Our Team
Meet the researchers, students, and collaborators driving innovation at SAAIL Lab, working together to create transformative AI solutions for East Africa.
Principal Investigator
Innocent Nyalala
Assistant Professor & Founding Principal Investigator
School of Engineering and Sciences
IIT Madras Zanzibar
Biography
Innocent Nyalala is an Assistant Professor at IIT Madras Zanzibar and the Founding Principal Investigator of the SAAIL Lab. He received his PhD in Agricultural Electrification & Automation from Nanjing Agricultural University in 2019. His research interests include AI for sustainable agriculture, medical imaging, responsible AI frameworks, and contextually-aware AI solutions for East Africa. Innocent has published 22+ research articles with 830+ citations and maintains active collaborations with leading universities across Australia, USA, UK, and China.
Current Team
Our dynamic research team consists of our Principal Investigator and dedicated MTech students working on cutting-edge AI research projects across agriculture, healthcare, and assistive technologies.
Principal Investigator
PhD Students
PhD Position Available
Cotutelle PhD Program with Deakin University - Agentic AI Framework for Agricultural Technologies
Apply NowMTech Students
Michael Duen
IIT Madras Chennai (Co-guided)
AI Research Project in Machine Learning Applications
PhD Students
We offer PhD opportunities through our Cotutelle program with international universities, providing students with global research exposure and collaboration opportunities.
PhD Position Available
Cotutelle PhD Program with Deakin University
Agentic AI Framework for Agricultural Technologies
MTech Students - IIT Madras Zanzibar
Our MTech students at IIT Madras Zanzibar are conducting cutting-edge research in AI for agriculture, healthcare, and assistive technologies.
MTech Students - IIT Madras Chennai
Co-guided MTech students at IIT Madras Chennai working on AI research projects in collaboration with SAAIL Lab.
Mr. Michael Duen
MTech Student (Co-guided)
Co-guided MTech Research Project in AI applications
Alumni
Our graduated students who have successfully completed their research projects and moved on to advance their careers in AI and technology.
Mr. Makame Mohammed Haji
MTech Graduate (July 2025)
Explainable Machine Learning Models for Prediction of Preterm Birth Using Metabolomics Data
Key Collaborators
Our international research collaborators from leading universities worldwide, driving innovation through global partnerships.
Dr. Kallol Krishna Karmakar
Deakin University, Australia
Co-supervisor - Agentic AI Framework for Agricultural Technologies