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.

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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…

2011 Freshmen in Campus

Hundreds of new students have today Wednesday April 27, 2011 started reporting for their first year university education at JKUAT. The over 4,000 students, some accompanied by their parents/guardians, went through the simplified registration process assisted by University staff.

The students, both admitted through the Joint Admission Board and self sponsored programmes, add to the growing number of students currently pursuing various degrees at the University. As a public university, JKUAT was allocated about 1,200 JAB students from the 24,221 students who will join the institutions this year under regular programmes. The registration process continues throughout the week alongside orientation to be capped next week by one-on one interaction with the Vice Chancelor, Prof Mabel Imbuga.

This year’s candidates are drawn from those that sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 2009. The cut-off point for male students is a B of 63 points while that of girls is two points lower (62). A total 81,048 candidates scored C+ in 2009, the minimum entry qualification. A total 20,073 students who sat the examinations in 2008 joined the universities at various dates last year. They had scored mean grades of B plain of 65 points and above.

With the demand for higher education ever rising in the country, students who are excluded by this JAB cut-off but meet the minimum admissions criteria are given an opportunity through the self sponsored programmes. However, recent debate has emerged as to whether the programme should be scrapped and all qualifying students admitted under one regime.

To address challenges of inadequate facilities in public universities, the government has been exploring the possibility of private universities absorbing students under its sponsorship. Currently, the seven public universities and 13 constituent colleges have proved inadequate to absorb all those qualifying for higher education.

Regional Renewable Energy Course for Civil Engineers

The rush by the country’s energy experts to explore new areas of energy sources to mitigate against the high cost and unreliable conventional energy sources is receiving momentum. At least Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology has already embarked on two separate and promising research and training initiatives to tap into the country’s abundant but unexploited renewable energy with the potential to supply cheap and reliable energy particularly to Kenya’s 90 percent of the rural populations who live in darkness with no access to modern energy.

Hon M. Lang'at, Asst Minister for Energy (centre) at the University Biogas plant. With him from right, VC, Prof. Mabel Imbuga, MD, EATTA, Mr. Rimbere, and Director GTIEA, Mr. Khasiani

In the first project which  is planned to commence sometime this month and run for four years, JKUAT  has teamed up with two international organizations – Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) and the  United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to scale up rural electrification  through the exploitation of a number of renewable energy sources including wind, solar, biomass, mini waterfalls that will provide energy to majority rural people, and thus drive them to productive economic activities with the potential to narrow down  poverty levels. JICA will provide funding for the project that will be used to acquire modern equipment for the program’s research while JKUAT will be tasked to undertake research as well as train appropriate personnel to service the renewable energy industry. Read more…

Universities Advised to Retain their Best Students

Prof. Abdulrazak gestures during a presentation

Kenyan universities have been urged to come up with schemes of retaining their best graduating students to boost the country’s pool of highly skilled human resources.

The Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), Prof. Shaukat A. Abdulrazak, regretted that graduating students with higher potential were easily getting poached by foreign universities, thereby ending up working in those countries.

He said for the country to realize its Vision 2030 economic blueprint, high caliber personnel are required. He challenged professors to put in place mentorship programmes to prepare graduates to take up roles in pushing national agenda.

Prof Abdulrazak was speaking Tuesday March 8, 2011 at JKUAT during the oral presentations of shortlisted proposals for the 3rd Call for Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) grants. The NCST was established in 1977 and is mandated to advise the Government on all aspects of ST&I and it administers the Grant.

The Grant support research and innovations in priority areas in relation to Vision 2030, Medium term plan and Sector plans. At total of 36 public and private institutions are funded.

The thematic area for the 3rd Call (2010/11) is “Food Security and Climate Change” with a total of 28 proposals set to receive support. One such is “Collection and Molecular Characterization of Wild Edible Mushrooms in Kenya” by Dr.Justus M. Onguso (JKUAT), Dr.Lexa G. Matasyo (Egerton), Dr. J. Mutisya (KARI) and DR. Wanjiru Wahihenya (JKUAT). More…

JKUAT Selected to host Pan African University’s Science and Technology Theme

The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology has won the right to host the East and Central Africa regional institute of the Pan African University (PAU).

The Institute on Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation will be hosted at the Main Campus in Juja and the first batch of postgraduate students will be reporting later in September. Making the announcement at the 43rd Senate meeting held Tuesday February 22, 2011, an elated Vice Chancellor, Prof Mabel Imbuga, thanked the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology for having confidence in the University.

The privilege to host the institute was bestowed on JKUAT after it emerged the best suited for the program among Kenyan institutions offering postgraduate education and research. The Institute will focus mainly on the three thematic areas, namely; Basic Sciences (Chemistry, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics and Biology), Technology (Civil, Electrical, Electronic, Mechanical, Computer Engineering, Chemical and Industrial Engineering), and Innovation—generating technology and knowledge products and developing them for the marketplace.

The PAU is an initiative of the African Union aimed at spearheading the revitalization of higher education in the continent. It is composed of five regional institutes, one located in each of the five regions in Africa. In the region comprising 13 countries, Kenya’s nomination to host the region’s institute was endorsed by the Heads of State Summit held in July, 2010 in Kampala, Uganda. Read 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…