An Environmental Design student at TU-K has won highly competitive abroad industrial attachment opportunity and will be on work-learning placement in Brazil where he will join a team of experts undertaking research in adoption of building constructive strategies to enhance energy efficiency. Mr. Simeon Nyakundi, a final year Bachelor of Technology in Interior Design showcased his proficiency and rich portfolio that impressed panellists from the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) and selected him to be among the few young scholars exhibiting innovation and passion in their fields of practice.

IAESTE is an organisation that provide students undertaking STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with internship opportunities across the globe, helping them to gain professional experience and cross-cultural skills. This also provides opportunities for career progression abroad.

His industrial engagement in Brazil will focus on supporting building simulations for assessing energy efficiency gains through constructive strategies in both existing and new buildings. This extends to researching and evaluating the adoption of passive strategies to enhance the energy efficiency of naturally ventilated, hybrid, and air-conditioned buildings across various cities in Brazil.

“The study will analyze how variations in building envelope systems impact energy consumption and human thermal comfort. A computer simulation model will be utilised to achieve accurate results. Depending on research progress, the case study may be tested across multiple Brazilian bioclimatic zones, Nyakundi said.

The TU-K is part of the several universities across the globe that have signed up for IAESTE programme.

Through an announcement made by the International Liaison at TU-K, Mr. Nyakundi made his application for the international internship opportunity where he was invited to submit his pitch and portfolio. He thereafter underwent rigorous interview process and was selected to join Federal Center for Technologies Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET – MG) in Brazil.

Mr. Nyakundi has had an industrious stay at TU-K where he has participated in various conferences and exhibitions boosting his prospects, some of them including; NICE Labs 50/50, Hackathon – Exploring Visual Cultures Conference, Customer Excellence Center Wallpaper design for Kenya Airways where he won top recognition for creativity, relevance, and aesthetic impact.

Experience in Archicad and AutoCAD design softwares also gave him an edge in his pitch for the international opportunity. He already attended a three-month course in Art at the International Youth Fellowship College in Nairobi.

Mr. Nyakundi expressed his excitement and encouraged TU-K students to apply for the opportunities.

The International Liaison Office indicated that there are more that 77 open international opportunities in various fields in STEM across the globe and continuing students are encouraged to take to apply.

The office is also setting up a club to help students engage better with the industry and market players in Kenya and abroad.