The International Engineering Students Conference started today at the Manu Chandaria hall. The event is the fourth installation from its inception in 2018.
The event is themed “Engineering in the new norm” is different from other years owing to COVID 19 restrictions. While we have always had students from other universities especially Kyambogo from Uganda, this year only local universities were invited and only a limited number could attend physically. Those who could not attend however were still able to follow the livestream via YouTube so they were still present, albeit virtually.
While welcoming guests, the event chairperson Quincy Wamono observed that Africans continue to lag behind both economically and in terms of development despite being richly endowed with natural resources. He challenged Engineers to come up with solutions being faced by Africa and by extension the rest of the world. He challenged engineers to be innovative, have audacity and bear the torch.
On her part, Engineering Students Association (ESA) Chairperson Isabella Oyoo urged fellow students and engineers to embrace technology to come up with innovative solutions in the society. She identified the activities being carried out by ESA such as the annual ESA dinner, ESA health week, academic trips and community outreach. Recently they have started a program called engineers without borders where students identify problems in the society and look for innovative ways to solve them through home based solutions, collaborations and partnerships. She also thanked the school and sponsors for making this year’s event happen.
The dean school of engineering prof. Ayub Gitau began by thanking the students for organising the conference and promised continued support of the event by the school. He noted that the conference is always themed around fulfilment of the governments’ 2030 vision. He also said the school was planning to increase support to student innovativeness through a change in curriculum to include current trends across all departments. The school sent a team to Europe to bench mark with the trend there and the planned curriculum change plans are well underway. Prof. Ayub also stressed the importance of soft skill acquisition by engineers in order to interact better with others and also to help them sell their innovations and ides better. He also said plans are under way to restructure internships and strengthen the link with industry.
The principal of the college Prof. Robert Rukwaro was in attendance. He commended the students for organising the event and pledged support by the college to such future endeavors. Prof. Rukwaro stressed the importance of such events especially in enhancing the image of the university. He raised questions to the future engineers to come up with local solutions to current problems being faced in Kenya and Africa in general. He cited COVID 19 as one of the areas that requires engineers to step up and come up with solutions in order to help bring down the numbers. He said the university offers a good environment for students to be creative and innovative.
The DVC AA prof. Julius Ogeng’o who welcomed the guest of honour expressed his excitement at the thought of students taking charge of such events. He said concentration of talent is one of the attributes of a world class university and encouraged students to take up the opportunities that are availed to them. He also mentioned various areas that need engineers to come up with innovative solutions especially the control and prevention of COVID 19 pandemic. He welcomed the guest of honor, Mentor Ida Ng’ang’a who is the regional head of UNESCO emerging technologies and development.
Ida encouraged students not to give up on their dreams. She said that the journey towards making a leader is long but is achievable as long as you don’t give up. She told the students to come up with unique ideas and believe in them. She also scored the need to team up with like minded people in order to achieve their goals.
Eng. Erastus Mwongera joined the meeting via zoom. He scored the need for engineers to be innovative in the quest for achieving vision 2030. He also said that Africa is positioning herself to increase her contribution in science and technology. He also spoke on the nobility of engineering mentioning that God by virtue of being a creator is an engineer. He told the students that their contribution will take Africa to the next level in terms of growth and innovations.
The rest of the day was spent in panel discussions and workshops where students got to interact with engineers in various professions. The conference continues tomorrow.
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