David Moinina Sengeh (born February 25, 1986) is a Sierra Leonean politician who has served as thechief minister of Sierra Leone after being appointed by PresidentJulius Maada Bio in 2023. He previously served as the minister of basic and senior secondary education and chief innovation officer for the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation.[1][2] He is aTED Senior Fellow.
Sengeh was offered a scholarship to study in Norway, and joined theUWC Red Cross Nordic College in 2004.[3][4] His uncle was a surgeon.[5] He studied biomedical engineering atHarvard University. He researched aerosolised vaccines for tuberculosis and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2010.[6][7] During his time atHarvard University, he was cofounder ofLebone Solutions, a start-up that developed inexpensive batteries from microbial fuel cells.[8] He was listed in the 2013Wired magazine Smart List. Sengeh joinedMassachusetts Institute of Technology for his postgraduate studies, working under the supervision ofHugh Herr.[9][10][11] He was inspired to work on prosthetics because he grew up surrounded by victims of civil war.[12][13] He usedMRI to map amputee's limbs, then assessed where artificial materials could create pressure points, and used3D printing to generate new sockets.[4][9] His prototypes were tested by veterans and amputees from theBoston Marathon bombing.[14] He was named as aTED fellow in 2014, delivering a talk entitledThe sore problem of prosthetic limbs.[15][16] He was selected as one ofForbes 30 Under 30 in 2014.[17] He won the 2014Lemelson–MIT Prize for his innovations in healthcare.[14] He was selected as one ofFace2Face Africa'sYoung Africans Committed to Excellence.[18] He completed his PhD atMassachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016.[5] After completing his PhD, Sengeh toured makerspaces in America talking about his work on prosthetics.[19]
During his PhD research, Sengeh founded theNGO Global Minimum Inc, a program that supports theInnovate Salone entrepreneurship program in Sierra Leone, Kenya and Cape Town.[20][21][22] He wanted to change 'aid to Africa' to 'Made in Africa'.[23] The "A De Mek Am" Innovate Salone program supports teams from secondary schools to develop solutions to local problems.[24] It was created in collaboration with theMIT Media Lab andMIT Public Service Center and modelled on theMIT innovation competitions.[25][24] Sengeh supported the winning student projects to travel to theUnited States, where they spoke atMaker Faire.[5] He supportedKelvin Doe, a thirteen year old inventor who had never left a ten-mile radius of his house inSierra Leone, to join theMIT Visiting Practitioner's Program.[26][27] Sengeh becameKelvin Doe's mentor.[28] He returned to theTED stage in 2015, speaking to Kate Krontiris about innovation and inspiration.[29] He has spoken at theNextEinstein Forum.[30]
Sengeh was offered a position atIBM in Africa, working on data-driven healthcare.[31] He worked withIBM Research in Nairobi, as well as in their newest lab inJohannesburg, designing and developing healthcare technologies in Africa.[32] There are fewer than 50 doctors for every hundred thousand citizens in Africa, so Sengeh is exploring the use of artificial intelligence.[32] He worked withWaheeda Banu Saib from theUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal.[33] He partnered withPort Loko Health Management Team to design a web-based tool that allows districts to monitor Ebola.[34] He writes forHuffPost.[35]
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