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iLABS@MAK organizes first National Remote Engineering Consortium Consultation seminar

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The iLABS@MAK Project, Faculty of Technology, Makerere University organized the first Consultation seminar on the formation of “The National Remote Engineering Consortium” held at the Imperial Royale Hotel on Friday 27th November 2009.

The iLABS@MAK Project, Faculty of Technology, Makerere University organized the first Consultation seminar on the formation of “The National Remote Engineering Consortium” held at the Imperial Royale Hotel on Friday 27th November 2009.

L-R Paul Musasizi and Proscovia Nakazinga co-hosts

 

The co-hosts of the day Paul Isaac Musasizi, Project Administrator, iLABS@MAK project and Proscovia Nakazinga, Developer iLABS@MAK project thanked guests for making time despite the public holiday and announced the theme of the day “Enriching Science Education through Remote Engineering”.

The Principal Investigator iLABS@MAK Project Prof. Sandy S. Tickodri-Togboa in his keynote address outlined the relevance of Remote Engineering in Science Education citing some applications already implemented at Makerere University such as The iLABS project at the Faculty of Technology executed in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) , Obafemi Awolowo University(OAU) Nigeria and the University of Dar-es-Salaam (UDSM) Tanzania with support from National Instruments and The MIT Open Course Ware project, aimed at freely sharing course material and references from MIT with the rest of the world.

Prof. Sandy S. Tickodri-Togboa Principal Investigator iLABS@MAKOther Remote Engineering applications identified include Video Conferencing, High-Tech digital libraries and collaborative development of software solutions, which with the advancement in Technology and infrastructural support such as the establishment of faster internet connections through the submarine fiber connections are the way to go.

He then cited a case study of The Internet2 , a non-profit consortium project conceived as an application-driven project, designed to be a complimentary network to support advanced scientific applications. This project, founded when representatives from 34 American Universities met in 1996 currently receives financial support from more than 180 Universities, over 80 companies and the US government.

In concluding his address, Prof. Togboa observed that we have to work together, like never before to make Education address the diversity of needs, expectations and interests in their cultural contexts noting that Remote Engineering can improve the quality of teaching, learning and sharing knowledge and information.

Prof. BaryamureebaProf. Nawangwe , Dean, Faculty of Technology, thanked Prof. Togboa for his address and invited Prof. Venansius Barymureeba, Acting Vice Chancellor, Makerere University to make his remarks. Prof. Baryamureeba thanked the Minister of Higher Education, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of ICT, representatives from the private sector, Heads of Secondary Schools and various stakeholders for sparing time to attend this first consultation meeting. Voicing his support for the formation of a National Remote Engineering Consortium, he congratulated the Faculty of Technology for astutely being a model as far as furthering research critical to improving the teaching and learning methods in Makerere University is concerned, thanking Prof. Togboa’s for his valuable contribution in this regard. He then invited the Minister of Higher Education to officially open the seminar.

Hon. Mwesigwa Rukutana the Minister of State for Higher Education extended a warm welcome to his fellow members of the cabinet, representatives Educational Institutions and all delegates present including Andrew Watchorn and Lesley Yu from National Instruments, noting that their presence reiterated their commitment to improving the teaching and learning experience in Uganda.

Hon. Mwesigwa Rukutana Min. of State for Higher EducationHe re-affirmed The Government of Uganda’s commitment to making education for all a reality and preparing all citizens to meet the challenges of the 21st century. “This is why deliberate macro development policies and reforms like Universal Primary Education (1997) and Universal free Secondary Education (2007) were introduced as a key ingredient of the Educational Strategic Plan.”

He then challenged all stakeholders to utilize Remote Engineering in combating other social problems like the burden of poverty and HIV/AIDS “These are challenges we are facing across the nation, whose prevalence would be less with improved information dissemination.”

The Minister then noted that despite the Nation’s comparable or even better commitment to education, research and innovation in the region, we were not generating as many innovations, new business ideas and new jobs as some other African countries. He however hoped that the seminar would offer an opportunity to take a huge stride in the positive direction and declared the seminar open.

Andrew Watchorn, NIAndrew Watchorn, Senior Academic Field Engineer National Instruments who had prior to the seminar spent four days in the Faculty of Technology training students from several Universties noted that Uganda had some of the most intelligent young minds in the world. Andrew noted that applications such as those used during his four-day training were being utilized as components in world ground-breaking innovations such as the LEGO MINDSTORM NXT software and the CERN Large Hadron collider .

