The 5th edition of the Annual Research Week was held on Monday 24th October to Friday 28th October 2022. 14 Conferences were organized by the various Faculties on the central theme of “Emerging research and technologies for sustainable development in Society”.
As part of the 14 conferences, The Faculty of Engineering hosted the 4th Annual International Engineering Conference (EC2022). The conference attracted participants, presenters, and keynote speakers from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, and Germany. During the conference, about 35 technical papers were presented, 2 technical workshops on Publication writing and grant proposal writing were held as well as 5 keynote presentations by renowned industry experts. The EC2022 also featured exhibitions from key partners Davis and Shirtliff, Rift Valley Machinery, and ESRI East Africa.
To kick off the series of conferences, the coordinating office-the Division of Research, Innovation, and Enterprise (RIE)- held an official opening ceremony on 24th October 2022 at the UoN Confucius Institute. The host, Associate Vice Chancellor, of Research, Innovation, and Extension, Prof. Margaret Hutchinson lauded all the faculty committee members who worked tirelessly to organize the 5th edition of Research week.
As is tradition, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Stephen Kiama presided over the opening ceremony, in his speech, the Vice Chancellor highlighted the critical role Universities play as engines of societal transformation by educating global citizens and imparting knowledge that brings about innovations and change. Further, Prof. Kiama challenged the government to allocate more funds toward research to facilitate the achievement of sustainable goals and to ensure Universities remain relevant and true to their role in societal transformation. He concluded his remarks by wishing all participants a fruitful deliberation stating “Research has put the University of Nairobi on the global map, CEMA Africa has won a USD 5 Million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation among many other achievements.”
The 4th Engineering Conference (EC 2022) was officially opened by the Director, Intellectual Property Management office Prof. Mary Kinoti. Prof. Kinoti was delighted to note the many innovative projects the Faculty of Engineering is currently implementing; “I am marveled by what engineers do - they create good innovations! the Directorate of Intellectual Property at the University is ready to support engineers commercialize their innovations.” The Faculty Research coordinator; Dr. John Obiero welcomed the participants saying “the conference is a platform for us researchers to disseminate the information we have gathered in the field and to learn from each other. We aim to assist staff and members of students to improve their manuscripts for publication in a recognized journal.”
Monday 24th October 2022 -Day 1 of the 4th Annual International Engineering Conference (EC2022), a pre-conference practical workshop on Grant proposal writing was held. The trainers were Dr. Renne Le Roux, Dr. Yolanda Davids from the University of Witswatersrand, and Dr. Duncan Mbuge from the University of Nairobi. The purpose of this pre-conference Workshop was to strengthen the participants' grant writing skills for competitive research funding applications.
Day 2 (25th October) of the conference saw Prof. Elly Grossman from the University of Witwatersrand conduct the workshop on Publication writing. The purpose of this session was to cover a step-by-step guide to writing a paper for publication.
Day 3 and 4 postgraduate students and researchers from various institutions participated in the technical session whose themes included; Innovations in Technology, Manufacturing and Health, Land Use, Land Cover and Ecosystems, Water Resources and Hydroclimatic Disasters, Agriculture and Food Security, Early Warning and Disaster Preparedness. A total of 35 papers were presented and discussed during the 2-day sessions.
In addition to the Paper presentations renowned engineers; Eng. Eng. Aram Mbui, Managing Director of Rift valley Machinery Services Ltd (RVMS), Mrs. Margaret Kuchio, the General Manager of Davis & Shirtliff LTD, Eng. Prof. Moses O. Marenya, Technical University of Kenya, Prof. Dr. Oliver Jorg Hensel, University of Kassel, Germany and Eng. Joyce Siundu from Esri East Africa also had an opportunity to make short keynote presentations in line with the EC2022 conference theme “Emerging Research and Technologies in Engineering for Sustainable Development of Society”
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