Kyambogo University IEEE Students Branch holds a successful Student Professional Awareness Conference (SPAC18)
By: Roland Niwareeba (Head Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Branch Counselor- Kyambogo University IEEE Students Branch)
Group photo (above) is of the participants and facilitators during SPAC18(6th From the right, Prof. Fabian Nabugoomu- Deputy Vice Chancellor- Kyambogo University, Dr Micheal Kyakula- Dean Faculty of Engineering, Mr. Niwareeba Roland- Head Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Professor Zabih (Fary) Ghassemlooy, Mr. Micheal Kasirye, Dr. Catherine Wandera and Mr. Kenneth Barungi- Deputy General Manager Kakira Sugar Works)
SPAC18 was held on 30th August 2018, it was massively attended by students from Kyambogo University Electrical and Electronic Engineering department, representatives from the university management, government and industry. It was also attended by IEEE student members from Makerere University. The total number of participants was over 600. The theme for this year’s conference was “Science, Engineering and Technology today”.
The event started with the head of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mr. Niwareeba Roland who is also the branch counselor of Kyambogo University IEEE Students branch. He welcomed the guests and talked about the linkages the department has created with industry, government and academia. His presentation was followed by the deputy vice chancellor- Finance and Administration of Kyambogo University, Prof. Fabian Nabugoomu who commended the work done by the department and officially opened the conference.
The most interesting presentation was by Professor Zabih (Fary) Ghassemlooy, the professor of Optical Communication at Northumbria University, UK. He talked about Visible Light Communication Technology, highlighted its applications and explained the research that is currently being undertaken in the area of optical wireless communication. He also explained how and why optical wirless communication should co-exist with the existing RF technology. The participants were so impressed by the enormous applications of this technology and some of the faculty members and students started thinking about forming optical communication research group in Kyambogo University.
Prof. Fary’s presentation was followed by Mr. Buga Asasaira, the Managing Director of Buga Tech Ltd. He talked about 5G technology and how it is heterogeneous consisting of a number of technologies like beam forming, microcells and full duplex.
Dr. Micheal Kyakula, the dean-Faculty of Engineering talked about Engineering Professionalism and Ethics. He explained the IEEE code of conduct at length.
Mr. Kenneth Barungi, the deputy General Manager of Kakira Sugar Works presented on “Leadership competences in the modern society”. He gave tips on how one can be successful in his career. He also talked about Kakira Sugar Works being the largest manufacturer of Sugar and related products in Uganda. Kakira Sugar generates 50 MW of power from biomass, the largest of such in Africa.
Dr Al-Mas Sendegeya, a lecturer in the department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering made a presentation on “The role of Engineers to Sustainable Development: Ref to Sustainable Development Goals”.
Mr. Kasirye Micheal from Civil Aviation Authority made a presentation on “ The Relevance of Telecommunications Engineering in Communication Navigation Surveillance” .
The last among the invited key-note speakers was Mr. John Matogo from IBM Africa who presented on “Cyber Security- Threats and how to deal with them”. The participants were so impressed by his presentation that some of them vowed never again to be victims of network attacks.
The last item was exhibition, where students from the department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering exhibited their projects to the invited guests and participants. Prof. Fary was so impressed by the students’ projects and he pledged to support the students projects in the area of communication. He announced that the student with the best poster presentation at SPAC will be getting an ward of 50 GBP and the best project overall will walk away with a prize of 200 GBP.