"This is just the beginning of RESCIF's success"

The Network of Excellence in Engineering Sciences of the French-speaking Community (RESCIF), which was created at EPFL in 2011, will now be chaired by the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire. The handover took place yesterday in Lausanne. Just seven years ago, the presidents of 14 technological universities in both the northern and southern hemispheres gathered at EPFL to launch the Network of Excellence in Engineering Sciences of the French-speaking Community (RESCIF). As EPFL had been behind the initiative and would serve as host, it made sense for it to initially take the chair and fulfill the Network's administrative functions. A new chapter in the Network's history began today. Back on EPFL's Lausanne campus yesterday evening, the current presidents of the original group of universities, as well as representatives of two schools that have since joined the Network, handed the RESCIF chairmanship over to Koffi N'Guessan, Director General of the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB) in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire. "It was great to be involved in setting up so many RESCIF projects, especially the various joint labs that we've created and the MOOCs program for Africa," says EPFL President Martin Vetterli. "I'm delighted to see that such a prestigious institution from the southern hemisphere will be at the helm, and I wish the Network every success. It will of course continue to have our unfailing support." Let's take a look back at RESCIF's early years with Yuri Changkakoti , the Network's Secretary General until today.  How did RESCIF manage to go from a mere statement of intent to an effective network with so many successes under its belt in just a few years?