“The Education of Engineers cannot stop at what they learn in class or theory”. Andrew noted that instructors must go ahead and train engineers to apply their theory and continuously innovate.

Prof. Lugujo Head, Department of Elec. EngineeringAssociate Prof. Lugojjo, Head, Department of Electrical Engineering at the Faculty of Technology in his address called upon the Government, Private and Public sectors to come on board so as to leverage, implement and sustain innovations in our Institutions of Higher Learning. He encouraged all stakeholders to facilitate and demystify the teaching of Science and Technology in schools “We should democratize Science and Technology so as to encourage more students to take on science subjects and engineering”. He observed that he had so many brilliant project write-ups and theses written by his former students that were unfortunately gathering dust on shelves, hence reiterating the need to translate these materials to practical innovations.

In his remarks, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe , Dean, Faculty of Technology appreciated the timeliness of the consultation meeting, considering that the submarine cable was now operational and Makerere’s own brilliant students were rubbing shoulders and collaborating with their peers from MIT to come up with innovations like the vision200 car.

Prof. B. Nawangwe, Dean Faculty of Technology“Sharing resources is a commendable thing” said Prof. Nawangwe as he noted that with the use of projects like iLABS@MAK, students were able to share engineering applications with peers in the faculty and other universities using the LabVIEW software. He however noted that the missing link was the lack of close cooperation between several stakeholders i.e. the Ministries, Universities, public and private sectors. He then requested the National Instruments representative to publish innovations from Makerere University on their company website.

Prof. Michael Lejeune Deputy Executive Director, Uganda National Council for Higher Education kicked off his address with noting that the job of the Council was to ensure that the quality of education in Uganda is held high. The council had also observed a growing trend in the number of e-degrees and has had to put into place measures to evaluate their validity and merit.

Prof. LejeuneWith regard to Remote Engineering, Prof. Lejeune commended Makerere University for embracing innovation and keeping up with the technological trends in the industry. Considering that the East African Community integration process was becoming more of a reality daily, the future might see the formation of policies stating minimum requirements for graduation that will be effected across the region. In concluding his remarks, Prof. Lejuene noted that “Uganda needs us all to develop this country. Lets all do it with enthusiasm”

Dr. Saamanya P.S Min. of ICT The Guest of Honor and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of ICT, Dr. Jimmy Saamanya thanked Makerere for organizing the consultative seminar aimed at forming a National Remote Engineering Consortium. As a background to his address he noted that previously as a result of higher bandwidth costs via satellite, the region may have lagged behind and missed out on advancements that have been made by other countries like India and the United States. However, with the advent of faster and higher capacity internet connections through the submarine cables, the Minister reckoned that we should be in a better position to compete favorably and produce more innovations.

With regard to legislation, the Ministry has pushed for the passing of three bills namely The Electronic Signature bill, The Electronic Transactions bill and the Computer Misuse Bill , all designed to regulate online activity in Uganda. With regard to partnering with Institutions of Higher Learning, he noted that that the Ministry of ICT was working with the College of Health Sciences on e-medicine collaborations linking Makerere to American Universities.

Presentations of the day saw Andrew Watchorn exhibit how National Instruments partnered with American Universities to produce spin-off companies like TORC (Virginia Tech) and EVIROFIT(Colorado State University) . In a practical demonstration of the power and ease of use of National Instruments products, Andrew built an “Illustration on Vibration Systems” using the LabVIEW software, a laptop and the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (NI ELVIS) module in under eight minutes.

Andrew then cited an example of how students, with the aid of their Professor led to the formation of Mashavu (Swahili for “Chubby cheeked”) . The project enables medical professionals around the world to connect with patients in the developing world using modern technology and communications infrastructure. Prof. Khanjan Mehta , Senior Research Associate, Electronic and Computer services, Penn State University and one of the students’ team faculty advisors noted that the project is a laptop-based system designed to use the existing mobile phone infrastructure.

iLABS team LeaderStudents on the iLABS@MAK project team led by Orishaba Doreen a Fourth year Electrical Engineering student went ahead to demonstrate the merits of the LabVIEW software. Tom Kigezi, Developer and Second year Electrical Engineering student then walked delegates through the structures and activities of the iLABS team before Nicholas Mpanga, Developer and Third year Telecommunications Engineering student made an online demonstration of how an iLAB is conducted.

