Dr. Celestin Nkundineza holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (2015)
and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (2010), both from the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, USA. He also earned a Bachelor of Science with Honors in
Electromechanical Engineering from the University of Rwanda-College of Science and
Technology (former Kigali Institute of Science and Technology) in 2005.
Currently, Dr. Nkundineza is a Senior Lecturer in Mechanical and Energy Engineering, as well as
Embedded Computing Systems, at UR-CST. Prior to this, he served as an Assistant Professor of
Railway Engineering at Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia, from 2017 to 2022, and as a
Senior Lecturer of Mechatronic Engineering at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology
(DeKUT), Kenya, in 2017. During his PhD studies, he also spent five years as a Graduate
Teaching Assistant at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.
At UR-CST,Dr. Nkundineza teaches courses including System-on-Chip Design, Instrumentation
and Computer Interfacing, Finite Element Methods, Non-Destructive Testing, Control Systems,
and Mechanical Vibrations. He also supervises Master’s and PhD theses in Embedded
Computing Systems (ECS) and Biomedical Engineering. He is also the Program Leader of the
proposed MSc in Industrial Automation. At AAU, he taught postgraduate courses such as Rail
Vehicle System Dynamics, Mechatronics for Railways, and Rail Motive Power Design, and
supervised several Master’s theses. At DeKUT, he taught Control Systems Engineering, Design
of Mechatronic Systems, Advanced Control Systems, Vibrations, and Machine Dynamics.
Dr. Nkundineza’s research interests span Artificial Intelligence (AI), Embedded Computing
Systems, Mechatronics, Computational Mechanics integrated with AI, Railway Systems,
Structural Health Monitoring, and Advanced Automatic Control Systems. His research
achievements include developing AI- powered finite element models and measurement systems
for railway safety condition monitoring, such as stress, and crack initiation and growth
monitoring in rails over a spatially and randomly varying track stiffness, and wheel wear
monitoring, as well as implementing stochastic optimal control strategies for road and rail
vehicles operating on rough surfaces and for earthquake-resistant structures. He is actively
driving innovations that integrate AI and Embedded Computing Systems for applications in
transportation, biomedical technology, energy, agricultural technology, and security.
Dr. Nkundineza is a member of several prestigious international professional organizations,
including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Society of
Civil Engineers (ASCE) and its Transportation and Development Institute (TDI). He is also a
member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), participating in the

Vehicular Technology Society, the Intelligent Transportation Systems Society, the Signal
Processing Society, and the Measurement and Instrumentation Society. In addition to
contributing to IEEE standards development committees, Dr. Nkundineza serves as a reviewer
for IEEE and Transportation Research Board (TRB) journals and conferences.