The 3rd JKUAT open day to be held on July 27th 2012 at the Main Campus, Juja

JKUAT has held the annual event annually since 2010. During the event the University showcases its learning, research, innovation and development opportunities to its stakeholders and the general public.

The event attracts both local and international stakeholders with one of the main roles being the development of Science and Technology and complementing the national efforts to achieve economic growth. Read more…

Optimism as Career Fair ends – JKUAT

It was the first time for the students to organize a Career day, and the aim was to provide a platform for  students to interact with their potential employers. And the event did not disappoint,  at least going by the large number of students who for three days swarmed from booth to booth to talk to industry professionals invited by the University to help students to relate their academic programmes to their future careers. The Career fair that ended, Friday July 13, 2012 brought over 35 companies to the University with their representatives who had a common message to the students;  that  career development was a lifelong process through which individuals come to understand themselves as they relate to the world of work and their role in it. At the end of the event attended by Mr. Mwatata Mwangala, CEO, Youth Development Fund, and Prof. Mabel Imbuga, Vice Chancellor , there was general consensus that students should recognize career development  as part of their total life style that includes their occupation, education, social responsibilities and leisure time activities. Read more…

JKUAT Shines at the Nokia QT 2012 Hackathon

Jomo Kenyatta University students emerged tops in the Nokia QT Hackathon competition that ended in Nairobi, Sunday June 24 2012.  Mike Kivuvia , a Third Year Computer Technology student developed an  application, SkinSwap, which allows one to theme (phone background look and feel) own phone based on themes (background images) of various wild animals. He walked away with KSh. 1,000,000.

Matu Jotham, a Third Year Information Technology student, came in third with his application Quickdrums, a musical beat sequencing that helps users create musical beats.

Other innovations developed by JKUAT students that were among the top 13 winners included MyBike, a sporting application that allows cyclists to monitor speed while History Management and PeopleAround, combines Foursquare and Facebook features to  help one see ‘which of your friends are near to you’. Read more…

Endeavour graduate wins HUAWEI Android challenge

Abel Masai receiving his award (second from right)

Masai Abel Jevayi emerged top in the just concluded Huawei Android Application Challenge , an initiative aimed at promoting the culture of science and innovation among university students in Kenya that was jointly organized by Huawei Technologies, Safaricom Limited and three local Universities – Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture, University of Nairobi and Moi University.

Jevayi was declared the overall winner in a competition that had attracted 80 students drawn from the three participating universities for developing an a mobile telephone application software – KaroPay; that can allow students and parents to pay fees through their mobile phones. The winning software said to have greatly impressed panelists drawn from Huawei Technologies, Safaricom, Kenya ICT Board and the Ministry of Higher Education operates on mobile money transfer schemes either Java or Android platforms through MPESA, Airtel Money, Yu Cash among others.

Related stories
JKUAT Students tops in national ICT challenge
HUAWEI Awards Android Application Challenge Winners

Student attracts world attention

Imani Manyara

For the 21 year old Imani Manyara, a JKUAT Information Technology student, the love and utilization of computers has been as natural as walking in the grass.  At the age of 12 while in his primary seven, his immense agility for computers had already come to the fore having developed some valuable computer software that then surprised his teachers and friends.

While at secondary school, his vigor for computers strengthened but it is in JKUAT where Manyara had intensified his imagination and knack for computer related abilities mainly in software, web development and script writing; that have thrust the youngster into international limelight, earning him a job as a Senior Software Engineer with Twitter, a San-Francisco online web based social networking services that has recorded three hundred million users as at 2011.

Tech Expo Kicks Off

The 2011 JKUAT Tech Expo, an annual exhibition, staged by students to showcase inventions they have developed during their course of study at the University opened at JKUAT, Thursday October 13, 2011 with over 66 exhibits designed mainly to promote the ICT, engineering and agricultural sectors. Dr. Bitange Ndemo, Secretary for Information and Communication, praised JKUAT for instilling a culture of research in its curriculum that he said was well reflected in the way students were able to come up with useful inventions that could advance Kenya’s industrialization agenda. The Permanent Secretary told universities it was their duty to provide solutions to the problems facing Kenyans and noted that it was easier for researchers in developing countries like Kenya to invent since such countries were afflicted by numerous social and economic problems, a fact he said that could make research easy to tackle. More…

27 University Radio Interns Commence Field Attachment Under the Farmer Voice Radio Project

A total of 27 university radio interns (URIs) commenced their internship under the Farmer Voice Radio (FVR) Project from 14th February 2011. These interns were deployed to 17 districts in Central, Western, Nyanza, Coast and Eastern provinces in Kenya. Others were deployed to various radio stations such as KBC, Pwani FM and the project country office in Nairobi. This followed a successful one week training and orientation programme held from Monday January 31, 2011 to Friday February 4, 2011 in JKUAT Audio Visual Room.