In his closing remarks Prof. Lugujo expressed his disappointment as some of his brilliant students after graduation go on to seek better paying jobs at the expense of turning their project ideas into cutting-edge innovations. He however had hope that this would all change as “LabVIEW will provide a confluence of aspirations to bridge generations” and foster innovation. He urged all stakeholders present to continue collaborating so as to make the National Remote Engineering Consortium a reality. On behalf of the Acting Vice Chancellor and his Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance & Administration and the Dean, Faculty of Technology, he thanked everyone present for coming and encouraged them to continue with the good work, urging all students to keep up with the enthusiasm as they were the heirs of Science and Technology.

Click on links below to view respective powerpoint presentation

Minister of State for Higher Education's Full Speech  

Vice Chancellor's Full Speech  

Dean, Faculty of Technology's Full Speech  

Principal Investigator iLABS@MAK-presentation of the Position Paper

Presentation by Andrew Watchorn-National Instruments Senior Academic Field Engineer

Presentation by students on their ILABS experience  

 

Denis Wamala

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Call for Applications: Government Sponsorship 2026/27

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Makerere University -Main Building

The Academic Registrar, Makerere University informs all Head Teachers of Advanced Level (UACE) Schools with UNEB Centre Numbers that applications for admission to Public Universities and other Tertiary Institutions for 2026/2027 Academic Year for government sponsorship will be done electronically/online using the Academic Management Information
System (ACMIS) from 15th October, 2025 to 31st December, 2025. The Public Universities include:
(a) Makerere University
(b) Makerere University Business School
(c) Mbarara University of Science and Technology
(d)Kyambogo University
(e) Gulu University
(f) Busitema University
(g) Muni University
(h) Kabale University
(i) Lira University
(j) Soroti University
(k) Mountains ofthe Moon University

NB: The list of Other Tertiary Institutions is provided on the online application portal.

Other Important documents:

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PIM Centre Holds 9th Steering Committee Meeting, Set to Benefit from World Bank Support

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Mak PIM COE Steering Committee

The Public Investment Management (PIM) Centre of Excellence at Makerere University today, October 10th, 2025, held its 9th Steering Committee Meeting to review progress made in the first quarter of the financial year and plan for the months ahead.

The meeting was chaired by Ms. Getrude Basiima, who represented Mr. Hannington Ashaba, Director Budget at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED). Ms. Basiima commended the Centre for its continued commitment to strengthening public investment management capacity across government institutions.

In her remarks, Ms. Basiima applauded the Centre for successfully hosting the Public Investment Management Conference held in August at Makerere University. The conference attracted key policymakers, development partners, and academics who deliberated on how to enhance the efficiency, sustainability, and impact of public investments in Uganda.

She further shared exciting news that the Government of Uganda has secured funding from the World Bank to support the public investment management function. The PIM Centre, she announced, will be among the key beneficiaries of these funds — receiving support for the construction and acquisition of a permanent home to enhance its institutional sustainability and training capacity.

Reviewing the Centre’s quarterly performance, Ms. Basiima congratulated the team for successfully conducting three specialized trainings in the first quarter, reaching officials from various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies. These trainings continue to strengthen the technical competencies required for effective project preparation, appraisal, and implementation in line with Uganda’s National Development Plan.

The PIM Steering Committee in a meeting held at Emin Pasha Hotel

She encouraged the Centre to integrate climate change considerations into its future training programmes, noting that sustainable public investment must now account for environmental resilience and climate adaptation.

The centre team presented the proposed  structure/ organogram, the financial performance of 2024/2025, research areas for 2025/2026 and the strategic plan for 2025 – 2030.

The Steering Committee reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the PIM Centre’s vision of becoming a regional leader in building capacity for efficient, transparent, and sustainable public investment management.

Betty Kyakuwa
Betty Kyakuwa

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Strengthening Collaboration between Makerere University and the University of Groningen

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Seated: Prof. Sarah Ssali (C), Dr. Dinie Bouwman (L) and Dr. Anita Veltmaat (R) with teams from Makerere University and the University of Groningen during the meeting on 7th October 2025. Strategic meeting between Makerere University and the University of Groningen, Netherlands to move beyond existing collaborations and formalize a new Double Doctorate (PhD) program, 7th October 2025, Main Building, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.

A significant development unfolded at Makerere University during a strategic, hour-long meeting in the vice chancellor’s boardroom on 7th October 2025, marking a deepening bond with the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. The primary goal was to move beyond existing collaborations and formalize a new Double Doctorate (PhD) program. Prof. Sarah Saali, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, set the tone by emphasizing that institutional partnerships are crucial to Makerere University, which she proudly called the leading research and most collaborative university in the world.

