The Faculty of Engineering congratulates the Institution of Engineers of Kenya -IEK on its 50th Anniversary. The Faculty enjoys a long-standing collaboration with IEK.

IEK organized a commemoration event that was held at the University of Nairobi Tower. During the event, Prof. Gichaga gave a keynote address on 'The Engineering Journey in Kenya.'  Prof. Gichaga is a renowned scholar and engineer with a career spanning over 40 years. He also served as the founding Vice Chair of the  Institution of Engineers of Kenya -IEK. 

excerpts from Prof. Gichaga's keynote address; Click to read full speech

"I was very pleased when the Honorary Secretary of the IEK invited me to be a keynote speaker during the IEK AT 50 Public Lecture.

I am saying this because I attended the meeting held in 1972 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi when it was agreed that we register the Institution of Engineers of Kenya.  I also like telling people how, when we were admitted to do an engineering degree course at the University College Nairobi (a constituent College of the University of East Africa), our Lecturers persuaded us to join British engineering institutions as student members, and accordingly I joined the Institution of Civil Engineers in the UK as a student member.

It is important to acknowledge that engineering involves the art of harnessing the resources of nature for the benefit of society. For example, the engineer is trained to develop infrastructure  to make it  possible for  people to enjoy wholesome water  and hydropower; again the engineer is capable of converting sunlight into solar energy for use by society; and the engineer can use rocks, sands, and soils to build houses, roads, airports  etc  for  use by  the  society."