All TU-K News

The New Students Association of the Technical University of Kenya, SATUK Council, and Board have been sworn into office. Nabangi Alex Wanyonyi is the new chairperson and is deputized by Kimeu Lydia Mutinda. The ceremony was conducted by the University Secretary and Chief Legal Officer Ms. Ruth Kirwa, and attended by the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Benedict Mutua, Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Research, Technology and Development (RTD) Prof. Alfred Orina among other members of the University Management.

Mr.Samson Ontweka, a celebrated TU-K alumnus and currently a Technical Coordinator at StartSomewhere Kenya, captivated students with ingenious precast building technology that utilises interlocking blocks. Mr. Ontweka who was accompanied by StartSomewhere founder and CEO Oliver von Malm, showcased the innovative technology during the Civil Engineering Symposium held at TU-K that attracted students from TU-K, Moi University, Kenyatta University, the University of Nairobi, and Karatina University.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) has licensed the Technical University of Kenya to offer various technical and vocational courses at the diploma level. This was affirmed in a letter addressed to TU-K’s Directorate of Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) by the TVETA Director General/ CEO, Dr. Kipkirui Langat

The Technical University of Kenya through the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies (SGAS) presented copies of Masters and PhD projects to the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS). This initiative marks the beginning of a partnership between the two institutions.

Media experts have assured communication and journalism learners of new and exciting career opportunities away from the traditional media, in the wake of new media fronts and the exponential information, technological, and communication growth. The rapid growth witnessed across the globe, including artificial intelligence (AI), has largely affected how media content is produced, packaged, and disseminated, demanding new and innovative ways of media practice.

Fifty-six scholars from various departments within the university and two guests were issued certificates after successfully completing an Advanced Research Methods Training. The training was facilitated by Dr. Peter Samuels, Senior Lecturer in Research Practice, Faculty of Business, Law, and Social Sciences, Birmingham City University.  The four-day programme was designed to help researchers at the institution become more proficient in their research by equipping them with practical skills on various topics such as developing questionnaires, managing supervisor relationships, and data collection and analysis.

The Sustainable Energy Education District (SEED) project is expected to roll out the green energy solution to communities in the informal settlements in Nairobi as the three-year research comes to an end. This is the first phase of the project. A joint taskforce from the Technical University of Kenya (TU-K), German and Mozambique is expected to present the project to energy sector players like Kenya Power, government, partnering NGO’s and the consumers.

In a move to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in its operations, members of the Productivity Mainstreaming Committee were trained in productivity mainstreaming from Monday to Thursday 2024. The training was in line with the Performance Contracting Guidelines for the financial year 2023/2024, where productivity has been included as a new indicator.

The Prof Benedict Mutua was today installed as TU-K’s Vice-Chancellor. The exercise was overseen by the Acting Chancellor, Dr Idle Omar Farah who is also the Chairman of the University Council. In his acceptance speech, Prof Mutua said: “I commit all my efforts for the next five years towards taking TU-K’s status a notch higher; to be a university that will be nationally, regionally and globally recognised in terms of good corporate Governance.

More than 2,900 graduands were conferred with degrees and awarded diplomas and certificates during the 12^th Graduation Ceremony presided by the Acting Chancellor, Dr Idle Omar Farah. During the ceremony, graced by the Principal Secretary for State Department for University Education, Dr. Beatrice Muganda Inyangala, Prof. Benedict Mwavu Mutua, was installed as the second Vice-Chancellor of The Technical University of Kenya.

The University Council will soon undertake a staff rationalisation exercise aimed at mitigating the ever-ballooning wage bill. The exercise will create a more efficient, lean, and agile workforce structure to curb the financial constraints the institution has been experiencing. The Chairman of the University Council, Dr Idle Omar Farah, disclosed this when he presided at the 12^th Graduation ceremony where more than 2900 graduands were conferred with degrees and awarded diplomas and certificates.

The certificate verification exercise is currently underway in the Samsung Lab. The exercise was supposed to begin at 9.00 am but due to some logistical hitches, it was delayed up to 11.30 am. The Chairman of the Certificate Verification Committee, Prof. Peter Matu, was delighted that members of staff had turned up in large numbers and had waited patiently for the exercise to begin. “We were not able to begin at 9.00 am as earlier anticipated but we have since addressed the hitch,” said Prof. Matu.

Nurturing entrepreneurial mindset amongst university students has become a prime focus for researchers. This is motivated by the need to solve the persistent challenge of youth unemployment. In Kenya alone, unemployment among the youth remains one of the major policy concerns of the Government, as 35% of the youth (4.5 million young men and women) remain unemployed.

Two students from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering and the School Electrical and Electronics Engineering represented the University in the just concluded Kenya Innovation Week 2023 that was officially opened by President William Ruto. Cecilia Otieno and Rhyl Kiio showcased ingenious innovations: Air Quality Monitoring System and a Mobile Money Payment System respectively that attracted a lot interest from government agencies, private companies and the general public.

Ho Technical University, Ghana, and the Technical University of Kenya, are set for student and teaching staff exchange programme geared towards joint training and research. This is tailored to solve challenges in the African continent through homegrown technological and innovative solutions. The visiting Vice-Chancellor from Ho Technical University, Prof. Ben Q. Honyenuga, noted that the continent has common socio-economic and political challenges that call for shared knowledge between learning and research institutions in Africa.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Benedict Mutua, has applauded the members of staff preparing to retire soon from the service of the University.  “You have done a great job with limited resources to bring the institution to its current status where it is among the top ten universities in the country.  There is a lot to learn from your efforts and for this, we sincerely appreciate you,” said the VC in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Institutional Advancement and Enterprise Division (IAE), Prof. Paul Wambua, when he opened a pre-retirement training for staff due to retire in the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 organised by the Directorate of Human Resource Management.

Two students from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Felix Mazinza and Cecilia Otieno, were declared winners of the student innovation presented during the 30^th Institute of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) Annual International Convention. The event, themed “Engineering A New World,”  was held from the 14^th to 17^th November 2023 at a Mombasa hotel. The student innovation on Application of IoT in Monitoring of Air Quality was declared the best among the presentations presented from other universities. The students were awarded a trophy, a cash prize of Sh50,000 and they were also presented with certificates.

The Kenyan leather industry urgently needs innovative solutions and research to become profitable. This was said during the 2^nd workshop on Eco-Tanning Processes in Kenya and the East African Region held in Nairobi. The event brought together tanning industry players, researchers in areas of leather processing and marketing, environmental scholars and regulators. The industry, was termed as‘a sleeping economic giant’ but was tipped to awaken the country’s manufacturing sector, create job opportunities in line with President William Ruto’s focus on leather, pharmaceuticals and edible oil value chains to grow the economy.

Globalisation and changing trends are offering the youth a lot of opportunities for innovation, employment and socio-economic development. The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy Eng. John Tanui urged university students to take advantage of the globalisation reality to earn a living.

The PS graced this year’s Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Industry Symposium at TU-K where he challenged students to venture into technology.

Prof. Alfred Orina has challenged researches to explore opportunities for commercializing their innovations. While assuring university support for scholars, Prof. Orina, the DVC, Research and Technology Development, called on researchers to pool together with multidisciplinary expertise to raise stakes of accessing of funding. The DVC was speaking when he presented certificates to members of teaching staff who participated in the Research to Commercialisation (R2C) training of trainers (TOT) at the University.