Board of Directors

Tsegaye Legesse serves as a Vice President of the board of directors in STEM Synergy. Tsegaye comes to STEM Synergy with extensive professional backgrounds in the public, and private sectors as well as non-profit organizations. He has developed several useful skills that translate to multiple industries.

Tsegaye currently works as a deputy CFO in MD. Prior to that, he had worked as a Finance Manager/ Controller/ Director for different companies including the American Dental Association, IFOS Managing Consultants, & the National Institute of Health at FAES. He is also one of the founding board members of the Ethio-American Chamber of Commerce. Before he won a private scholarship and left Ethiopia, he also worked for World Vision International as a Communications Officer.

Tsegaye holds two Bachelor's Degrees in Finance & Accounting and Educational Leadership. Moreover, he received his MBA degree from the University of Towson/Baltimore, USA. He earned his CPA (Certified Public Accountant) license in the US.

Yisehak Shata serves as a member of the Board of Directors.

Yisehak is a Senior Project Manager for a Branch Civil Company that is very well known in transportation and infrastructural development in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast United States. He is responsible for Project Management of heavy civil construction, design-build, and site development. He has been with the same firm for the last 14 years.

Yisehak brings over a total of 18 years of experience in project management experiences including but not limited to planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling and executing. Before he moved to the US, he worked in Ethiopia for South Roads Authority and Contractors as a civil engineer for 4 years.

Yisehak is very interested in utilizing technology to bring meaningful development in Ethiopia.

Yisehak received BS in Civil Engineering from Addis Ababa University and a Master of Engineering in Project Management from the University of Maryland.

Yisehak has earned his PE (Professional Engineer) license from the state of Maryland and Virginia.

Alebachew Yimer serves as a Board Treasurer in the STEM Synergy Board of Directors . Currently he works as a Sr. Portfolio Optimization Analyst and demand side management Planning Specialist at NV Energy.

He has produced several papers on supply chain optimization, production scheduling, hedging and mathematical modeling that appeared in peer-reviewed journals and international conference proceedings.

He has also a strong passion in robotics, and artificial intelligence and is proficient in different computer programming languages.

Before he moved to the US, he was a Lecturer at Addis Ababa University, department of Mechanical Engineering. Alebachew earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Addis Ababa University; and MIS degree from the University of Phoenix/Arizona. He received his Ph.D. from the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department of Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. He is a licensed professional engineer (P.E.), and certified measurement-and-verification professional (CMVP) registered in Nevada. He is a member of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Daniel Abebe serves as board member on STEM Synergy's Board of Directors.

Daniel works at Ethiopian Air lines as Director of Strategic Assets Planning. Daniel Abebe holds an MBA, and a BSc In Electrical Engineering

Temesgen Teklemariam serves as Board Secretary on STEM Synergy's Board of Directors.

Temesgen believes in the cause and mission of STEM education as an engine to prepare and produce tomorrow's nation builders and innovators.

Currently, he is working as a senior aerodynamics engineer in MDS Aero Support Corporation. Prior to that Temesgen worked in Bombardier Aerospace as an Engineering specialist for five years. He also worked at CENAERO (Belgium) for compressor and fan aerodynamics and aero-structure design for 5 years.

Temesgen has produced several publications, journals, and conference proceedings on compressor, turbine blade aero design, aircraft wing optimization, geometric parameterization, and optimization techniques for aircraft wing and engine design. He has a strong passion for STEM-related concepts and applications such as CFD, programming with C++/Python, optimization, response surface approximation, and DOE.
Before he left Ethiopia, he served his country as a lecturer at Addis Ababa University, Department of Chemical Engineering. Temesgen has a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Addis Ababa University and a Master's degree from India at IIT-Roorkee University in Computer-aided process design and Chemical Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. degree in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
Temesgen is a licensed professional engineer (PE), in Ontario, Canada.

Dr. Nathan Woods is the president of STEM Synergy's Board of Directors.

Dr. Nate holds a PhD from Antioch University as well as an MS in Mechanical Engineering and MBA both from Wright State University. Both universities are near Dayton, Ohio (USA).

Nate worked for the Air Force Research Laboratory, part of the US Department of Defense, studying various areas of gas turbine (aircraft) engines. His Master’s Thesis focused on applying active flow control methods to the Low-Pressure Turbine to understand efficiency improvements and to understand dynamics occurring in the airflow as a result of applying the active flow control. Nate then took a position designing aircraft engines for Rolls Royce.

Nate currently works for GE Aviation and relocated to Ethiopia in 2014 to serve as a Field Service Engineer supporting Ethiopian Airlines as well as many other airlines in Africa. In 2019 he was promoted to Senior Customer Support Manager, overseeing all aspects of customer support. He currently manages support operations for all airlines in Africa.

Selam serves as board member on STEM Synergy's Board of Directors. She currently works for Ministry of Education of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in the capacity of a Senior Expert for Science Culture Enhancement at Ministry of Science & Higher Education (MoSHE).

Selam holds an MA in Sociology from Indra Ghandi National Open University in India. and a BA degree in Business Management from Adama University, Ethiopia. Selam has accumulated 12 years of professional experience in the field of Technology, Management and Women Empowerment.

She is now a Senior Expert for Science Culture Enhancement at Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Prior to that she was a team leader for Research and Technology Transfer at Ministry of Science and Technology. Before that she had been a Coordinator for HIV Prevention and Control Coordination Office South Wollo. Selam earned various certificates on “Innovation Management” organized by state of Israel in cooperation with UNDP Rehoboth, Israel ; “Clean Technologies – Environmental technology, innovation and management systems” as organized by MASHAV state of Israel, Rehoboth, Israel as well as a Certificate on “Women Entrepreneurship and Startup” as organized by Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation/ITEC/ in India.