Network of Experts

Ing. Professor Jonas A.S. Redwood-Sawyerr is the current Chairman of the National Science Technology and Innovation Council (NSTIC), and the Chairman of the Sierra Leone Research and Education Network (SLREN). He is also a member of the Task Force for the Open Science initiative in Sierra Leone.

He is the Immediate Past President of the Sierra Leone Institution of Engineers and a member of the Professional Engineers Registration Council. He is the current President of the West African Federation of Engineering Organisations (WAFEO). He is also the immediate Past Vice President of the West Africa Federation of Engineering Organisation (WAFEO) and current Chairman of the WAFEO sub-committee on the harmonization of Engineering Education and professional training.

Prof. Redwood-Sawyerr has undertaken consultancies in some areas including energy, power sector reform, Energy policy formulation, Technical Education and Information Technology, and the Education For All (EFA) Capacity Building UNESCO project.
He obtained his schooling at the Prince of Wales School, Freetown, Sierra Leone. His academic and professional qualifications are as follows.
Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical Engineering option), University of Sierra Leone; Master of Science (Industrial Electronics), University of London; Doctor of Philosophy (Electrical Systems Engineering), University of Essex, UK.

He joined the University as a Research and Teaching Assistant in the then Department of Electrical Engineering, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone in 1975. He was appointed Lecturer in the same Department in 1978 and Senior Lecturer in 1988. He became the substantive Head of the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering from 1991 up to 2004 and served as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering from 2001 to 2003. He was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2001 and Full Professor in 2008. He served as the Acting Principal of Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, from December 2003 to July 2005, and the Dean of the Board of Postgraduate Studies from 2000 to 2003. He was the First Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone Fourah Bay College from 2005 to 2009. He served as the Acting Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Sierra Leone from August 2009 to August 2011 and as the substantive Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Sierra Leone from 1st September 2011 to 3rd September 2013.

Professor Redwood-Sawyerr was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Pure and Applied Science. He has presented papers in many conferences, workshops, and seminars and has research publications in many international Journals and Proceedings of Conferences. He has also attended several continuing professional development programs in telecommunications, information technology, energy, power sector reforms, technology management, and renewable energy with special attention to solar (photovoltaic) energy and Bio-energy, and technical and vocational education.

His specialist area is in spectral efficiency of communications systems and he has co-authored a book ‘Telecommunications in Sierra Leone; from relays to microprocessor switching’, which was published in Germany. He also has research interests in Engineering education and training, gender and energy issues, renewable energy, power sector reforms, science and technology, and information and communications technology. His most recent casual book publication ‘Aligning Quality Assurance and Graduate Employability,’ was drawn from his research on the mismatch of university training and the requirements of employers of university graduates.
He served as the Chairman of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) from 2009 to 2012.