Nigerian Professor Akindele Folarin Alonge elected CIGR President

 

Nigerian Professor elected CIGR President 

Akindele Folarin Alonge a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria, has been elected President of the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR).

Professor Alonge, who is the South-South Regional Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Agricultural Engineers (NIAE) is the first Nigerian based Professor to be elected as President of the revered commission, since its establishment in 1930. CIGR is the umbrella body of the Society of Agricultural Engineers worldwide.

The Agricultural Products Processing expert has been elected to serve in the Presidium till 2022. He succeeds a Nigerian, South African based Professor Umezuruike Linus Opara of Stellenbosch University. Prof Opara has also blazed the trail by pioneering the Pan African Society for Agricultural Engineering (PASAE) and he currently serves as the President.

Professor Alonge's participation in CIGR Conference dates back to 1988, while serving as a corps member at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, which he was involved in the planning. He was instrumental to Nigerian membership of this body in June 2017 and the return of the conference to Nigeria 30 years after (October 2018), when the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan played host to several people across the globe. 

He was appointed by the Board of Trustees of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) to represent them as an Executive Board member of CIGR in June 2014, following his contributions to the advancement of the profession in Africa and beyond. He has served as the Secretary, Technical Board Section VI of CIGR. It is of note that he helped in founding the African Network Group of ASABE in 2009 and he served as the President of the group from June 2014 to July 2017.

He has also participated in several activities of CIGR from events in Québec City, Canada (2010) to France (2011) to Africa (2012) and Asia (2014). He has served as a reviewer of several papers for CIGR journal since Professor Bill Stout was Editor in Chief. He is also serving as the African representative to the newly formed Global Taskforce Group of assembling, strategizing and mobilizing young professionals and senior students for increased participation in CIGR activities.

Professor Alonge is expected to work with other members of the Presidium to see through the events of the 5th CIGR International Conference holding in May, 2021 in Canada, with the focus on Sustainable Energy for Sustainable Future and other CIGR activities across the globe.

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