Makerere University

Teshome Alemneh
Indiana University Consortium Lead, LASER PULSE
Associate Vice President for International Research and Development
Director, Office of International Development
Indiana University

Michael Sweikar
University of Notre Dame Consortium Lead, LASER PULSE
Executive Director, Pulte Institute for Global Development
Keough School Term Assistant Teaching Professor
University of Notre Dame

2:15 - 2:45 PM

Coffee Break

2:45 - 3:30 PM

LASER Engagement with Minority Serving Institutions

Moderator:
Corrie Willson (Sutherland) 
Program Analyst III, Research Division, Innovation, Technology & Research Hub 
Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation
USAID

Panelists:
Dana Alzouma
Minority Serving Institutions Coordinator
USAID

Eurica Huggins Axum
Director, USAID Donald M. Payne Fellowship Program
Howard University

Additional information on Payne Fellowship Program

Majed El-Dweik
Vice President of Research and Economic Development
Alabama Agricultural & Mechanical University

Affiliated LASER PULSE Project: The impact of traditional practice on the quality and safety of post-production handling in the milk value-chain in Rwanda 

Godfrey Ejimakor
Professor, Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education
North Carolina A&T State University

Affiliated LASER PULSE Project: Using Nature-Based Solutions to Improve the Productivity of Maize Growers in Zambia 

3:30 - 3:50 PM

Closing Remarks
Brent Wells
Team Lead LASER PULSE, USAID 
Senior Strategic Lead and Program Officer, Research Division Innovation, Technology & Research Hub
Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation
USAID

Thanks and Closing 
Pallavi Gupta
Program Director, LASER PULSE
Purdue University

4:00 - 5:00 PM

Networking and Reception