Ruhweza Charles Godfrey was the best science student at the 74th Makerere University graduation ceremony. He got a CGPA of 4.8 in Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
‘I’m just overjoyed that am graduating as the best science student in the whole Makerere University’, said the 25-year-old star student who also received a cash prize of One Million Uganda Shillings from Makerere University convocation and a plaque in honor of his achievement. He attributed his success to God and his parents for the great support from the start of his education journey until his graduation. He also said hard work and the discussions he was involved in as well as the reading he invested right from year one until the end contributed to his great performance.
Born to Ms. Nyakake Beatrice and Mr. Kaliisa Tom, Ruhweza who hails from Kyenjojo District went to Buyinja Primary School where he got 8 aggregates, joined Bright S.S.S in Kyengera where he got 21 points at his O-level and St. Elizabeth Secondary School Nkoowe in Wakiso where he got 20 points that enabled him join Makerere University on Government sponsorship.
‘I can talk about St. Elizabeth as the School where I got exposed to good foundation of the sciences, we had good teachers there and they really nurtured me into reading and to do personal study’, he said. While explaining the factors that enabled him succeed, Ruhweza said life at campus was stressing because his background was not financially stable. He expressed his appreciation to the Government of Uganda for the Scholarship which sustained him at university. He said life at campus called for a lot of reading and 95% of his time was consumed by the course, although he put off sometime time to play soccer as part of the Nsibirwa team.
While explaining about his learning environment, Ruhweza said the facilities at CEDAT were good and accessible. He said although he had no laptop in his year one, he had access to the computer labs where he was able to practice in addition to the lecture rooms that he described as comfortable. He cited the example of the materials science lab where he did his final year project on water treatment where he utilized the equipment for instance in finding the surface area and other parameters.
The star student heaped praises on his teachers. Ruhweza who was part of a class of 79 students said the lecturers were very good and friendly. ‘if you can connect well with your teacher that is when you can understand what they are teaching. I enjoyed lectures from Dr. Kayiwa who used to give real life examples when he was teaching us automotives, Dr. Lubwama who for instance taught us mechanics of materials and he used to make the class lively and one could not even think of missing his class’, he said.
It is worth noting that the Mechanical Engineering class of 2024 got 17 first class degrees. Ruhweza attributed this to cooperation, the daily group discussions. Everywhere you could go you would find students discussing and that how we were able the grasp the content given to us, he explained.
In regard to practical exposure, Ruhweza mentioned the visit to Tembo Steels as memorable, Roofings Uganda Limited, and Kabanyolo to see the Bio digester. He said these exposures helped him a lot because in their third year where they had production engineering as a course unit, the real life experiences as seen from various companies helped the class appreciate the theories. He said through his internship at the Ministry of Works and Transport, some of the areas of study in fourth year like automotives were clearer based on what he saw during his practical exposure.
This star student who since November 2023 works with the Namanve based Piston Medical Limited that produces parenterals has dreams of becoming a renowned materials Science researcher and getting recognized as one of the best Researchers of Makerere University. He intends to pursue a Master’s Degree in Materials Science.
To the incoming and continuing students, his advice is that they should set goals and work towards achieving them. He said the time at the university is limited and that it is good to leave University in a good way and in perfect timing