The University Center of Kaya (CU-K), hosted on Wednesday, the master’s defenses of the first promotion of physics students in the specialties of Energy and the Environment.

There are a total of 15 students to defend their end-of-cycle dissertations, during the first defenses, held on Wednesday July 19, 2023 in Kaya, capital of the province of Sanmatenga, in the Center-North region.

The juries were composed of eminent professors from different universities and research institutes in Burkina Faso.

The various applicants dealt with various themes, in particular energy issues related to thermal energy (solar cooking, thermal in buildings, thermal comfort) and photovoltaic energy.

They also discussed the issues of forecasting heavy rains in Burkina Faso, in particular and in West Africa in general, and work on nuclear physics.

The applicant, Pegdwendé Yves Ouédraogo, focused his research on the influence of dust on the efficiency or yields of photovoltaic solar modules.

According to Mr. Ouédraogo, every day, the dust which settles on the plates, prevents the light from entering it to produce electricity in an optimum way.

According to him, it is a question of evaluating the influence of this dust on the performance of the plate and of proposing solutions for the regular cleaning of the solar panels.

Mr. Ouédraogo intends to enroll in a thesis to continue his research.

Mr. Ouédraogo was supervised by Dr. Bernard ZOUMA, who is also Vice-President in charge of Education and Pedagogical Innovations at Joseph KI-ZERBO University.

For the president of the jury, Pr Martial Zoungrana, the work of the student will be very useful for the whole city of Kaya but also for the whole country.

Mr. Zoungrana specified that these are works which will naturally be the subject of international publication and that they will not remain only in Kaya, nor in Burkina Faso.

It should be noted that Pr Zoungrana is National Director of the National Authority for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety.

The candidate Noaga Rodrigue Sawadogo defended his work before a jury chaired by Pr Issa Zerbo, also Director of the Doctoral School of Sciences and Technologies of the University Joseph Ki-Zerbo.

Mr. Sawadogo’s research focused on the electromagnetic resistivity of a polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic cell under a mobile telephone antenna.

This work shows how to adapt a silicon photovoltaic cell to the influence of the electromagnetic fields of mobile phone antennas. He, too, aims to enroll in a thesis.

The student, Kotime Korogo, focused on the study of energy efficiency in an administrative building in Ouagadougou, in particular the case of the Burkina Post Office on Avenue Bassawarga.

It also made proposals for reducing the energy consumption of the Burkina Post.

“I offer my services to companies that will need to carry out audits (on energy consumption) of buildings. I am also available for the permanent worker position,” she said.

According to the project manager of the University Center of Kaya (CU-K), Dr. Adama Ouédraogo, the themes covered by this first vintage are in line, within the framework of subjects related to the development of the Center-North region and Burkina Faso.

According to him, these themes are in line with the challenges of the moment.

He invited the applicants to continue their research in thesis and nourishes the wish to see in 3 years, the first doctors fully trained at the University Center of Kaya.

This promotion trip saw the participation of other teacher-researchers and researchers from the universities Joseph KI-ZERBO, Thomas SANKARA, Fada N’Gourma, Norbert ZONGO, Ouahigouya, the Ecole Normale Supérieure, and the Institute for Research in Applied and Technological Sciences (IRSAT) and the WASCAL Competence Center.

Kaya University Center (CU-K), attached to Joseph KI-ZERBO University (UJKZ), started its academic and pedagogical activities during the 2017-2018 academic year.

It offers training in the following fields: Mathematics, Physics-Chemistry-Computer Science (MPCI), Civil Engineering option Mines and Quarries (GC/MC), License in Statistics and Computer Science applied to the Economy (LSIE), Accounting, Control and Audit (CCA), Quality Management in the Food Industry (MQIA), and Psychology and Psycho-sociology of Psycho-social Interventions (2PIP).

Source: Burkina Information Agency