Engineering, Art & Tech
CEDAT Awards Best Preforming Students during 72nd Graduation Ceremony
On Friday 27th May 2022, The College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT) presented students to the Chancellor Makerere University Prof. Ezra Suruma for graduation. The event which was the 5th and last session of the 72nd Graduation ceremony saw the award of outstanding students who graduated with First Class Honors degrees.
The Plagues were handed over by the Chancellor of Makerere University Professor Ezra Suruma in line with the culture of the college that recognizes the academically outstanding students.
The awardees included Mr. Musinguzi Denis, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, who got a First Class Honors degree with a CGPA of 4.74. In second position was Ms. Asiimwe Vanessa Elina, Bachelor of Science in Quantity Surveying offered in the School of Built Environment who got a First Class Honors Degree with a CGPA of 4.69. Mr. Ssempala Joseph as the best student from Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art, First Class Honors Degree with a CGPA of 4.67
The Principal of the College Prof. Henry Alinaitwe presented graduands who graduated with PhDs and thanked God for serving Makerere University in two capacities as the Principal College Engineering, Design, Art and Technology and Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Finance and Administration. He congratulated CEDAT staff that graduated with PhDs namely Dr. Brian Makabayi, Dr. Sarah Nakisanze and Dr. Allan Mazimwe.
The Chancellor Makerere University Prof. Ezra Suruma while addressing the congregation comprised of graduands and their parents and guardians, the members of the University council and invited guests extended his appreciation to the administration and academic staff for their input into the processes that led to the graduation. To Government, development partners and other stakeholders he applauded their tremendous contribution to the growth of the University more so at the time of celebrating 100 years.
While addressing the graduands, Prof. Suruma said the word out there was filled with a number of challenges citing the war between Russia and Ukraine that has affected the economic stand of the country which calls for new solutions for survival by being more aggressive and creative.
While citing the example of the Uganda Martyrs, the Chancellor said these made a stand for what they believed and paid with their lives. ‘As long as the challenges of poverty and injustice remain, we have no choice but to struggle for solutions for survival in our world’, he counseled the graduands.
The Vice Chancellor Makerere University, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe noted that the University was able to said through and graduate her students despite the challenges that arose in the onset of Covid- 19 and the subsequent closures. He commended the University Council for the support and guidance that enabled the university to push through and minimize the time lost.
Prof. Nawangwe said Makerere University has continued to grow her research capacity in line with the strategic plan (2020-2030) which seeks Makerere to be a fully research led university, and boasted of the increased number of academic staff holding Ph.Ds. making Makerere 2nd best in Africa in research.
While addressing himself about the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology, Prof Nawangwe informed that gathering of some of the developments that made the University proud. He said that on July 21st, 2021 The University commissioned a state-of-the-art Scanning Electronic Microscope that was installed at the College of Engineering, Design, Art, and Technology. The equipment, procured by the government at Shs 2.6 billion will help researchers undertake studies and investigations in Materials, Nanotechnology, drug analysis, forensics, and biomedical engineering, among other things. The Equipment was procured under the Presidential Initiative on Epidemics (PRESIDE) and was received under the Africa Center of Excellence in Materials Product Development and Nanotechnology (MAPRONANO ACE). The Microscope is used in the analysis of materials for the production of medicine, vaccines, forensic examinations from crime and accident scenes, and gene analysis among many others.
Further, he said, the College of Engineering, Design Art, and Technology continues to offer professional guidance and support to the University. Led by Prof. Henry Alinaitwe, the Principal, the College helped in redesigning the Main Administration Building of the University whose construction has started. He said some Architecture 4th-year students came up with structural designs for the expansion and improvement of Makerere University Hospital and that although this was part of their study, the designs were very much appreciated.
Makerere University will demonstrate its interest in the preservation and promotion of Uganda’s cultural, social, and political heritage with the opening of the Muteesa II Memorial Museum at the end of June 2022. The Museum will not only contribute to the growth of the tourism industry in Uganda but will also help celebrate the life and time of Ssekabaka Muteesa II as an alumnus of Makerere University, Kabaka, and President of the Republic of Uganda.
Prof. Nawangwe urged the graduands to put to good use the knowledge received to change communities, the country and humanity. He informed graduands that the transcripts for graduands on 4 and 5-year programmers were ready for picking the following week and for those on 3-year programmers, would be ready for picking beginning the second week of June 2022.
Engineering, Art & Tech
Makerere & Partners Kick Off FLOWERS Project to Turn Restaurant Waste into a Regenerative Resource
Makerere University on 10th September 2026 hosted partners and government stakeholders at Kampala Fairway Hotel for the official high-level kick-off meeting of the Facilitating Local Organic Waste Exchange for Regenerative Systems (FLOWERS) Project. The two-year research initiative (2026–2028) is funded by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and implemented by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich), the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Makerere University, End Plastic Pollution and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
The morning opening ceremony was presided over by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Prof. Sarah N. Ssali, who was represented by the Director of Research, Innovations and Partnerships (DRIP), Prof. Robert Wamala. Prof. Ssali later attended the afternoon proceedings and officially closed the kick-off meeting.
Research That Treats Waste as a Resource
In the opening remarks delivered on her behalf by Prof. Wamala, Prof. Ssali noted that the rapid growth of the food-service sector in many sub-Saharan African cities has concentrated large volumes of food waste in urban areas. When this waste is poorly managed, she said, it drives pollution and nutrient loss while leaving unused an opportunity to rebuild soil fertility and support more circular food systems.