The parties from Makerere University and the University of Groningen meeting in the Vice Chancellor's Boardroom. Strategic meeting between Makerere University and the University of Groningen, Netherlands to move beyond existing collaborations and formalize a new Double Doctorate (PhD) program, 7th October 2025, Main Building, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.
The parties from Makerere University and the University of Groningen meeting in the Vice Chancellor’s Boardroom.

The discussion promptly formed the core structure of the program: a four-year PhD (or three if the master’s was research-based), with supervision duties split 50-50% between the two institutions. A key feature is the mobility requirement, stipulating that PhD candidates would spend a total of six months in the Netherlands, potentially divided into two three-month periods. Crucially, the University of Groningen confirmed there would be no teaching requirement during this stay, allowing students full access to focus on their research. A major financial hurdle was overcome with the adoption of a fee-waiver policy; Makerere would waive tuition for incoming Groningen candidates, and Groningen would reciprocate for Makerere‘s students, significantly boosting the program’s financial viability.

Prof. Sarah Ssali (R) presents a Mak Souvenir to Dr. Anita Veltmaat. Strategic meeting between Makerere University and the University of Groningen, Netherlands to move beyond existing collaborations and formalize a new Double Doctorate (PhD) program, 7th October 2025, Main Building, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.
Prof. Sarah Ssali (R) presents a Mak Souvenir to Dr. Anita Veltmaat.

However, the critical issue of the stipend remained. Dr. Anita Veltmaat explained that to meet the required living standard of approximately €1,875 per month in Groningen, the incoming candidate must secure a partial external scholarship of around €250 per month. The positive news is that if the candidate secures this minimum scholarship, the University of Groningen is prepared to top up the amount to the full living standard for the six months the student spends in the Netherlands. It was noted that this initial financial hurdle might be simplified for Makerere students, as many are already staff members receiving a salary, which could help cover the required €250.

The meeting in session. Strategic meeting between Makerere University and the University of Groningen, Netherlands to move beyond existing collaborations and formalize a new Double Doctorate (PhD) program, 7th October 2025, Main Building, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.
The meeting in session.

The path forward was clear: it was to complete the agreement template guided by the setup committee from both institutions. The plan culminated in scheduling an online follow-up meeting for Tuesday, November 11th, to review the first revision of the agreement, capping a highly constructive discussion that solidified the two universities’ shared future in graduate education.

The Team from Makerere University from Left to Right: Dr. Ruth Nsibirano, Dr. Racheal Nuwagaba, Dr. Patricia Ndugga, Dr. Stella Achen, Dr. Joseph Watuleke, and Ms. Agatha Ainemukama. Strategic meeting between Makerere University and the University of Groningen, Netherlands to move beyond existing collaborations and formalize a new Double Doctorate (PhD) program, 7th October 2025, Main Building, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.
The Team from Makerere University from Left to Right: Dr. Ruth Nsibirano, Dr. Racheal Nuwagaba, Dr. Patricia Ndugga, Dr. Stella Achen, Dr. Joseph Watuleke, and Ms. Agatha Ainemukama.

Makerere University was represented by Prof. Sarah Ssali, the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academics Affairs; Dr. Ruth Nsibirano, Head of the Department of Gender Studies; Dr. Patricia Ndugga, School of Statistics; Dr. Stella Achen and Dr. Joseph Watuleke, School of Distance and Lifelong Learning; Agatha Ainemukama, School of Engineering; Racheal Nuwagaba, School of Psychology; Awel Uwihanganye, Martine Rugamba, and Hawa Ndagire from the Advancement Office; and Muhammad Kiggundu from the Institute of Gender and Development Studies.

Prof. Sarah Ssali (R) presents a Mak Souvenir to Mrs. Alette Arendshorst. Strategic meeting between Makerere University and the University of Groningen, Netherlands to move beyond existing collaborations and formalize a new Double Doctorate (PhD) program, 7th October 2025, Main Building, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.
Prof. Sarah Ssali (R) presents a Makerere Souvenir to Mrs. Alette Arendshorst.

The University of Groningen was represented by Dr. Dinie Bouwman, Senior Policy Advisor, Internationalization and Quality Assurance; Dr. Anita Veltmaat, Faculty of Social Behavior and Social Sciences, Department of International Studies, involved in mentorship programs for women; and Dr. Alette Arendshorst, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, working on graduation/collaboration for students/staff.

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