Biography

Dr. Araya Asfaw earned his PhD in Physics, Master of Engineering, and BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University, Washington, DC. He worked as a research scientist at various national laboratories in the U.S. including the National Institute of Standard and Technology, Centre for Advanced Microstructure and Devices, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Advanced Light Source of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory before joining the Physics Department of Addis Ababa University in 1996. He served as Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at Addis Ababa University for four years. As Dean, he facilitated the transformation of the Geophysical Observatory to Institute of Geophysics Space Science and Astronomy and initiated the establishment of the Gullele Botanic Garden, a joint programme between the City Government of Addis Ababa and Addis Ababa University. The Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre and Network (HoA-REC&N) was an initiative Dr. Araya Asfaw presented to the College of Natural Sciences which eventually evolved into an autonomous centre at the University. Dr. Araya Asfaw has conducted research in the area of computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer, laser spectroscopy, application of physics to material, food, environment, and sustainable energy. He has advised a number of graduate students and published numerous papers on various disciplines