CEDAT celebrates 50 years of the existence of Faculty of Technology and Art Gallery

Raises 430 million towards research and renovations

The Guest of honor, distinguished guests cut the 50-year anniversary cake

The College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology organised a stakeholders’ and fundraising Dinner on Friday 26th July 2019 at Hotel Africana in Kampala. The dinner acted as a curtain raiser for the celebration of 50 years of the existence of the former Faculty of Technology and Art Gallery. The Minister of State for Karamoja Affairs Honourable Moses Kizige graced the occasion by representing the Right Honourable Prime Minister, Ndungu Ruhakana Rugunda and launched the CEDAT@ 50 celebrations.

The CEDAT dinner was witnessed by a number of personalities from all walks of life but mainly engineering and industrial sector. Some of the guests included; Corporate companies, Government ministries, CEDAT alumni, students, teaching and non-teaching staff, sponsors and partners. The notable sponsors and partners included; Uganda Communications Commission, National Water and sewerage corporation, Kampala Water, Uganda Electricity Generation Company, Petroleum Authority of Uganda, KIRA Motors, Uganda Road Fund, the Royal Academy of Engineering, Electricity Regulatory Authority and Umeme among others.

Guests at the dinner

In his welcome remarks, the College Principal Professor Henry Alinaitwe appreciated all the stakeholders and partners for honouring the event with their presence. He explained the main reasons and the objectives of the event, which include; creating awareness about  CEDAT and its immense contribution to national development, to mobilise alumni to form CEDAT Alumni Association (CEDATAA) and to select an interim executive, to formally launch activities for and towards a twin celebration of Technology@50 years and Makerere Art Gallery @ 50 years, and to mobilise resources from the stakeholders for the advancement of science, technology innovation and creativity( STIC) at CEDAT.

The college is happy to be celebrating 50 years since the establishment of the Faculty of Technology and Art Gallery. “This is our golden jubilee,” the Principal exultantly said. He called for the stakeholders’ support because the College is growing and requires more support in terms of space, laboratories, research and strong collaboration with industry especially the private sector.

Dr Umaru Kakumba, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs represented the Vice Chancellor Professor Barnabas Nawangwe. Dr. Kakumba acknowledged CEDAT’s immense contribution to the visibility of and reputation of Makerere University and the country as a whole. He thanked the government of Uganda for providing an environment that is conducive for teaching and learning, research and knowledge transfer partnerships.

Alumni and staff of the College that had been nominated to serve on the CEDAT Alumni committee pose for a photo

“The university is very proud of CEDAT and its various units. CEDAT is greatly contributing to research leading to industrialisation and provision of infrastructure, the built environment and creativity,” the Deputy Vice Chancellor stressed.

While launching the activities of Technology and Art Gallery @50 years, the State Minister for Karamoja Affairs Honourable Moses Kizige said CEDAT is a pillar in the implementation of the government programmes; National Development Plan II and the Vision 2040 Require a lot of input from the programmes that the college is mandated to deliver. “CEDAT works with the government and the industry in a triple helix model,” Honourable Kizige emphasised. He further saluted the College for the innovations such as the KIIRA EV project which has culminated into the kiira Motors Corporation. The Kiira Motors Corporation and plant facility will start rolling out cars by 2022. “Such home-grown innovations will steer Uganda to a middle-income country in the shortest time possible.

The guests at the dinner showed their sincere love and support to the college by raising funds that shall be used for renovation and rehabilitation of the old building and support towards research; UGX60M and UGX 370M was collected in cash and pledges respectively. Some of the stakeholders who committed funds towards research, translation and dissemination. These include; Uganda Communications Commission towards hosting a conference on telecommunications, National Water and Sewerage Corporation towards research in the water and waste water related areas, Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd towards research in the energy related areas and Kiira Motors Corporation committed funds towards research on vehicle and transportation.

CEDAT Principal receives a cheque of UGX121 million from UCC for a research conference

At the climax of the dinners, an interim executive committee for the CEDAT Alumni Association (CEDATAA) was formed. The association is to be headed by Eng. Dr Badru Kiggundu, the former Chairman of the Uganda Electoral Commission. Other events of the celebration of Technology @50 years and Makerere Art gallery @ 50 years will be organised through the year 2019/2020.

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