THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI HOSTS THE AFRICA ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY NETWORK (AFRETEC)

A delegation from  Carnegie Mellon University Africa led by the Director, Prof. Allen Robinson paid a courtesy call on the University of Nairobi’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Stephen Kiama on Aug 22, 2022 at 8:30 am

The team visited the University of Nairobi who were in the process of identifying universities in Kenya to join the Africa Engineering and Technology network (AFRETEC) which is led by the Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) and will among other things, give its members a forum for intense collaboration that promotes equitable digital growth in Africa. The Network currently has five university members: CMU-Africa, the University of Rwanda, Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar in Senegal, University of Lagos in Nigeria, and the American University of Cairo in Egypt, and is in the process of identifying the next five member universities.

Speaking at the meeting, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kiama took time to introduce the AFRETEC delegation to some of the innovative collaborations the University of Nairobi has and further express his sentiments on collaborations.

“The University of Nairobi is the oldest public university in Kenya. We have mentored many others because we are a benchmark university,” He said. “We therefore highly value innovation and entrepreneurship collaborations with many universities across the world.” 

The Director of Knowledge Creation and Education Network-Carnegie Mellon University Africa, Mr. Aamir Suleman highlighted AFRETEC seeks to collaborate with the University of Nairobi as they seek to increase the impact in Africa.

“The network provides a wonderful opportunity for the universities across Africa to work together in alignment to a common goal which is driving inclusive digital transformation,” He said. “It gives us both the opportunity to deepen the impact that we have and we appreciate the university has achieved incredible things and what this network aims to achieve across Africa.”

The Director, Advancement and  Institutional Development, Mr. Brian Ouma lauded the AFRETEC delegation for possible collaborations and even expressed other innovative collaborations the UoN has with other universities.

“The UoN Science & Engineering complex is going to have sustainable & innovative hubs in collaboration with French partner-universities,” he said. “The collaborations are being funded by the French Embassy for 3 years." Director, Advancement & Institutional Development.”

After the courtesy call, the Vice chancellor took the delegation on a tour of the smart classroom and the UoN skills centre which are both located at the main campus. They also visited the Sericulture project at the Upper Kabete Campus. The project is a joint collaboration between the University of Nairobi and Silk Origin Ltd, which will help generate the required knowledge and address the skills in Mulberry farming and sericulture industry.

Also in attendance was the deans from various faculties and were accompanied by members of the ICT team led by the Director ICT, Mr. Paul Kariuki and AVC-RIE Prof. Margaret Hutchinson