The students were drawn from the departments of horticulture, Biomechanical and Environmental Engineering Department, Food science and Technology and physics Departments respectively. The purpose was to familiarize the URIs with FVR and its operations enlighten them on what they are expected to do during their period of attachment, and motivate and mentor the URIs before been deployed to the various locations. Read more…

Students cast votes to elect new union officials

 

 

Students casting their votes

 

The two week intensive student campaigns came to an end with the students going to the polls on Thursday October 14, 2010 to elect their leaders.  Just like the recent Parliamentary by-elections and the Constitution referendum, this year’s Jomo Kenyatta University Students Organization (JKUSO) elections adopted the IIEC approach of using technology to transmit election results. The ICT Department provided personnel to help transmit results electronically to ensure transparency with no possible incidences of fraud. The Assembly Hall was the central station where the tallying was conducted. The returning officers brought the election results from the various polling stations and were relayed electronically. The whole process of tallying of votes and declaring winners took a record time of 4 hours as opposed to 7 hours as witnessed in past elections. The peaceful elections that recorded no incidences saw Kasina Emmanuel emerge the winner for the position of Chairman in the student council. Other members of the council include: Sam Wanyoike as the Secretary General, Gitobu Dennis as the Finance secretary, Muchao Gideon – Academic Secretary, Macharia Muiruri –Catering and Accommodation Secretary, Entertainment Secretary – Aroko Dennis, Games & Sports Secretary – Timothy Muthuuri Kaimenyi.

Students stage a successful Tech Expo

 

Who’s Smarter Now?: Mr. Eric Omwando Opiyo receives an award from VC Prof. Imbuga after his Online and SMS Fuel Prices Monitoring System emerged tops during the maiden Tech Expo.

 

Students pursuing various degree programmes displayed an amazing wide range of innovations during the first Technology Expo to be held at the University, a pointer to the goldmine that is the creative talent among students.

The 2010 JKUAT Tech expo was held on October 13, 2010 at the JKUAT main campus. The event was graced by guests from the industry. Among the guests present was Kaburo Kobia from the Kenya ICT Board, Mr. Pius Busera from Safaricom Ltd. The University had in attendance, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mabel Imbuga, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof.  Esther Kahangi, the University-Industry Liaison Officer, Eng. Benson Kariuki and the University ICT Director, Dr. Joseph Wafula.

JKUAT Endeavour Open Day 18th September 2010

College Feed Group presenting their project

This year’s open day for JKUAT Endeavour was held on September 18, 2010 at JKUAT main campus. The day marked the end of the Web Application Development Course that was held in the month of June – July 2010. The event started with opening remarks from Dr. Waweru Mwangi, Director Institute of Computer Science and Information Technology – JKUAT. He thanked the organizers of the event, the students and the guest judges who spared their time to participate in the event. He put emphasis on the issue of support and continuity of projects after prototypes had been developed. He emphasized the importance of universities creating linkages with the industry.  Participants were encouraged with the fact that most web inventions were initiated by students in class. The web is supposed to be interactive, a concept that has now taken root in the social web.

Guest lectures were delivered by:
1.    Web 2.0 and social media – Alex Mwaura
2.    Do it different – Samuel Kamochu
3.    Freelancing and mobile application development – Solomon Kariri
4.    Web applications – Mark Mwongela
5.    Google maps – Jeremiah Kamau

Student groups presented their projects before a panel of judges composed of Mark Mwongela (Verviant), Samuel Kamochu (Safaricom), Alex Mwaura (Creative Edge) and Andrew Ketoyo (Creative Edge). Winners were announced at the end of the competition. The winning group was College Feed. The team presented a social media web application integrating Google maps to display event venues. The runners up were the Jazika group with a web application for sellers and buyers of second products. The second runners up were the Online Academy group with an application for helping students revise for examinations.