“Rather than viewing restaurant organic waste simply as a disposal problem, the project seeks to examine how it can become a resource within a regenerative system, returning nutrients to agricultural production through appropriate mechanisms for recycling and reuse,” the Deputy Vice Chancellor stated.
She described FLOWERS as timely for Kampala, where population growth, changing consumption and expansion of restaurants and food vendors are placing new pressure on municipal waste systems. She urged the team to produce evidence that can inform policy, practice and investment, and to keep a clear line of sight from research excellence to societal impact, including relevance to Sustainable Development Goal 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production.
Prof. Ssali further encouraged partners to clarify roles, engage actors along the food-waste value chain, and ask from the outset what institutional arrangements, incentives and business models would be required if a tested intervention is to move beyond the pilot.
A Partnership Anchored at CEDAT
Makerere’s Local Principal Investigator is Assoc. Prof. Charles B. Niwagaba from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT). In a session on evidence-to-policy lessons from earlier work, he argued that municipal solid waste management is too large a challenge for any single institution and that the city itself should be treated as a living laboratory—generating knowledge through research, students and laboratories; piloting innovations; and supporting KCCA to institutionalise what works.
The project overview was presented by Dr. Daniela Peguero, with next steps outlined by Gioia Francesca of the international team. Camille Tahon delivered welcome remarks on behalf of CCAC. The programme also featured presentations from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) on the Strategy of Organic Waste developed under the SOWU project; Mr. Julius Mughuma Masereka of the Ministry of Local Government on national waste-management policy; and Dr. Sarah K. Zalwango of KCCA on the current status and future plans for solid waste management in Kampala.
What FLOWERS Will Do in Kampala
FLOWERS addresses a documented gap: despite informal systems that already move some restaurant leftovers and peelings to farms, there is limited empirical evidence on how food waste actually flows in African cities, and whether a targeted supply-chain intervention can increase recycling and reuse.
The Uganda phase of work will: map and analyse urban food-waste flows in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area; and experimentally assess an intervention designed to redirect a greater share of source-separated restaurant waste to farmers, tracking both mass and financial flows along the chain.
Methods to be deployed include panel surveys of restaurant managers, farmers and waste traders; two intensive waste-measurement campaigns supported by trained restaurant staff; six months of GPS tracking on waste traders’ bicycles; and a staggered, randomised matching of restaurants with traders. Makerere will contribute to three of the project’s four work packages, including waste, financial and carbon-balance mapping; market assessment of products from anaerobic digestion, composting and black soldier fly (BSF) treatment; and national dissemination.
Assoc. Prof. Niwagaba told partners that Makerere’s immediate tasks include ethical approval, support to map licensed restaurants, recruitment and training of enumerators, and close coordination with ETH doctoral researchers. Field data collection is planned to run from September to December 2026.
Informal Traders, Technology and Policy Uptake
An afternoon session by Piotr Barczak examined waste transformation through black soldier fly farming as a circular-economy option. A panel on integration of informal waste traders in restaurant waste exchange brought together the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Ministry of Local Government, KCCA as well as private operators MTSL Energies and End Plastic Pollution.
The panel reflected a central design choice of FLOWERS: not to replace an existing informal chain, but to understand it, strengthen it where it works, and generate evidence that national and city authorities can use. Project documents note that KCCA, municipalities in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area, NEMA, the Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry of Water and Environment already recognise booking of restaurant food waste as a low-emission reuse strategy.
The research is intended to give that recognition an empirical base—waste-flow and financial-flow maps, a methane balance, and results from a field experiment rather than anecdote.
Prof. Wamala, whose Directorate coordinates research partnerships across the University, framed the kick-off as consistent with Makerere’s mission to generate knowledge for societal transformation. Makerere, he indicated, would contribute research capacity, students, innovation platforms and knowledge translation and transfer power so that findings do not remain in publications alone.
From Kick-off to Implementation
Assoc. Prof. Niwagaba at the conclusion of deliberations summarised the next steps: finalise institutional support letters required for ethics review, update restaurant and farmer sampling frames with KCCA, train field teams, and keep policy actors engaged throughout data collection rather than only at dissemination.
In closing, Prof. Ssali commended CCAC for funding the project and thanked ETH Zürich, Eawag, End Plastic Pollution, KCCA, NEMA, the Ministry of Local Government and participating private and civil-society actors for a collaboration that treats Kampala’s restaurant waste not merely as a municipal burden, but as a nutrient stream that can support farms, livelihoods and cleaner air.
Engineering, Art & Tech
Makerere’s CEDAT Hosts Groundbreaking LIVWA Workshop on Advanced Climate Modelling for Lake Victoria Water Level Management
-
General1 week agoUndergraduate Admissions: Students allowed to Change Programs/Subjects 2026/27
-
Computing & IS1 week agoProf. Engineer Bainomugisha Takes Over as Principal of CoCIS, Pledges Focus on Excellence, Research and Innovation
-
General6 days agoProf. Sarah Ssali urges the Makerere University Community to embrace local philanthropy
-
Engineering, Art & Tech1 week agoMakerere & Partners Kick Off FLOWERS Project to Turn Restaurant Waste into a Regenerative Resource
-
Business & Management2 weeks agoCoBAMS, European Partners Launch Programme to Equip Students with Polycrisis Management Skills