UoGM Lecturer, Prof. Celestine Iwendi, Recognized for Fifth Consecutive Year in Elsevier’s Global Top 2 Percent List of Most Influential Scientists

Oluchi Chibuzor

The University of Greater Manchester (UoMG) has announced that Professor Celestine Iwendi of the Centre of Intelligence of Things at the University of Greater Manchester has again been listed in the Elsevier and Stanford database of the world’s top two per cent scientists.

This is as the August 2025 update confirms his place for the fifth consecutive year, with recognised contributions in information and communication technologies, networking and telecommunications, and artificial intelligence and image processing.

Responding to this latest achievement, Iwendi said that it is a reliable signal that research from their University is trusted and has been used across the globe.

According to him, “It is a reliable signal that research from our university shapes thinking and practice across the world. The list is built from independent citation indicators, so inclusion shows that other scholars use and trust this work. That trust opens doors to competitive grants, strategic partnerships with industry and government, and invitations to lead international projects that turn science into solutions people can feel in daily life. For students and professionals, it means learning from someone who is actively advancing the field with real data and practical impact.

“For the University of Greater Manchester, the recognition strengthens our reputation as a place where rigorous ideas become useful tools. It helps attract outstanding students and staff, supports investment in laboratories and compute, and encourages collaboration across departments. It also boosts confidence among partners who want to trial responsible artificial intelligence in health, trade, energy, and secure digital infrastructure.

“For Nigeria and Africa, repeated inclusion challenges the old narrative of limited capacity. It shows that scholarship from our region is visible, valued, and shaping frontier conversations. It encourages brain circulation rather than brain drain, because success creates networks that move knowledge and resources in both directions.”

Answering questions on how he has been able to sustain such a record over many years, Iwendi explained that he stepped in to ensure he constantly updated his knowledge, while building international teams across the globe.

“The method is simple but demanding. Focus on important questions rather than fashionable ones. Keep a steady rhythm of reading, analysis, writing, and submission throughout the year. Build international teams that combine diverse skills and share credit fairly. Use strong methods, clean data, transparent code, and results that others can reproduce. Choose journals and conferences that your intended audience reads. Serve the community as a reviewer and editor to keep standards high. Make your work easy to find with clear profiles on ORCID and Google Scholar, and write short, plain summaries that explain why the work matters.”

However, he advised that there is a need for scholars to mentor younger people, adding that research work is all about team.

Many Nigerian and African scholars appear in the database each year, and a number have done so repeatedly, but for five years in a row remains rare and notable, especially in fast-moving fields like artificial intelligence and communications.

“Aim at big problems that matter locally and globally. Invest in sound methods and honest reporting. Publish where your audience is and align with each journal scope. Build a balanced portfolio of surveys, methods, applications, and datasets. Mentor students well, because teams sustain excellence. Above all, guard integrity. In the long run, quality and usefulness will always outlast volume,” he said.

However, in view of his academic exploits, he will deliver a lecture series on the practical adoption of digital twins and data driven methods for safer and greener infrastructure in Cairo, Giza, and Egypt’s New Administrative Capital from 25th to 27th October, 2025.

Speaking to engineers, researchers, and policy leaders, he will set out what a digital twin is, outline a simple end to end architecture from sensing and data management through models to decision support, and share lessons from bridges, buildings, and transport assets.

The talk will show how machine learning can detect early faults, reduce maintenance costs, and lower risk while keeping engineers in the loop.

Professor Iwendi will address trust, security, and ethics, including data quality, model validation, and the protection of critical systems.

He will highlight open standards and practical tools that allow organisations to start small and scale with confidence, and he will show how inclusive teams improve design and delivery and help attract diverse talent.

Attendees will leave with a short action list for their projects, a skills map for their teams, and a simple maturity checklist to guide next steps.

Recognising his competence in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has listed him to help conduct a two day executive training on AI for its staff from 28th to 29th October, 2025.

This 2-day intensive training is designed to introduce WTO staff to the fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence and provide advanced guidance on transitioning manual workflows into automated processes.

From prompt writing to document analysis, from speech summarisation to agentic Al, participants will explore the power and potential of modern Al tools in a policy, trade, and technical environment