General
iLABS@MAK organizes first National Remote Engineering Consortium Consultation seminar
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.
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.
Other 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. 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.
He 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, 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.
Associate 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.
“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.
With 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”
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.
Students 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
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
After 14 years of dedicated service, Claire Nakayiza, a familiar face and trusted custodian at the School of Public Health (SPH), has retired, leaving behind a legacy of hard work, commitment, kindness and service to the School community.
For many people at the School of Public Health, the sight of Claire arriving early in the morning, opening up the building and ensuring that everything was in order was simply part of the daily rhythm of life at the School.
For 14 years, Claire has been a constant presence at SPH. She has witnessed generations of staff, students, researchers and visitors walk through the School’s doors. She has seen colleagues join, grow and eventually move on, while she remained a dependable presence, quietly carrying out her responsibilities and ensuring that the School was ready to welcome everyone each day.
Her retirement was therefore more than a routine farewell. It was an opportunity for colleagues to celebrate a woman whose contribution, though often carried out behind the scenes, touched many lives and contributed significantly to the smooth running of the School.
At a farewell brunch organised by the Dean, School of Public Health, Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze, colleagues and friends described Claire in glowing terms. Words such as hardworking, kind, patient, resilient, dependable and caring repeatedly featured in the tributes.
For many, Claire was much more than a custodian. She was described as a mother figure, a counsellor and someone people could approach whenever they needed a listening ear, encouragement or simply a warm smile.
A commitment that went beyond the call of duty
One of the strongest themes to emerge during the farewell was Claire’s extraordinary commitment to her work.
Colleagues recalled how she would routinely open the School building as early as 6:00 a.m., ensuring that staff and students arriving for the day found the premises ready. Her working day could stretch well into the evening, with some days requiring her to remain at the School until 8:00 p.m. or even 10:00 p.m.
Despite the long hours and demanding nature of her responsibilities, colleagues said Claire rarely complained. Instead, she approached her work with patience and resilience, always focused on ensuring that the School was secure and that its operations could continue smoothly.
Her dedication was particularly evident in her contribution to improving the security of the School building. Over the years, Claire became a trusted custodian of the premises, helping to ensure that the building was opened and closed responsibly and that the environment remained secure for those who worked and studied there.
Speaking at the farewell, Prof. Wanyenze described Claire as someone who consistently worked beyond the call of duty.
The Dean acknowledged that saying goodbye to Claire was an emotional moment, given the many years she had spent serving the School and the relationships she had built along the way.
However, Prof. Wanyenze said she had spoken to Claire and was assured that she was ready to embrace the next phase of her life.
She joined colleagues in wishing Claire good health, happiness and prosperity as she begins her retirement journey.
More than a custodian
Claire’s impact at SPH was not limited to the physical responsibilities associated with her job. To those who interacted with her regularly, her greatest contribution was perhaps the warmth and humanity she brought to the workplace.
Amos Ddembe, the Internal Auditor, described Claire as a joy to watch as she went about her work.
He particularly remembered her interactions with people when she was stationed at the reception area. Claire, he noted, was almost always smiling and welcoming to staff and visitors.
Her ability to make people feel comfortable, regardless of their position or role at the School, earned her the affection and respect of many colleagues.
Claire’s colleagues also remembered her as someone who was willing to listen and offer guidance. Her patience and calm demeanour meant that people could approach her with their concerns, knowing they would receive a sympathetic ear.
Over the years, these seemingly small interactions accumulated into meaningful relationships, helping to make Claire one of the most recognisable and trusted members of the SPH community.
A legacy of service
Fourteen years is a significant period in the life of any institution. During that time, Claire witnessed changes in leadership, staff, students, programmes and the physical environment of the School.
She remained a constant through these transitions.
Her service represents the important contribution made by members of the support staff whose work often happens quietly but is essential to the functioning of an institution.
From opening the building before sunrise to securing it late in the evening, welcoming people at reception, supporting the day-to-day operations of the School and contributing to the security of the premises, Claire’s work helped create an environment in which others could perform their own responsibilities.
Her story is a reminder that the success of an institution is built not only through high-profile academic and research achievements, but also through the dedication of people who ensure that the institution functions every day.
A gesture of appreciation
As part of the farewell, the Department of Community Health and Behavioral Sciences also expressed its appreciation for Claire’s years of service.
Representing the Department, Dr. Christine Nalwadda presented Claire with a cash envelope on behalf of the staff as a token of appreciation for her commitment and contribution to the School.
A new chapter begins
As Claire leaves the School of Public Health, she takes with her the memories of 14 years of service and the goodwill of the many people she encountered along the way.
For the colleagues who gathered to celebrate her, the farewell was not simply about marking the end of employment. It was about celebrating a colleague who had become part of the fabric of the School.
As she begins this new chapter, the School of Public Health joins together in saying:
“Thank you, Claire, for 14 years of dedicated service. Thank you for the early mornings, the long evenings, the smiles, the patience and the unwavering commitment.
May retirement bring you the good health, peace, happiness and prosperity you so richly deserve.”
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