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
During the afternoon of September 21, 2026, Makerere University played host to regional discussions as students, academics, and government officials gathered to commemorate the International Day of Peace under the theme “Investing in Regional Peace and Trade for Shared Prosperity”.
The event organised by the Makerere University 92nd Guild Security Ministry in partnership with the Global Peace Guild, served as the official launch of the East African Peace and Trade Law Moot Court Competition. The idea was conceived as an annual event where the youth across East Africa will gather to deliberate on the nexus between regional peace and trade in fostering regional integration.
Acting Vice Chancellor (VC) of Makerere University Prof. Anthony Muwagga Mugagga graced the event, welcomed the distinguished guests and set a reflective tone for the day.
Reminiscing about his old days the VC noted, “lecturers were the ones who used to come and talk about politics, economics, and law but somehow, somewhere, things never went well”. He appreciated the Students’ Guild, and all who were involved in organising the celebration and launch for a good job done.
Prof. Mugagga further encouraged students to look beyond the classroom, urging them to engage in critical debates in different sectors while emphasising that peace is a prerequisite for all development.
People anchor Trade – Keynote address
Representing the guest of honor who was the Minister of State for East African Community Affairs Hon. James Magode Ikuya, Dr. Andrew Musiime – Commissioner for Political Affairs, delivered a keynote address.
His entry was that you cannot talk about trade and not talk about people. Trade is done by people, and therefore as a Ministry, they facilitate free movement of people.
Dr. Musiime provided a comprehensive breakdown of the East African Community (EAC) as an intergovernmental organisation.
“So it is an intergovernmental organisation. Therefore, the governments remain with their constitution, the governments remain with their sovereignty, the governments remain with their national boundaries, the governments remain with their national laws, Musiime explained.”
He mentioned that the East African Community is anchored on the four pillars for integration that is the Customs Union, the Common Market, the Political Federation and Monetary Union.
Dr. Musiime equally challenged the students to move beyond theory, urging them to research the EAC treaty and actively participate in regional integration.
In a gesture of togetherness, he told the distinguished guests that the Ministry operates an open door policy for students and those interested in engaging can apply for opportunities across the Ministry’s various departments.
From UPE to the Halls of Parliament
The event also featured inspiring remarks from the National Female Youth Member of Parliament, Hon. Mercy Kanyesigye. Reflecting on her own journey from Universal Primary Education (UPE) to the halls of Parliament, she delivered a powerful message on peace and security.
In agreement with Prof. Muggaga, she linked the day’s theme to the practical realities of trade, noting that sustainable trade can not exist without peace.
“This moot competition is therefore not just academic exercise. It’s a training ground for the next generation of East African traders, lawyers, negotiators, judges, policy makers who will defend the spirit of our East African common market and our custom union”, Kanyesigye told the attendees.
92nd Guild Calls for Embracing Dialogue
Hon. Denis Mabirizi, the Minister of Security for the Makerere University 92nd Guild, underscored the event’s purpose by highlighting that peace is the foundation for justice, opportunity, and cooperation. He then called upon the student community to reject violence and intolerance, urging them to use dialogue and established leadership structures to address their concerns.
Mabirizi also emphasized that universities are not just centers of academic excellence, but places where the leaders of tomorrow are shaped.
“Universities are not only centers of academic excellence, they are also places where future leaders are shaped. The conversations we have, the values we promote, and the decisions we make today will influence the kind of society we create tomorrow. Peace begins with each one of us, Mabirizi noted.”
The Global Peace Guild Initiative
Mr. Joseph Micheal Tenywa, the founder and President of the Global Peace Guild, shared the vision behind the organization. He explained that the Global Peace Guild was born out of a desire to involve young people in the promotion of peace, trade, and regional integration.
“Global Peace Guild is an initiative born out of a desire to have young people get involved into the promotion of peace, trade, and regional integration.”
He reminded the audience that regional integration would only become a reality when young people actively participate in the market and hold policy makers accountable.
“As we commemorate the International Day of Peace, it’s an invitation for young people to get involved, not only in ensuring that there is no violence, but that we also put in place the conditions that take our strength, and these are our economic provisions, we call it trade.”
The launch of the East African Peace and Trade Law Moot Court Competition marks a significant milestone for the student community as it brings together academic rigor with a focus on regional policy.
International Day of Peace is observed globally on September 21, 2026, under the unified United Nations theme: “Invest in Peace – For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day”. The day emphasizes that achieving lasting peace requires continuous local action, shared civic responsibility, and strategic conflict mitigation to ensure long-term regional development.
Makerere University has urged female students admitted under the Makerere University Council Tuition and Functional Fees Waiver Scholarship for the 2026/27 academic year to take the opportunity seriously, focus on their academic performance, and stay alert about their personal safety.
The message was delivered during an orientation for the scholarship beneficiaries at the Senate Conference Hall, where officials from the Gender Mainstreaming Directorate welcomed the students and shared guidance on academic success, security, mentorship, and responsible social conduct.
The Chief Gender Mainstreaming Officer cautions students on safety and self-reliance
Dr. Euzobia Mugisha Baine, Chief Gender Mainstreaming Officer, congratulated the students on receiving the scholarship and urged them not to take it for granted.
She advised them to seek information from the relevant university offices instead of relying on assumptions or what fellow students tell them, and to keep records of official communication whenever they raise concerns or follow up on university matters.
Dr. Baine said students should take responsibility for their own security, warning them not to trust strangers easily and urging them to be careful about where they go and who they interact with.
She also reminded them that strong academic performance is required to keep the scholarship, and encouraged them to ask for help early whenever they face academic, social, or other challenges instead of waiting until the situation becomes harder to manage.
Students urged to aim for first-class results
The officers welcomed the students and encouraged them to put their studies first, urging them to aim for first-class academic results during their time at Makerere.
They advised them to use the academic support available to them, including help from course mates and any tutorials or mentoring offered within their colleges, and not to hesitate to seek assistance when they have concerns about their results or coursework.
The GMD team also spoke to scholars about personal safety, cautioning students against accepting help from strangers, including with luggage or transport, and referred to a recent incident in which a student’s belongings were stolen. She urged them to stay alert as they settled into university life.
Focus on academic foundations and safe social conduct
Other speakers, including Ms. Susan Mbabazi, who is the Principal Gender Officer, Ms. Abilat Lozirah, and Cynthia Ayaa Kamaketch emphasised the need to build a strong academic foundation from the start of the semester. They encouraged students to attend lectures regularly, read beyond classroom notes, use university resources such as internet access and the library, and develop steady study habits instead of waiting until exams are near.
They also warned students to be careful when meeting people they do not know well, advising them to hold academic discussions and social meetings in open, public spaces such as Freedom Square rather than in private rooms.
The students were also encouraged to seek mentorship from university staff and others who could guide them in their academic and career development, and to identify a mentor before leaving the orientation.
The orientation also pointed students to key university services and locations they should know, including the university health facilities, the Makerere Police Post, the Counselling and Guidance Centre, and places of worship on campus.
Speakers reminded the students that the scholarship gives them a chance to pursue their education at Makerere University, and that keeping it depends on their discipline, academic performance, and willingness to seek support when needed.
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