Prof. Peter Lennie, The Worldwide Universities Network Executive Director Visits CEDAT

Figure 1 Prof. Peter Lenny (c) flanked with Dr. VennyNakazibwe, Deputy Principal (L) and Prof. John Mango (R)) with CEDAT leaders.

Prof. Peter Lennie, Executive Director World Wide Universities Network (WUN) on Monday 21st March 2022 visited the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology where he held discussions with the Faculty about the possible areas of collaboration with the network.

Prof. Peter Lenny, accompanied by Prof. John Mango from the College of Natural Sciences (CoNAS) the Makerere University WUN Coordinator was welcomed to the College by the Deputy Principal, Dr. VennyNakazibwe

Dr. Nakazibwe while giving a brief profile of CEDAT

Dr. Nakazibwe while giving a brief profile of CEDAT said the College was multidisciplinary in nature and research alive in terms of networks and connections.  She said CEDAT was comprised of both Arts and Sciences in addition to the engineering disciplines. She informed the guests about the available centers of excellence that included Materials, Products Development and Nanotechnology (Mapronano), The East African Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Efficiency (EACREE) and the Culture and Heritage Research and conservation in the Arts.

Heads of departments

During the discussions, a number of Heads of departments shared information about their research areas which could be the areas of collaboration with the Worldwide Universities Networks.  These included Public Private Partnerships in the green economy, responsive urban planning and designing, construction responsive to climate change, valuation of ecosystem services and the growing interest in the value of the ecosystem. Other areas were Transport planning and modeling, the use of sate light remote sensing in monitoring water quality as well as the integration of Artificial Intelligence as well as the use of Nano Technology to develop products.

In addition, the meeting pointed out the need to develop human settlements in general, developing local solutions to our problems.  The other area that featured prominently was capacity building. It was noted that there were limitations in terms of personnel with the required specialization as the University geared towards becoming research led.

Prof. Peter Lennie

Prof. Peter Lennie, Executive Director World Wide Universities Network (WUN) noted that the network had diverse talent of members geographically, culturally and legally and that they could support the ongoing efforts through comparative research.  He said the kinds of issues addressed by WUN were part of the Sustainable Development Goals. He directed the staff onto the WUN website https://wun.ac.uk/article/introducing-wun-hub/ in order to access the network.

The meeting was attended among others by Asoc. Prof. Gidudu, Dean School of the Built Environment, Prof. John Baptist Kirabira, Prof. Nathan Kibwami, Ag. Head Department of Construction Economics and Management

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