Dr. Hellen Maziku received her PhD. (2016) and M.Sc. (2012) in Computer and Information Systems Engineering from Tennessee State University (TSU). She is a Senior lecturer at the College of Information and Communication Technologies at University of Dar es Salaam. Dr. Maziku is actively doing research, teaching and supervision in the areas of Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human Centered Design (HCD). She has worked on research, innovation or consultancy projects funded by several agencies such as SIDA, IDRC, UNICEF, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Airforce Research Lab, Department of Energy (DoE), COSTECH, and several agencies in the Government of Tanzania. She has over 40 publications and 622 citations in reputable journals such as IEEE and Elsevier. She is a recipient of early career research grants and fellowships that have supported her to present the research work across the world; such as Juniper Networks, NYU Poly, UCLA, KTH, Ghent University, UCT and DeKUT. She has received over 10 awards through participation in research and innovation symposiums. 

Dr. Maziku is a recipient of the 2023 Early Career research grant from International Development and Research Centre (IDRC) administered through AI for Development in Africa (AI4D). She was also recently awarded the 2024 early career fellowship from Organization for Women in Science in Developing Countries (OWSD), a UNESCO programme where she is exploring how AI can be leveraged to protect critical infrastructures in developing countries. In 2012, Hellen’s research work was awarded first place at the National Science Foundation (NSF) Emerging Researchers Network Conference in Atlanta after presenting a machine learning geolocation algorithm to predict true location of users on the internet. She is a recipient of the 2014 Helen Barrett Award for Excellence in Research from university of Memphis.

For 8 years, Hellen served as the hub manager for Youth for Children (Y4C) innovation hub, leading an innovation ecosystem of youth innovators, mentors, and stakeholders such as government entities, development partners and the private sector. She is a certified Design Thinking coach from Hasso Plattner Design Thinking School, University of Cape Town. Hellen currently serves as a Gender Focal Point at UDSM. She is married and a mother to four children.